802 CYPERACE. [Uncimia, 
Var. minor, Kukenthal, MS.—Smaller and more slender. Leaves nar- 
rower. Spike shorter, much more slender. 
NortTH AND SourH Isuanps, Stewart Isuanp: In hilly or mountainous 
localities from Hokianga southwards, not uncommon. Sea-level to 4000 ft. 
November—January. 
An exceedingly variable plant, forms of which are not separated by any 
strict line of demarcation from U. purpurata, U. riparia, U. rupestris, and 
U. filiformis. Its chief characters are the rather broad flat leaves, not very lax 
narrow-oblong spike, pale-green glumes which are usually as long as the utricles 
or nearly so, and rather large oblong-lanceolate acuminate utricles, averaging 
fin. long. 
7. U. australis, Pers. Syn. ii. 534.—Culms densely tufted, tall, 
slender, smooth, 9-20in. high, leafy at the base. Leaves long, 
usually considerably overtopping the culms, flat, striate, 4+ in. 
broad; margins scabrid. Spike linear-elongate, 3—6in. long, 
4-+in. broad, dense except sometimes at the base, cylindrical ; 
male portion narrower, variable in length, occupying 4-4 of the 
spike; bract long, leafy, usually exceeding the spike. Glumes 
oblong-lanceolate, acute, l-nerved, at first pale-green, but brown 
or chestnut in fruit, upper about equalling the utricle, lower some- 
times exceeding it. Stamens 3. Utricle elliptic-oblong, narrowed 
at both ends, sometimes almost fusiform, triquetrous, faintly 
nerved ; bristle stout, nearly twice the length of the utricle.— 
A. Cunn. Precur. n. 286; Raoul, Choiz, 40; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. 
Zel.i. 287; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 309; C. B. Clarke in Journ. Linn. 
Soc. xx. 898. U. compacta, A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 118 (not of 
f. Br.). U. Lindleyana, Kunth, Enum. ii. 526. U. scaberrima, 
Nees in Linnea, ix. (1834) 305. U. rigidula, Steud. Cyp. 245. 
U. alopecurioides, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xv. (1883) 335. U. 
bracteata, Col. l.c. xvi. (1884) 341. U. polyneura, Col. l.c. xix. 
(1887) 270. 
Var. clavata, Kukenthal, MS.—Spike clavate, often }in. broad at the 
top of the female portion; glumes densely crowded. Other characters as in the 
type. 
Var. ferruginea, C. B. Clarke, MS.—Agreeing with the type in size and 
habit, but glumes longer and narrower, sometimes twice the length of the 
utricle, lanceolate or subulate-lanceolate, chestnut-brown with a green usually 
3-nerved keel. Utricles with a longer beak.—U. ferruginea, Boott in Hook. f. 
Fil. Nov. Zel. i. 288, t. 648; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 309; C. B. Clarke in Journ. Linn. 
Soc, xx. 394. U. nigra, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvii. (1885) 253. U. varie- 
gata, Col. l.c. xx. (1888) 211. 
NortH anp SoutH Isptanps, Stewart Isnanp, CHaTHAM IsLANDS. — The 
typical form abundant throughout; var. ferruginea not uncommon from Te 
Aroha southwards. Var. clavata: Near Wellington, Kirk ! Otira Gorge, Kirk! 
T. F. C.; Mount Cook district, 7. F.C. Sea-level to 3000 ft. Novem- 
ber—February. 
Easily recognised by the large size and very long cylindrical dense-flowered 
spike. I have followed Clarke and Kukenthal in uniting Boott’s var. ferruginea 
with it, there being no differences of importance beyond the very variable one 
