UOncinia. | CYPERACES. 803 
of the length of the glumes. I cannot distinguish the species described by 
Mr. Colenso even as varieties. U. australis is said to occur in the Sandwich 
Tslands. 
8. U. leptostachya, Raoul, Choix Pl. Nouv. Zel. 12, t. 58.— 
Rhizome short. Culms densely tufted, slender, trigonous and 
scabrid above, leafy at the base, 1-2ft. high; sheaths brown or 
purplish-red at the base. Leaves usually much longer than the 
culms, slender, flat, ~,-—;,in. broad; margins scabrid. Spike 
14-5in. long, very slender, lax- flowered; male portion short, 
almost filiform; bract setaceous or filiform, longer or shorter than 
the spike, sometimes wanting. Glumes laxly placed, often distant 
in the lower part of the spike, oblong-lanceolate, acute or obtuse, 
from half as long to as long as the utricle, green or purplish-red, 
1-nerved on the back, membranous. Utricle narrow-lanceolate or 
almost fusiform, trigonous, distinctly scabrid above, faintly nerved ; 
bristle twice as long as the utricle.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 286 ; 
Handb. N.Z. Fl. 8309; C. B. Clarke in Journ. Linn. Soc. xx. 389. 
U. scabra, Boott in Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 285. U. distansy 
Boott, l.c. 286. U. disticha, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xx. (1888) 
210. 
NortH AnD SoutH Isuanps, Stewart IsLAND.—F'rom Mongonui south- 
wards, not uncommon. Sea-level to 3000 ft. November—January. 
The distinctly scabrid utricles at once separate this from all its allies. Its 
habit is that of coarse states of U. riparia. 
9. U. riparia, &. Br. Prodr. 241.—Culms densely tufted, 
slender, leafy, trigonous, scabrid above, 9-20in. high. Leaves 
equalling or exceeding the culms, flat or slightly involute, ~,—4, in. 
broad ; margins scabrid. Spike 14-4 in. long, linear, lax, often 
interrupted below, 4-4 in. broad; male portion variable in length ; 
bract usually wanting but sometimes present and exceeding the 
spike. Glumes lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acute or obtuse, 
pale, membranous, 1-nerved on the back, shorter than the utricle. 
Otricle lanceolate, acuminate, narrowed at the base, quite glabrous, 
faintly nerved, about tin. long ; bristle twice as long as the utricle. 
—-Hook. f. Fl. Tasm. ii. 102, t. 1528; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 434 ; 
C. B. Clarke in Journ. Linn. Soc. xx. 392. U. laxiflora, Petrie in 
Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvii. (1885) 271. (2?) U. obtusata, Col. in Trans. 
N.Z. Inst. xvi. (1884) 341. 
Var. Banksii, C. B. Clarke in Journ. Linn. Soc. xx. 392.—Leaves narrower, 
almost filiform, ~,-,in. broad. Glumes very short, often not more than half 
the length of the utricle. U. Banksii, Boott in Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 287; 
Handb. N.Z. Fl. 310. U. capillaris, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xx. (1888) 210. 
NortH AnD SourH Is~tanps, Stewart Is~tanpD: The typical form in hilly 
districts from Pirongia Mountain and Taranaki southwards, most plentiful 
towards the south of the South Island. Var. Banksii: Abundant in the North 
Island, especially northwards of the East Cape, less common in the South 
Island, but extending as far as Foveaux Strait. Sea-level to 3000 ft. 
November—January. 
