Carex. | CYPERACEZ. 811 
3. C. pterocarpa, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxi. (1899) 353.— 
A dwarf species, forming depressed patches 3-5in. diam. Rhizome 
stout, creeping, clothed with dark-brown scales. Culms very short, 
stout, densely tufted, $-lin. long, rarely more. Leaves sheathing 
the culms to the top and much exceeding them, 4-2 in. long, 4,—4in. 
broad, tapering upwards to an acute point, somewhat rigid and 
coriaceous, flat or involute, deeply grooved; margins scabrid above. 
Spikelets 2-4, compacted into a broadly ovoid head 4-4in. long, 
androgynous, pale brownish-green, {—} in. long ; lowest bract usually 
with a foliaceous tip. Glumes ovate, acute, membranous, with a 
pale-green centre and brown margins. Male flowers at the top of 
the spikelets, female flowers below. Utricle elliptic-ovoid, plano- 
convex, conspicuously winged, strongly nerved, narrowed upwards 
into a bifid beak; margins and beak serrulate. Styles 2. Nut 
broadly oblong, lenticular.—C. Thomsoni,, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. 
Inst. xviii. (1886) 298 (not of Boott). 
SourH Istanp: Otago—Hector Mountains, Mount Pisa, Old Man Range, 
Petrie ! 4500-6500 ft. 
A very distinct little plant. 
4. C. Kirkii, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xviii. (1886) 297.— 
Rhizome stout, woody, creeping. Culms short, densely tufted, 
slender, smooth, leafy throughout, $-3in. high. Leaves sheathing 
the whole or greater part of the culm and much longer than it, 
2-6 in. long, pale-green, involute, filiform, usually strict and wiry. 
Spikelets 3-5, compacted into a dense oblong spike 1-4in. long, 
sessile, androgynous, pale-green, few-flowered, 1—1in. long ; bract 
usually foliaceous. Glumes ovate-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, 
membranous, with a green midrib and pale margins. Male flowers 
2-3 at the top of the spikelets, sometimes absent in the lower ones ; 
female flowers 3-5 at the base. Ubtricle ovate-lanceolate, plano- 
convex, narrowed into a rather long bifid beak, strongly nerved, 
coriaceous, minutely papillose all over ; margins and beak very 
finely crenulate. Styles 2. Nut broadly oblong, lenticular. 
Var. membranacea, Kukenthal, MS.—Taller. Leaves 6-10in. long, 
sheathing nearly the whole of the culm and twice as long asit. Spikelets 5-6, 
forming a loose spike ?-lin. long. Utricle more membranous, narrower, with a 
longer and more tapering beak. 
Var. elatior, Kuthenthal, MS.—Still taller, the culms 6-12in. long, the 
upper half not sheathed by the leaves. Leaves 9-18in. long, broader, some- 
time 7; in., flat or involute at the base. Spikelets 4-8 in a lax spike ?-13in. 
long, the lowest sometimes remote. Ubricle as in var. membranacea, but more 
coriaceous. 
SourH Isnanp: The typical form apparently not uncommon in mountain 
districts from the Clarence Valley to the south of Otago. Var. membranacea: 
Mount Arthur Plateau, 7. #.C. Var. elatior: Mount Arthur Plateau, 7. F.C. ; 
Mount St. Bathan’s (Otago), Petrie ! 2500-4500 ft. December—March, 
