812 CYPERACEX. (Carex. 
An exceedingly variable plant. Depauperated states, with few-flowered 
spikelets, are easily mistaken for C. resectans, although the position of the male 
flowers at once separates the two plants. Var. elatior approaches C. trachycarpa, 
but is smaller and more slender, with narrower leaves, the inflorescence is much 
more lax, and the uvricles are smaller and narrower. 
5. C. trachycarpa, Cheesem: in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxiv. (1892) 
413.—Culms densely tufted, stout or rather slender, trigonous, 
scabrid above, 6-14in. high. Leaves longer or shorter than the 
culms, flat, grassy, striate, 4,-$in. broad; margins slightly scabrid 
above. Spikelets 4-10, compacted into an oblong or linear-oblong 
spike 4-1 in. long, androgynous, brown or pale-brown, ovoid, 4-4 in. 
long; lowest bract leafy, shorter or longer than the spike. Glumes 
ovate, acuminate or awned, pale-chestnut or pale-brown, with pale- 
green midribs and hyaline margins. Male flowers at the top of 
the spikelets, usually few. Utricle ovoid, plano-convex, narrowed 
into a short bifid beak, strongly nerved, minutely papillose all over ; 
margins finely crenulate above. Styles 2. Nut oblong, lenticular. 
—C. muricata, Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst, xvi. (1884) 411, 427 
(not of Linn.). 
SourH Is~taAnD: Nelson— Mount Arthur, Mount Peel, Mount Owen, 
T. F. C.; Mount Mantell, Townson ! 3000-4500 ft. December—March. 
In my revision of the New Zealand species I erroneously referred this to 
C. muricata, from which it differs altogether in the much smaller differently 
shaped utricles, which do not spread when ripe, and are minutely papillose on 
both surfaces. Its nearest ally is C. Kirkii var. elatior. 
6. C. Muelleri, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xviii. (1886) 298.— 
Pale whitish-green. Rhizome stout, woody, creeping. Culms 
densely tufted, slender, strict and wiry, terete below, compressed 
or plano-convex above, grooved, perfectly smooth, 6—%4in. high. 
Leaves shorter than the culms, narrow, ;;in. broad, strict and 
wiry, concave in front, convex on the back, grooved; margins 
smooth or slightly scabrid above. Inflorescence nearly dicecious 
or altogether so; spikelets 6-10, collected into a linear terminal 
spike 4-14 in. long, sessile, few-flowered, about +in. long; those 
of the male plant with an occasional female flower or altogether 
unisexual, those of the female sometimes with a staminate flower 
at the top of the spikelets; bracts short. Glumes lanceolate, 
acuminate or awned, thin and membranous, pale whitish-green. 
Utricle narrow-lanceolate, plano-convex, nerved, winged above and 
tapering into a very long bidentate beak, both surfaces minutely 
papillose above; margins ciliate-serrate. Styles 2. Nut linear- 
oblong, smooth, lenticular.—C. viridis, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. 
xlii. (1881) 332; Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi. (1884) 428 (not 
of Schlecht. and Cham.). 
SoutH Isuanp: Nelson—Clarence Valley, 7. F. C.; valley of the Stanley, 
Kirk! Canterbury—Mackenzie Plains, Lakes Tekapo and Pukaki, 7. F. C. 
Otago—Rough Ridge, Clarke’s Diggings, Carrick Range, Nevis Valley, Mount 
Cardrona, Petrie ! 2000-4000 ft. December—February. 
