Carex. | CYPERACE!. 833 
44. C. trifida, Cav. Ic. v. 41, t. 465.—A very tall and stout 
species, forming dense tussocks 1-2 ft. diam. Culms stout, erect, 
2-4 ft. high, obtusely trigonous, quite smooth, thickened at the 
base, copiously leafy. Leaves very large, overtopping the culms, 
3-6 ft. long, 4-4in. broad, sheathing at the base, keeled, rigid, 
striate ; aoe scabrid. Spikelets 6-12, very large and stout, 
3-5 in. long, 4-2 in. broad ; ia 2-4 male, rather closely placed, 
sessile or nearly so; lower 4-6 female, further apart, shortly 
stalked, the lowest often compound ; bracts long, leafy. Glumes 
linear-oblong or lanceolate, deeply bifid, membranous, chestnut- 
brown; midrib produced into a long hispid awn. Utricle shorter 
than the glumes or almost equalling them, stipitate and attenuate 
at the base, oblong-obovoid, turgid, obsoletely trigonous, strongly 
nerved, rather abruptly contracted into a 2-toothed beak. Styles 3. 
Nut obovoid-oblong, trigonous. — Raoul, Choix, 40; Hook. f. Fl. 
Antarct. 1.89; Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 284; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 316; Cheesem. 
in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi. (1884) 439. ©. incrassata, Sol. ex Boott, 
Ill. Car. iv. 138. 
SournH Is~tanp: Marlborough—Queen Charlotte Sound, Banks and Solan- 
der, Canterbury—Akaroa, Raoul. Otago—Near Dunedin, Buchanan! Lindsay, 
Petrie! Bluff Hill, Kirk! Dusky Sound, Lyall. Svrmwarr Istanp: Petrie! 
THE SNARES, AUCKLAND AND CAMPBELL ISLANDS, ANTIPODES IsLaAND: Not 
uncommon, Sir J. D. Hooker, Kirk ! 
Also in temperate South America, from Chili to Fuegia and the Falkland 
Islands. The large size, stout habit, and numerous massive spikelets readily 
distinguish it from any other species found in New Zealand. 
45. C. breviculmis, R. Br. Prodr. 242.—Culms short, tufted, 
erect or spreading from the base, 1-6in. high. Leaves very much 
longer than the culms, spreading, 34,34, in. broad, flat, grooved ; 
margins euently scabrid above. Spikelets 2-5, small, green, ap- 
proximate, g—-3 in. long; terminal one male; remainder all female, 
sometimes with male flowers at the top, erect, sessile or the lowest 
very shortly pedunculate; bracts long, narrow, leafy. Glumes 
laxly imbricate, ovate, pale-green, membranous; midrib stout, 
produced into a long hispidawn. Utricles shorter than the glumes, 
stipitate, narrow-elliptic, trigonous, faintly many-nerved, green, 
pubescent, narrowed upwards into a short pyramidal beak. Styles 
3. Nut elliptic-obovoid, trigonous ; style-base dilated just above 
the top of the nut.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 283, t. 63a; Handb. 
N.Z. Fl. 316; Fl. Tasm. ii. 101; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 445; 
Boott, Ill. Car. iv. 181; Cheesem. m Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi. (1884) 
439. 
Nortu anpD Soutu Isnanps: Abundant from the North Cape to Foveaux 
Strait. Sea-level to 3000 ft. October—March. 
Easily recognised by the small size and pubescent utricles. Also found in 
Australia and Tasmania, the Himalaya Mountains, China, and Japan. 
27—F. 
