272 FLORA OF NEW ZEALAND. | Cyperacea. 
aristatis. Stylus 3-fidus, basi simplici. Nwa compressa, late obovata, leevis.—-Herba erecta, elata, siccitate 
flava ; culmo obtuse trigono, striato, rigido; foliis squarrosis, pedalibus, rigide coriaceis, flexuosis, pungentibus, 
apices versus carinatis, denticulatis ; bracteis foliaceis, elongatis, basi lata decurrentibus ; pseud-amentis 
spicularum unilateralibus, interruptis. 
A tall, rigid, squarrose, excessively harsh plant, allied to Holoschenus, very yellow when dry, much used for 
thatching, etc., by the natives.—Rhizome creeping, sheathed, woody. Culms erect, stout, three-angled, striated, 
1-8 feet high, leafy at the base, bearing at the top a kind of malformed catkin, or succession of catkins, amongst 
which grow very long, foliaceous, rigid, wiry bractese. Leaves very numerous, squarrose, concave above, keeled below 
towards the long harsh points, margins cutting, with minute teeth. Flowering part of culm a span long, of con- 
fluent clusters of sessile red-brown spikelets, occupying one side only of the culm, and spirally arranged. Brac- 
teal leaves with adnate, open, denticulate, sheathing, decurrent bases, produced into flexuose, rigid, subulate 
apices, a foot long. Spikelets sessile, globose, of many imbricated, concave, striated, blunt, obovate, shining scales. 
Stamens three; anthers linear, with a long terminal awn. Ovary without bristles; style trifid, deciduous, not 
jointed. Nut compressed, broadly obovate, blunt, quite smooth. (Name from deoun, a bundle or truss, and 
TXOWOS, a rush.) 
1. Desmoschcenus spiralis, Hook. fil. Isolepis spiralis, A. Rich. Flor. p. 105. 4. 19. A. Cunn. Prodr. 
Scirpus frondosus, Banks et Sol. MSS. 
Has. Northern and Middle Islands, Banks and Solander, etc. Nat. name, “ Pingao,” Colenso. 
Gen. VI. FIMBRISTYLIS, Vahi. 
Spicula solitarie v. umbellatee, undique imbricate, fere omnes florifere. Stylus compressus, ovario 
articulatus, basi ciliatus, bulbosus. Stigmata 2, raro 3. Sete hypogyne 0. 
Chiefly tropical grassy weeds, abundant in Australia. There is but one New Zealand species (apparently the 
F. velata of Port Jackson), forming a slender tufted herb, a span high, with panicled spreading involucrate umbels 
of ovate, acute, pedicellate, compressed spikelets. Leaves slender, long, filiform, subulate, soft; involucral ones 
longer than the inflorescence. Scales all bearing flowers, imbricated on all sides, ovate, acute, nerved, recurved, 
scabrid or hispid at the back. Bristles 0. Stamen one. Style bifid, compressed, bulbous below, the bulb covered 
with long cilia, that spread downwards over the ovary. Nut turgid, broadly obovate, compressed, with thickened 
margins, white smooth surface, surmounted with the persistent bulbous base of the style. (Name from the jim- 
briated style.) 
1. Fimbristylis velata, Br.; culmis gracilibus flaccidis, foliis subsetaceo-filiformibus culmo «equilongis 
vaginis glaberrimis, umbella composita involucrum zequante v. superante, spiculis ovatis acutis pedicellatis 
pallidis, squamis subrecurvis sparse hispidis subacutis nervosis monandris, nuce late obovata pallida levi 
compressa marginibus incrassatis, styli bifidi basi pilis densissime sublanata.—Br. Prodr. 
Has. Northern Island. Bay of Islands, Auckland, etc., Colenso, Sinclair. 
Gen. VII. CARPHA, Banks et Sol. 
Spieule fasciculate v. paniculate, uni-bi-flore. Squame distiche, inferiores vacuse. Seta hypogyne 
elongate, 3-6, planze, lineares, plumose, squamis »quilonge. Stylus trifidus, ovario inarticulatus. Nue 
prismatica, styli basi cuspidata. 
The typical species, of which there are three, are natives, one of a high southern latitude, in Fuegia, another 
of Port Jackson, and the third of lofty mountains of Tasmania and New Zealand.—C. alpina is a densely tufted, 
rigid, wiry alpine plant, an inch to a foot high. Leaves linear-setaceous, blunt, grooved above, with broad, quite 
