Victorian Plants. 173 



830. Sepals pale or greenish-yellowish at the summit ... 831 

 Sepals red at the summit ... ... ... 834 



831. Prostrate. 



Basal leaves spatular-obovate ; stem-leaves more lanceolar ; 

 spike somewhat elongated, bearing a rather soft vesti- 

 ture ; bract pointed ; sepals about twice as long as the 

 bracteoles. P. spatulatus. 



Erect 832 



832. Spike mostly abbreviated. 



Stem mostly simple ; leaves from lanceolar to linear ; 

 carinular venule of bract and bracteoles faint ; sepals 

 very long, pale-yellowish. P. macrocephalus. 



Spike mostly elongated ... ... ... ... 833 



833. Lower leaves many times longer than broad. 



Leaves crisped ; spike very long ; bract and bracteoles quite 

 colorless and transparent, much shining, rounded blunt, 

 their carinular venule almost obliterated. 



P. alopecuroides. 



Lower leaves twice or thrice longer than broad. 



Rather robust ; leaves glabrous, the lower obovate-elliptical, 

 the upper narrow ; spike slightly yellowish, some of the 

 upper flowers imperfect ; bract much pointed ; carinular 

 venule of bract and bracteoles prominent. 



P. nobilis. 



834. Spike often elongated. 



Rather tall and robust ; leaves generally glabrous, the lower 

 from obovate to lanceolar, the upper mostly narrower ; 

 spike usually somewhat conical ; bract brownish, very 

 pointed ; sepals mostly large, light-purplish, hardly half 

 as long as the bracteoles. P. ex alt at us, 



Spike always capitular. 



Ascendent or erect, never tall ; leaves all nearly linear ; 

 bract short-pointed ; sepals usually curved upwards, 

 hardly half as long as the bracteoles. 



P. erubesceus. 



