Cheeseman. — Revision of the N.Z. Species of Carex. 427 



8. C. muricata, L. Species Plant. ; Cheeseman, Trans. N.Z. Inst., xvi., 

 p. 411. 



South Island.— Mount Owen, Nelson ; alt. 4,000 feet, T.F.C. 



Elsewhere I have stated that the identification of the New Zealand 

 plant with the northern C. muricata, L., must not be taken as finally 

 settled until mature fruiting specimens are obtained. So far as habit, 

 foliage and inflorescence are concerned, there is little apparent difference ; 

 but the young perigynia hardly match those of a similar age in English 

 and Swiss specimens. C. muricata is common in many parts of Europe, 

 and is also found in North Africa, North and Central Asia to the Himalaya 

 Mountains, and in North America. It has not been previously recorded 

 from the southern hemisphere. 



9. C. teretiuscula, Good., Linn. Trans., ii., 150 ; Hook. fil. Fl. Nov. 

 Zeal., i., 281 ; Handbfc. N.Z. Flora, 313. 



North Island. — Tangoia, Hawke's Bay, Colenso (Handbook) ; Euataniwha 

 Plains, H. Tryon ! 



South Island. — Not uncommon in marshy places in the mountain dis- 

 tricts. Motueka Valley, Wairau Valley, Upper Waimakariri, Lake Tekapo, 

 etc., T.F.C; Lake Ohau, Haast (Handbook); Lake Wakatipu, Valley of 

 the Dart, T. Kirk ; Strath Taieri, Port Molyneux, D. Petrie ! Altitudinal 

 range from sea-level to over 3,000 feet. 



By many authors this species is united with C. paniculata, some 

 northern forms of which approach it very closely. C. teretiuscula, however, 

 has a very different habit, and never forms the dense tussocks of 

 C. paniculata. It is usually much smaller, the stems more slender and 

 wiry, the panicles (or spikes) much shorter and broader, and the perigynia 

 are also slightly different. But there is little danger of its being confounded 

 with the New Zealand varieties of C. paniculata, all of which are widely 

 divergent. 



Outside New Zealand, C. teretiuscula is found in North and Central 

 Europe, the Himalaya Mountains, and in North America. 



10. C. paniculata, L. Species Plant., 1,383 ; Kunth, Enum. ii,, 359 ; 

 F. Muell. Veg. Chath. Isl., 59 ; Benth. Fl. Austral., vii., 440. 



Var. appressa. — Stouter, stems more acutely angled ; leaves wider (often 

 nearly h inch) ; panicles more erect and rigid, stouter and broader, with 

 more densely packed spikelets ; perigynia plano-convex, margins incurved, 

 faces very prominently nerved. C. appressa, Br. Prodr., 242; Hook. fil. 

 Fl. Antarct., i., 90 ; Flora Tasm., ii., 99 ; Handbook N.Z. Flora, 313 ; 

 Boott, 111. Car., i., 46, t. 119, 120. 



Var. virgata. — Slender, panicle longer and narrower, often interrupted 

 below, perigynia smaller, prominently nerved. C. virgata, Sol. ; Boott, I. c, 

 t. 121, 122; Hook. fil. Fl. Nov. Zeal., i., 282 ; Handbook N.Z. Flora, 313. 



