CYPERACEAE. 



13. Carex. 



A Spikelets few or many, the uppermost male, the lower 

 chiefly female. 



C. Style-branches 2 C. Gaudicha. diana 5. 



C. Style-branches 3 : 1 or more terminal spikelets male. 

 D. Spikelets erect, mostly sessile. 

 E. Utricle thick, glabrous. 



Male spikelets usually 2 or more C. pumila 6. 



Male spikelet solitary . C. Gunniana 8. 



E. Utricle thin, pubescent C. breviculmis 7. 



D. Spikelets long-stalked, drooping C. pseudocyperus 9. 



1. C. inversa, R. Br. Stems slender, 10-30 cm. high ; spikelets ovoid, 6-10 mm. long* 

 sessile in a terminal cluster or one lower down ; floral bracts leaflike, much longer than the 

 inflorescence ; male flowers usually at base of spikelet ; utricle compressed, obovate, 

 prominently nerved, ciliate on the edges, with a short bifid beak. 



Southern districts; South-East. Sept. -Dec. 



2. C. chlorantha, R. Br. Stems 15-60 cm. high, smooth and glabrous ; leaves shorter ; 

 spikelets 6-12, sessile in a dense terminal spike of 1^-2^ cm. ; floral bracts glume-like but 

 awned ; male flowers at summit of spikelets ; utricle compressed, with ciliate edges and 

 a short bifid beak. 



Lake Edward (South-East). Summer. 



3. C. appressa, R. Br. Stems tall, triquetrous, scabrous on the edges towards summit ; 

 leaves flat, with scabrous margins ; spikelets numerous erect, in a narrow spikelike panicle, 

 5-25 cm. long ; floral bracts usually inconspicuous ; utricle as in the preceding. — C. 

 paniculata, F. v. M. non L. 



Southern districts ; Flinders Range. Summer. 



4. C. tereticaulis, F. v. M. Like the preceding, except that the stems are smooth, 

 cylindrical, or obscurely trigonous. 



Same districts and season. 



5. C. Gaudichaudiana, Kunth. Stems slender, triquetrous with scabrous margins, 

 sometimes short ; leaves often longer, flat ; spikelets 3-8, cylindrical, 1J-6 cm. long, 

 distant, sessile except the lowest, which may be shortly pedunculate, the upper 1 or 2 

 male, the others female, sometimes with a few males at summit ; lower floral bracts long ; 

 glumes dark-brown, obtuse ; utricle 2-3 mm. long, flat, striate, with a short bifid beak ; 

 style -branches 2. — C. vulgaris, Fries, var. Gaudichaudiana, Boott ; C. caespitosa, R. Br. 

 non L. 



Southern districts ; Flinders Range. Sept. -Dec. 



6. C. pumila, Thunb. Stems triquetrous, 10-30 cm. 

 high ; leaves keeled in lower part, flat above ; spikelets 

 4-7, the males terminal, 1-4, and close together; the 

 remainder female, or with a few males at top, distant, the 

 lowest shortly pedunculate ; floral bracts long ; female 

 glumes reddish-brown, acute ; utricle about 5 mm. long, 

 golden-brown, thick in texture, with a short 2 -toothed 

 beak ; style-branches 3. 



Southern districts ; South-East ; Flinders Range. 

 Summer. 



Var. Bichenoviana, Kiikenth. Stouter and taller than 

 the type ; male spikelets 6-20, in a terminal cluster ; 

 female spikelets about 3, the lowest pedunculate ; 

 utricle 4 mm. long, often barren. — C. Bichenoviana, 

 Boott. 



Reedbeds ; Grange Road. Summer. 



Fig. 24 

 Carex pumila, var. Bichenoviana. 



7. C. breviculmis, R. Br. Stems 1-15 cm. long ; leaves and bracts narrower than in 

 the preceding ; spikelets 3-4, the terminal male ; female glumes with a long mucro, 

 equalling or exceeding the utricle, which is 4 mm. long, including the short stipes and 

 conical beak, and is minutely pubescent. 



Mount Lofty Range ; South-East. Summer. 



8. C. Gunniana, Boott. In our specimens usually smaller than C. pumila ; spikelets 

 3-6, the male one terminal, solitary, the lowest female spikelet sometimes on a long 

 peduncle ; female glumes obtuse, golden, with a green keel and mucro : utricle pale or 

 greenish, with a slightly longer and more slender beak. 



Southern districts and South-East. Summer. 



