Schcenus.l 
XI. CYPERACEAI. 
299 
Nut (in Tasmanian specimens) white, broadly obovate, 3-gonous, grooved, 
with impressed dots in the grooves. 
Northern Island : east coast, Colenso. A very common Australian and Tasmanian 
plant, allied to S. axillaris, but very much larger with long leaves. The Schcenus imberbis, 
A. Cunn., is not the plant of Brown, which has no bristles. 
6. S. concinnus. Hook. f. — Cheetospora concinna, FI. N. Z. i. 274. 
t. 62 B. Rhizome slender, creeping. Culms tufted, leafy, erect, very slen- 
der, 1-2 in. high, rigid, curved. Leaves shorter than the culms, setaceous, 
grooved ; sheaths almost black. Spikelet nearly terminal, solitary, suberect, 
slightly compressed, in. long, 2- or 3-flowered, dark-brown. Glumes 5 
or 6, scarcely distichous, oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, quite glabrous. Bristles 
6, very slender. Nut pale-brown, smooth, with a dense brash of hairs at 
the base, broadly ovate, 3-gonous ; tip and style scabrid. Stigmas 3. 
Northern Island : foot of Tongariro, and moist bases of cliffs on the east coast, Colenso. 
7. S. nitens, HooJc. f. — Chcetospora nitens, Br. ; FI. N. Z. i. 82. 
Rhizome slender, creeping. Culms densely tufted, 2-12 in. high, wiry, rigid, 
slender, leafy at the base. Leaves slender, erect, longer than the culms, 
semiterete, deeply grooved in front ; sheaths black-brown, shining. Spike- 
lets sessile, fascicled, 2-10 together, terminal or nearly so, £ in. long, 
ovoid, turgid, 2- or 3-flowered, dark-brown, shining. Glumes obscurely dis- 
tichous, 4-6, broadly ovate, obtuse, nerveless, grooved. Bristies numerous, 
or 6 plumose at the base. Nut pale-brown, smooth, 3-gonous. Stigmas 3. 
Northern Island : sandy flats, Porangahau, and Cape Palliser, Colenso. A very common 
Tasmanian and Australian plant, most closely allied to a South Chilian one. It is doubtful 
whether the bristles are 6 and divided to the base, or very numerous. 
3. CARPEA, Banks and Solander. 
Tufted, grass-like herbs. Leaves narrow linear, rigid, obtuse. Culm 
cylindric, obtusely 3-angled or compressed. — Spikelets in fascicles or corymbs, 
subtended by sheathing bracts, pale-yellow, compressed. Glumes distichous, 
few; lower small, empty; upper large, opposite, 1 floriferous; uppermost 
small. Bristles 3, or 6 in 2 series, as long as the glumes, plumose. Sta- 
mens 3. Nut 3-gonous, 3-ribbed ; base of style long, conical, persistent. 
A small genus, native of Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and Fuegia. 
1. C. alpina, Br. ; — FI. N. Z. i. 273. Culms 1-12 in. high, longer 
or shorter than the leaves. Leaves grooved above, with broad, shining, 
smooth or slightly scabrid sheaths. Spikelets fascicled, -j— | in. long. Glumes 
4-6, linear-oblong, glabrous, shining, concave. Bristles large, flat, feathery. 
Stigmas 2. 
Northern Island : Taupo plains and top of the Ruahine range, Colenso. Middle 
Island: Nelson mountains, alt. 4-5000 ft., Bidwill ; Chalky Bay, Lyall.. Also a native 
of the alps of South-east Australia and Tasmauia. 
4. SCXRPUS, Linn. 
Culms erect from creeping rhizomes, 3-gonous or 3-quetrous, stout or 
slender, leafy or leafless, sheathed at the base. — Spikelets fascicled umbelled 
panicled or corymbose, terete or angled, rarely compressed. Glumes nume- 
