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PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. IV, July, 1950 
thal, 1909: 657). The section is widespread, 
occurring on all the continents, with a partic- 
ular complex in Australia. As judged from 
written descriptions and plates Carex montis- 
eeka Hillebd. seems to approach Carex sero- 
tina Merat. ( Carex Oederi Retz. ) (Kiiken- 
thal, 1909: 301-303). It differs in the cen- 
tral nature of the perigynial veining, and in 
the extreme rigidity of the culm and involute 
leaves found in Carex montis-eeka Hillebd. 
Skottsberg (1944: 333) uses the spelling 
montis-Eke, applying Article 70 of the Inter- 
national Rules of Nomenclature. The capi- 
talization of Eke is permissible (Art. 70, 
note 1), but there is no indication that "eeka” 
is an unintentional typographic or ortho- 
graphic error even if it may be a corruption 
of the present spelling for Mount Eke. The 
original spelling must be retained in the ab- 
sence of such proof. 
Kiikenthal (1909: 435) describes Carex 
montis-eeka var. viridens as follows: "Squa- 
mae tenuiores pallidiones. Utriculi squamos 
large superantes oblique patentes virides ni- 
tidi oblongo elipsoidei, in rostrum magis con- 
spicuum emarginatum abeuntes. Sandwich 
Inseln: Kauai, Hanapepe (Faurie no. 1204).” 
The type was secured and examined for these 
characters. The bracts are scarcely shorter 
than the large perigynia. They are slightly 
more hyaline than is usual but certainly not 
exceptional enough to indicate genetic differ- 
ence. The rostra are only slightly more 
strongly bidentate than those in the rest of 
the population. Other Kauai specimens were 
examined to determine the constancy of the 
characters given. Cranwell, Selling, and 
Skottsberg 2807, collected in the region of 
the Faurie number, has the characters given 
by Kiikenthal. The perigynia exceed the 
bracts by at least half their length; they are 
at an oblique angle with the rachis; they are 
green and shiny; and there is a slight groove 
in the rostrum. From the fresh stigmas it is 
clear that this is an immature specimen. The 
scales are still green and in growing condi- 
tion, the lower older ones already much 
larger than the upper ones. The characters 
given are all those of a young inflorescence. 
None of the other Kauai specimens shows 
these features except in the more immature 
spikes. 
Carex montis-eeka Hillebrand f. filifolia 
(Skottsberg) comb. nov. 
Fig. 5 
Carex montis-Eke var. flifolia Skottsb., 
Acta Horti. Gotob. 15: 333, 1944. 
Fruiting plants like those of the species 
but dwarfed; fertile culms 10-12 cm. tall, 
rarely to 33 cm. tall; leaves 0. 1-0.5 mm. 
wide, 10-15, rarely 25, cm. tall, awl-shaped, 
channeled; inflorescence of 2-3 spikes, 3-6 
perigynia per spike. 
Type: L. M. Cranwell, O. Selling, C. 
Skottsberg 3042, summit of Waialeale, 
Kauai, Aug. 23, 1938. 
Species examined 
KAUAI: Cranwell, Selling, Skottsberg 
3039, summit region of Waialeale, Aug. 23, 
1938; Cranwell, Selling, Skottsberg 3042, 
(See Type); Rock 12734, Waialeale Swamp, 
Oct. 10, 1911. 
Carex montis-eeka Hillebrand var. filifolia 
Skottsberg is retained as a form although 
only three specimens have been collected and 
one of these is less distinct than the others. 
Essentially, the difference is in the dwarf fili- 
form aspect of the vegetative parts. Inspec- 
tion of the plants, however, indicates that the 
rhizome is an old one and the growth habit 
is constant. The plant is found only on 
Mount Waialeale in Kauai well within the 
geographic and ecologic range of the species. 
The variety is being reduced to a form not 
out of a desire arbitrarily to change categories 
but from the belief that this form is an un- 
usual biotype of the species only ecolog- 
ically modified to the stature at hand. Fur- 
ther collections of a large mass of material 
