A New Species of Carex (Cyperaceae) from Fiji: 
Pacific Plant Studies 6 1 
Harold St. John 2 
INTRODUCTION 
Carex is the largest genus of the 
Cyperaceae, having well over 1,000 species. 
This genus of sedges is abundantly repre¬ 
sented in the Arctic and Temperate Zones 
of the Northern Hemisphere. In the Tropics 
there are but few species. The genus ex¬ 
tends to the continents of the Southern 
Hemisphere, but the representation there is 
meager. In the tropical Pacific, some islands 
support a very few species, while the others 
entirely lack the genus. In view of this dis¬ 
tribution, it is of interest to announce a 
newly discovered species from Fiji. 
A NEW FIJIAN CAREX 
Carex vitiensis St. John, sp. nov. Fig. 1. 
Rhizomatis breve caespitosis lignosis, culmis 
9-10 dm. altis erectis nudis trigonis glabris striatis, 
laminis multis 7-8 dm. longis 4-6.5 mm. latis pal- 
lide viridibus longe acuminatis glabris striatis mar- 
ginibus scabris, vaginis brunneis omnibus lamini- 
feris, inflorescentiis 45-55 cm. longis 1-1.5 cm. 
latis interrupts, nodis 6-8, bracteis foliaceis ocreis 
anguste cylindricis inferis 4-6 cm. longis, laminis 
inferis 3-4.5 dm. longis, nodis 5-l4-spiculiferis, 
spiculis adscendentibus androgynis lateralibus 2- 
6.5 cm. longis 1.5-3 mm. latis, pedunculis 1-11 
cm. longis filiformibus scaberulis, floribus masculis 
paucis ad apicem spicorum, squamis foemineis 
2.2-3.2 mm. longis obovatis nervosis glabris costis 
1 This is the sixth in a series of papers designed 
to present .descriptions, revisions, and records of 
Pacific island plants. The preceding papers were 
published as Bernice P. Bishop Museum Occa¬ 
sional Papers: 17 (7), 1942; 17 (13), 1943; 18 
(5), 1945; Amer. Fern Jour. 35: 87-89, 1945; 
Torrey Bot. Club Bui. 73: 588, 1946. 
2 Chairman, Department of Botany, University 
of Hawaii. Manuscript received November 13, 
1946. 
viridibus marginibus hyalinis albidis apice mucro- 
niferis, utriculis 4.8-5.2 mm. longis 1-1.2 mm. 
latis trigonis breve hirsutulis viridescentibus lateris 
plerumque valde trinervosis corporibus anguste 
fusiformibus, stigmatis 3, stylo incluso, achaeneis 
2.7-3 mm. longis lucidis stramineis trigonis cor¬ 
poribus anguste ellipticis lateribus canaliculatis ad 
basim cuneatis ad apicem et basim styli durescen- 
tibus contractis. 
Forming dense clumps; rhizome short, densely 
caespitose, horizontal or descending, woody; culms 
9-10 dm. tall, 1.5-2 mm. in diameter, central, 
erect, naked, sharply trigonous, glabrous, striate, 
greenish; leaves numerous, shorter than the culms, 
7-8 dm. long, 4-6.5 mm. wide, flat, pale green, 
long tapering, glabrous, finely striate nerved, the 
margins scabrous; leaf sheaths brown, prominent, 
all leaf-bearing; inflorescence 45-55 cm. long, 
1-1.5 cm. wide, elongate, interrupted, the nodes 
6-8; the bracts with the base green, closely sheath¬ 
ing, long cylindric, the lowest one 4-6 cm. long, 
the others shorter, the blades foliaceous, exceeding 
their spikes, the lowest one 3-4.5 dm. long; spikes 
5-14 at each node, slender peduncled, ascending 
or the tips slightly diverging; peduncles 1-11 cm. 
long, filiform, scaberulous; spikes androgynous, 
the lateral ones 2-6.5 cm. long, with a short stami- 
nate apex, the terminal one 2.5-5 cm. long with 
one or a few pistillate flowers at base; pistillate 
portion of spikes 1.5-3 mm. in diameter, slender 
cylindric, loosely flowered, the ascending perigynia 
partly imbricate; pistillate scales 2.2-3.2 mm. long, 
obovate, the back green, the margins hyaline and 
whitish, nerves numerous, parallel, close, glabrous 
except for the midrib excurrent into a scabrous 
awn to !/4 the length of the body; staminate 
scales similar but somewhat narrower and straw- 
colored; perigynia 4.8-5.2 mm. long, 1—1.2 mm. 
wide, trigonous, short white hirsutulous through¬ 
out, especially on the angles and beak, greenish, 
strongly nerved, usually with 3 nerves on each side 
and with marginal nerves, the body slender fusi¬ 
form, tapering into a slender, rigidly bidentate 
beak nearly as long, the body with the two outer 
faces nearly plane, the inner side channeled; stig¬ 
mas 3; style included; achene 2.7-3 mm. long, 
smooth, straw-colored, sharply trigonous, with 
wing-like angles and concave faces, the body nar¬ 
rowly elliptic, tapering to the 0.3 mm. stipitate 
116 
