Eleocharis. | CYPERACEAE. 217 
minutely granular, pale, crowned with the persistent dark-brown conic 
swollen base of the style—A. Cunn. Precur. (1836) n. 277 ; Raoul Chorx 
(1846) 40; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 269 ; Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 300 ; 
Benth. Fl. Austral. vii (1878) 292 (Heleocharis) ; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 
(1906) 767; OC. B. Clarke Ill. Cyp. (1909) t. xxxiv, f. 1-6. Dec, 2 
Norra Istanp : Wet swamps and margins of lakes, not uncommon at low altitudes, 1>/x“/3¢ 
Sourn Istanp: Nelson—Takaka, 7. Kirk! Canterbury—J. B. Armstrong. Westland— 
Okarito, A. Hamilton! Southland—Bluff Island, Lyall. Stewart IsutAND: Head of 
Paterson’s Inlet, Petrie! swamps from Fresh-water Valley to Mason Bay, Cockayne. 
Sea-level to 1500 ft. December—February. 
An abundant Australian and Tasmanian plant, and very closely allied to the widely 
diffused H. plantaginea R. Br. 
2, E. neo-zedlandica C. B. Clarke ex T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. 
-xxxi (1894) 260.—Rhizome slender, creeping, 1-3in. long. Stems short, 
1-2Lin. high, striate; sheath membranous, mouth oblique. Spikelet 
solitary, terminal, }-}in. long, broadly ovoid, much wider than the stem, 
4-8-flowered. Glumes broadly ovate, concave, obtuse, red-brown with .a 
paler centre and scarious margins. Hypogynous bristles wanting. Sta- 
mens 3. Style with 2 linear arms and a very small swollen base. Nut 
obovoid, biconvex, smooth, pale-brown.— Cheesem. Man. N.Z, Fl. (1906) _ 
768; CO. B. Clarke Ill. Cyp. (1909) t. xxxvi, £, 10-14, Weanitege Trans. 68: 250 
| Norra Isnanp: Auckland—Sand-dunes between Cape Maria van Diemen and 
hi set 1. ! H . Oe — We Aa 9 Ee 
A BPE ating’ i Guay ron VB ier yee cape 7 wit roe { $7.2 30 
A curious little species, belonging to the section Eleogenus, characterized by the 
spikelets broader than the slender stems, membranous glumes, and 2-fid style. Mr. 
Clarke remarks that it approaches the section Isolepis of Scirpus in the absence 
of hypogynous bristles and the reduced size of the swollen base of the style. 
| : (aA) Set TAmens CF ve Nene Na 
3. E. aeieularis .R. Br. Prodr. (1810) 224.—Rhizome very slender, 
almost filiform, creeping, stoloniferous. Stems numerous, tufted, extremely 
slender, capillary, 2-6 in. high; sheaths membranous, acute. Spikelet small, 
slender, 4-1 in. long, compressed, pale to dark-brown, 3-6-flowered, Glumes 
ovate, obtuse, membranous, brown with a greenish or pale centre and 
narrow scarious margins. Hypogynous bristles 2-4, short, deciduous. 
Style-branches 3; style-base small, conic, depressed. Nut small, pale, 
obovoid-oblong, longitudinally ribbed and with minute transverse striae 
between the ribs.—Kunth Enum. ii (1833) 141; C. B. Clarke in Hook. f. 
Fl. Brit, Ind. vi (1893) 628. Scerpue aera antn hh. Dye, (71. wR, 
SourH Isnanp: Otago—Lake Te Anau, Petrie / (Ne. 1647). 
I have seen no specimens but Mr. Petrie’s, which are in young flower only. Mr. 
C. B. Clarke, who has examined them, states that he is satisfied that they belong to 
the small group consisting of HZ. acicularis and a very few closely allied species, and 
most probably to #. acicularis itself, which is an almost cosmopolitan plant, although 
not yet recorded from Australia. 
4. E. acuta R. Br. Prodr. (1810) 224.—Rhizome creeping. Stems 
numerous, tufted, 4-18in. high, rather stout or slender, striate; sheath 
closely appressed to the stem, with a horizontally truncate mouth, the 
margin of which is thickened and usually dark-coloured, with a small erect 
mucro or rudimentary lamina on one side. Spikelet variable in length, 
13 in. or more, linear-oblong, cylindric, obtuse or subacute, many-flowered. 
Glumes broadly ovate, obtuse, membranous, concave, brown with usually 
a pale line down the centre ; margins broad, scarious. Hypogynous scales 
