Fimbrostylis. | CYPERACEAE. 219 
1. F. squarrosa Vahl. Enum. 1 (1806) 289.—A slender more or less 
pubescent annual 2-8in. high; stems numerous, tufted, striate. Leaves 
linear, setaceous, shorter than the stems. Umbel terminal, usually com- 
pound, 1-3in. diam.; rays slender, unequal, 1-2in. long; bracts 3-4, 
similar to the leaves, often exceeding the umbel. Spikelets numerous, 
on slender pedicels, 4-4 in. long, narrow-ovoid, brownish. Glumes elliptic- 
lanceolate, acuminate, keeled, 3-nerved, more or less squarrose. Stamens 
i or 2. Style pubescent, the bulbiform base with numerous long hairs 
which hang over the nut and are closely appressed to it; style-branches 2. 
Nut about 4 the length of the glume, obovoid-oblong, biconvex, pale- 
yellow, smooth. 
Var. velata C. B. Clarke.-—Nerves of the glumes almost fused into a solid keel, 
the excurrent tip not nearly so squarrose.--F. velata R. Br. Prodr. (1810) 227; Hook. 
f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 272; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii (1878) 309. FF. dichotoma Hook, 
f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 303 (not of Vahl.). 
Norra Jstanp: Auckland—Bay of Islands, Colenso/ near Auckland (?), Sinclair ; 
Port Waikato, 7. Kirk/ hot springs at Ohinemutu, Lake Rotorua, 7’. Kirk! 7. F.C. ; 
Lake Rotomahana, Filhol. Sea-level to 1000 ft. December- February. 
The typical form of the species is found in most warm countries; the var. velata 
is restricted to eastern Australia and New Zealand. 
6. SCIRPUS Linn. 1! 75S 
Glabrous annual or perennial herbs of very various habit, small and 
tufted, or tall and stout with a creeping rhizome. Leaves usually from 
near the base of the stem, long or short, sometimes reduced to appressed 
sheaths. Spikelets usually many-flowered, solitary or fascicled, or more 
numerous and umbellate or panicled. Glumes imbricate all round the 
rhachis; lowest 1 or 2 empty; several or many succeeding ones herma- 
phrodite and fruit-bearing; the uppermost sterile. Hypogynous bristles 
3-8 or wanting. Stamens 3 or fewer. Style long or short, passing gradually 
into the nut; style-branches 2 or 3. Nut obovoid or broadly oblong, 
trigonous or plano-convex, sessile or nearly so, 
A somewhat heterogeneous assemblage of about 145 species, found in all parts 
of the world, both tropical and temperate. Of the 13 species found in New Zealand, 
4 are generally distributed in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres ; 6 extend 
to Australia, 3 of them reaching South Africa as well; 1 is found in Tristan d’Acunha ; 
the remaining 2 are endemic. The student will find it a difficult and perplexing task 
to discriminate between several of the species of the first section. + 
Isolepis K-Kr. Fnode. 22> 110 
Section I. Isolepis. Usually small and slender plants. Spikelets in clusters or solitary. 
Hypogynous bristles wanting. 
* Spikelets solitary or 2-3 in a head. 
Stems long, slender, often much branched and floating. Spikelet 
solitary. Style-branches 2. Nut biconvex, white te 
Stems very short, 4-4 in. long, leafy. Spikelets usually solitary, 
concealed by the leaves. Style-branches 2. Nut biconvex, 
brown v3 « Ae va A ea 
Stems 1-6 in., branched below. Leaves several, equalling the stems. 
Spikelets 1-2. Style - branches 3. Nut obovoid, obtusely 
trigonous, white .. , Ae = 4 e 
Stems 2?-6in. Leaves 1~2, shorter than the stems. Spikelets 1-3. 
Style-branches 3. Nut obovoid, obtusely trigonous .. a 
1. S. lenticularis. 
2. S. basilaris. 
3. S. Aucklandicus. 
4, S. cernuus. - 
