226 CYPERACEAE. [Scirpus. 
13. §. maritimus Linn. Sp. Plant. (1753) 74.—Rhizome woody, creep- 
ing, the nodes often dilated into hard tubers. Stems stout, sharply tri- 
angular, 1-3 ft. high or more. Leaves from near the base of the stem and 
often exceeding it, broad, flat, grassy. Inflorescence an irregular terminal 
umbel of few unequal rays, often contracted into a compact cluster ; bracts 
3-4, 3-9in. long, similar to the leaves. Spikelets 3—} 1m. long, sessile or 
peduncled, ovoid or cylindric, brown, many-flowered. Glumes ovate, 
membranous, 2-lobed at the tip with a short intermediate awn, usually 
pubescent towards the tip. Hypogynous bristles 3-6, shorter than the nut, 
retrorsely scabrid. Stamens 3. Style-branches 3 or 2, long, linear. Nut 
less than 4 the length of the glume, broadly obovoid, compressed, 
flat on one side, convex or obtusely angled on the other, smooth and 
polished, brown when fully ripe-——Raoul Chore (1846) 40; Hook. f. #1. 
Nov. Zel. i (1853) 269; Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 300; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. 
Fl. (1906) 778. de Swern 5 Bromen LT. are 
Var. fluviatilis Torr. in Ann. Lyceum New York, iii (1836) 324.—Taller and stouter, 
3-6 ft. high. Leaves broader, }in. diam. or more ; bracts longer. Umbel larger, more 
often compound; rays 3-9. Spikelets large, pale-brown. Style-branches 3. Nut 
narrower, oblong-obovoid, trigonous, conspicuously beaked, white or pale-brown, opaque. 
polished.—Benth. Fl. Austral. vii (1878) 335. 8. fluviatilis. Asa Gray Man. Bot. U.S. 
(1856) 500. (Tae) 
Var. macrostachya Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer. v (1803) 32.—Umbels simple or compound. 
Spikelets large, sometimes over Lin. long. Style-branches almost always 2. Nut 
large, broadly obovoid, flat on one side and obscurely angled on the other, white or pale- 
brown, opaque, not polished.—Asa Gray Man. ae Us (18p6) 500 mi 
Norte anp SoutH Istanps: The two varieties not uncommon in brackish-water 
swamps and on the banks of lakes and streams from the North Cape to Otago Harbour. 
Novem ber—February. 
In the North Island var. fluviatilis extends inland along most of the larger rivers, 
ascending the Waikato as far as Lake Taupo. Var. macrostachya seems to be chiefly 
found in brackish-water swamps. Both varieties are abundant in North America, and 
also in Australia and Tasmania. According to Mr. C. B. Clarke, the typical form of 
the species has not yet been observed in either Australia or New Zealand. 
7. CARPHA R. Br. 1¢!e 
Perennial herbs. Leaves crowded at the base of the stem, usually 
shorter than it. Spikelets numerous, narrow, 1-flowered, arranged in a 
terminal corymb or panicle, sometimes contracted into a more or less dense 
head. Glumes usually 4, distichous; the 2 lowest small, empty ; the third 
large, also empty ; the uppermost about the same size, with a single herma- 
phrodite flower in its axil. Hypogynous bristles 6, plumose, much enlarged 
in fruit and exceeding the glumes. Stamens 3. Style-branches 3. Nut 
oblong, 3-angled, narrowed above into the persistent and hardened base 
of the style. 
In addition to the New Zealand species, which is also found in Tasmania, Victoria, 
cas on the mountains of New Guinea, there are 2 or 3 closely allied species in Chile and 
uegia. 
_ 1. ¢. alpina R. Br. Prodr. (1810) 230.—A tufted grass-like herb 3-12 in. 
high. Leaves usually shorter than the stems, numerous, narrow-linear, 
rigid, obtuse at the tip, flat or concave, grooved, dilated at the base into 
broad membranous sheaths. Spikelets 4-4 in. long, lanceolate, compressed, 
arranged in a corymbose manner at the top of the stem, in small specimens 
