Oreobolus.| CYPERACEAE. 241 
12. OREOBOLUS R. Br. 1&8! 9 
Dwarf perennial herbs, forming dense cushion-shaped masses in alpine 
bogs. Stems branched, very closely compacted, leafy throughout. Leaves 
numerous, close-set, distichous and equitant, more rarely irregularly im- 
bricate all round. Peduncle axillary, short at first but lengthening alter 
the flowers expand, strict, compressed, bearing a terminal spikelet with or 
without 1 or 2 lateral ones. Spikelets minute, narrow, 1-flowered ; flower 
hermaphrodite. Glumes 3 or rarely 4, the outer the largest, the second 
and third subequal, the fourth when present small, not much longer than 
the nut. Hypogynous scales (perianth-segments) 6, in 2 series, subequal, 
narrow, rigid, erect. Stamens 3. Style slender, continuous with the ovary ; 
branches 3. Nut obovoid, obtuse with a depressed star-like mark at the 
apex, smooth. 
In addition to the 3 species described below, one of which extends to Victoria and 
Tasmania, there is also one in Andine and antarctic America, and another in the 
Sandwich Islands. 
Leaves obscurely distichous, very narrow, strict. Peduncle shorter 
than the leaves ; spikelets usually 1 .. es af .. IL. O. strictus. 
Leaves obscurely distichous. Peduncle shorter than the leaves ; 
spikelets usually 2, rarely 1 or 3 a= es - 3 
Leaves conspicuously distichous. Peduncles often equalling or exceed- 
ing the leaves in fruit ; spikelets usually } a Fe .. & O. pectinatus. 
2. O. pumiho. 
1. O. strictus Berggr. in Minneskr. Fisiog. Sallsk. Lund. (1877) 25, 
t. 6, f. 12-24.—Stems 2-3 in. high, creeping and rooting at the base, laxly 
tufted, much branched; branches not nearly so dense as in O. pumilio, 
erect, curved, leafy throughout their length. Leaves obscurely distichous, 
1-21 in. long, strict and erect or secund, very narrow-linear, deeply canali- 
culate above, obtuse, margins minutely serrulate; sheaths broad, mem- 
branous, 3—D-nerved, rounded or truncate at the tip. Peduncle much 
shorter than the leaves; spikelets 1, rarely 2, narrow. Glumes 3; outer 
the largest, minutely serrulate; the two others subequal, narrow, erect. 
Hypogynous scales 6, narrow-lanceolate, acute, minutely serrulate. Stamens 
3. Style-branches 3, long, filiform. Nut small, obovoid, narrowed at the 
base, obtuse, white.-—Oheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 797. O. serrulatus 
Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxii (1890) 492. 
Norts Istanp : Rangipo Plain, Ruapehu, H. Hill ; Ruahine Mountains, B.C. Aston / 
Sourn Istanp: Nelson—Mount Arthur Plateau, 7’. I’. O.; Lake Rotoiti, 7. Kirk ! 
Canterbury—Arthur’s Pass, Berggren ! T. Kirk! T.F.C.; Lake Tennyson, Rk. M. Laing. 
Westland—Mount Greenland, Cockayne. Otago—Not uncommon on the mountains of 
the interior, 7. Kirk / Petrie! and others. STEWART Isnanp : Fairly plentiful, 7. Kirk ! 
Cockayne. Usually between 3000 and 5000 ft., hut descends to sea-level in Stewart 
Tsland and the south of Otago. 
Very close to O. pumilio, but a much more laxly tufted plant, with narrower strict 
leaves, which considerably overtop the peduncle. 
92. O. pumilio R. Br. Prodr. (1810) 236.— Stems much branched, 
short, }-2in. high, forming broad and dense cushion-shaped masses. 
Leaves obscurely distichous, $-1} in. long, erect or incurved, rarely spread- 
ing, narrow-linear, narrowed towards the obtuse tip, concave or almost 
flat in front, veinless or indistinctly 3-nerved ; margins minutely serrulate ; 
sheaths equitant, membranous, 3-nerved. Peauncles stout, rigid, mostly 
shorter than the leaves; spikelets usually 2, rarely 3 or 1. Glumes 3-4: 
the outer one the largest, leaf-like, 3-nerved ; the second and third about 
