24-4. CYPERACEAE. [ Uncinia. 
Var. elegans Kukenth. in Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 799.—Culms more slender, 
Leaves numerous, ;,-;4 in. broad, exceeding the culms. Spike elongate, #-l1t in. long, 
linear. Glumes cinnamon-brown. 
Soutn Istanp: Nelson—Lake Tennyson, H. H. Travers. Canterbury—Broken 
River, J. D. Enys! Otago—Eweburn, Naseby, Hector Mountains, Mount Cardrona, 
Upper Hawea, Petrie! Crosby Smith! Dart Valley, 7. Kirk/ Var. elegans: Black’s, 
Otago, Petrie! 1200-4000 ft. December—February. 
This plant, New Zealand specimens of which were described as a distinct species 
by Hooker under the name of U. Sinclairit, has proved upon investigation by 
Kukenthal to be identical with the U. macrolepis of southern Chile and Fuegia. In 
New Zealand it ranges from the south of Nelson to Southland, but is nowhere abundant. 
2. U. tenella R. Br. Prodr. (1810) 241.— Rhizome long, slender, 
emitting creeping stolons. Culms densely tufted, setaceous, smooth and 
flaccid, 2-6in. long. Leaves numerous, usually overtopping the culms, 
flat, grassy, filiform, s4-z5in. broad. Spike oblong, short, dense, 4-2 in. 
long, 4in. broad; male portion very short, inconspicuous, sometimes 
reduced to 1 or 2 flowers; female flowers 6-10; lowest glume produced 
into a setaceous bract usually far exceeding the spike. Glumes lanceolate, 
acute, pale-fulvous, l-nerved; margins pale, thin and membranous. 
Stamens 2 or 3. Utricles slightly longer than the glumes, oblong-lanceolate, 
obsoletely trigonous, narrowed at both ends, glabrous, faintly nerved ; 
bristle nearly twice the length of the utricle—Hook f. Fl. Tasm. ii (1860) 
102, t. 152. Benth. Fl. Austral. vii (1878) 483; C. B. Clarke in Journ. 
Innn. Soc. xx (1883) 391; Kukenth. in Pflanzenr. Heft 38, 66; Cheesem. 
Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 799. | 
Var. longifructus Kukenth. in Pflanzenr. l.c.—Utricles 4 in. long, yellowish-green, 
far exceeding the glumes, which are usually 3-nerved on the back. 
SoutH Istanp: Westland—Kelly’s Hill, altitude 4500ft., Petrie! Otago— 
Routeburn, near Lake Wakatipu, in beech forest, 7. Kirk! Petrie! Clinton Valley, 
Petrie! End Peak, Crosby Smith ! 2000-5000 ft, 
Mr. Petrie’s specimens from Kelly’s Hill cannot be distinguished from the 
Australian plant, but var. longifructus is at once separated by the large fruit, which is 
nearly twice the size of that of the type. It appears to be confined to New Zealand. 
3. U. nervosa Boott ex Hook. f. Fl. Tasm. ii, 102, t. 153a.—Culms 
densely tufted, slender, strict and wiry, 4-9in. high, leafy at the base only. 
Leaves shorter than the culms, strict, erect, wiry, filiform, 4,4, in. diam. ; 
margins involute. Spike much more slender than in U. compacta, and 
not so dense, 4-2in. long, about 4in. diam.; lowest glume sometimes 
produced into a filiform bract. Glumes ovate-lanceolate, subacute, pale- 
brown, keel distinctly 3-nerved or -plicate ; margins thin and membranous, 
almost scarious. Utricles equalling or slightly exceeding the glumes, 
oblong-lanceolate, narrowed at both ends, trigonous, glabrous, distinctly 
nerved ; bristle about twice the length of the utricle. Nut trigonous.— 
Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 800. U. compacta var. nervosa C. B. Clarke 
in Journ. Linn. Soc. xx (1884) 895. U. Cheesemaniana Boeck. in Engl. 
Bot. Jahr. v (1884) 521. 
SoutH Istanp: Nelson—Mount Arthur Plateau, 7. F. C. Otago—Maungatua, 
Petrie ! 2000-5000 ft. 
Dr. Kukenthal considers that the Tasmanian species described by Boott under the 
name of U. nervosa, together with the plant from the Mount Arthur Plateau associated 
with it by myself, are both referable to Raoul’s U. rupestris, originally discovered at 
Akaroa. I regret that I am unable to agree with this opinion, which is not shared by 
any other worker in the genus. I take it that U. nervosa naturally falls into the 
