*f 
250 CYPERACEAE, [ Unconia. 
the spike. Glumes lanceolate, acute, shining-brown or chestnut, faintly 
d-nerved ; margins pale. Ultricles lanceolate, quite glabrous, faintly nerved, 
about ¢ in. long; bristle about twice as long as the utricle—Boott in Hook. 
j. Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 286; Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 310; OC. B. Clarke 
m Journ. Linn. Soc. xx (1883) 395; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 804; 
Kukenth. in Pflanzenr. Heft 38 (1909) 64. 
SoutH IstanpD: Nelson—Mount Arthur Plateau, 7. F.C. Canterbury—Akaroa, 
Raoul. Ascends to 4000 ft. on the Mount Arthur Plateau. 
Whether the U. rupestris of Raoul is really conspecific with my plant from Mount 
Arthur is a question that cannot be settled until some botanist rediscovers Raoul’s 
type. Species of Uncinia are by no means easily exterminated, and I entertain little 
doubt that it still exists at Akaroa, and could be found by a careful search. 
14. U. filiformis Boott in Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 286.—Culms 
densely tufted, extremely slender, filiform, 3-9 in. high, leafy towards the 
base. Leaves usually much exceeding the culms, very slender, filiform, 
30-80 10. broad ; margins involute, scabrid. Spike 4-14 in. long, extremely 
slender, linear, lax, =4-75in. broad; bract filiform, exceeding the spike. 
Glumes oblong-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, membranous, pale, equalling 
the utricles or nearly so. Utricles £4in. long, lanceolate, acuminate, 
smooth and glabrous, faintly nerved ; bristle twice as long as the utricle.— 
Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 310; C. B. Clarke in Journ. Linn. Soc. xx 
(1883) 391; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 805; Kukenth. in Pflanzenr. 
Heft 38 (1909) 66. 
Norru Istanp: Pirongia Mountain, 7. F.C. Hawke’s Bay—Ruahine Mountains, 
Colenso n. 1641! (type of the species), H. Hill! Petrie! Taranaki—Mount Egmont, 
Petrie! Wellington—Tararua Mountains, H. H. Travers! T. P. Arnold! B. C. Aston! 
Petrie! Sours Istanp: Not uncommon in mountain woods. Srawart ISLAND: 
Abundant. 1000-4500 ft. 
As I possess one of Colenso’s specimens (No. 1641), selected by Dr. Boott as the 
type of the species, I feel confident as to its determination. Usually it oan be recog- 
nized without much difficulty by its small size and very slender habit, filiform convolute 
leaves, small slender spikes, and small narrow utricles, which only slightly exceed the 
glumes. But large specimens trend towards U. riparia, and are sometimes difficult 
to separate from that plant. 
Mr. C. B. Clarke referred the Lord Howe Island U. debilior F. Muell. to U. jiliformis. 
Judging from descriptions alone, it is a much larger and coarser plant, and I am 
inclined to think that Kukenthal is more likely to be correct in placing it under 
U. riparia. 
14, CAREX Linn. |? 2°.- 
Perennial herbs. Culms erect, more or less trigonous or rarely terete, 
often scabrid on the angles. Leaves mostly radical, grass-like, usually 
scabrid on the margins and keel. Spikelets unisexual or bisexual, rarely 
dioecious, solitary or more commonly arranged in clusters or spikes, racemes 
or panicles, all androgynous or the upper male with rarely a few female 
flowers at the top or base, the lower female often with a few male flowers 
at the base or top. Glumes imbricate all round the axis. Male flowers 
of 3 stamens, without perianth or hypogynous bristles. Female flowers 
con.isting of a compressed or trigonous ovary, included in a flask-shaped 
or urceolate 2-toothed organ called the utricle or perigynium ; style-branches 
2 or 3, long, filiform, protruding beyond the utricle. Nut lenticular or 
. ? - ry 
plano-convex or trigonous, enclosed in the persistent more or less enlarged 
utricle, 
