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Carex. | CYPERACEAE. 255 
2. C. acieularis Boott in Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 280, t. 630.— 
Culms slender, strict, wiry, terete, densely tufted, leafy at the base, 1-6 in. 
high. Leaves shorter than the culms or equalling them, narrow, strict, 
rigid, straight or curved, almost terete, grooved down the front, obtuse 
and slightly scabrid at the tip. Spikelet small, solitary, terminal, 4-4 in. 
long, broadly ovoid, red-brown, few-flowered ; females 2-8; males 2-4 
at the top of the spikelet. Glumes lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, acute 
or the lower ones awned, keel green or pale-brown. Utricle shortly stipi- 
tate, lanceolate, narrowed above into a rather long beak, obtusely trique- 
trous; beak serrate, obliquely bifid at the tip. Styles 3, seldom 2. Nut 
pale, trigonous—Boott Ill. Car. iv (1867) 157, t. 508, f. 2; Hook. f. Handb. 
N.Z. Fl. (1864) 312; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii (1878) 487 ; Cheesem. n Trans. 
N.Z. Inst. xv (1884) 424; Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 810; Kukenth. in Pflan- 
- zenr. Heft 38 (1909) 100. CC. Archeri Boott in Hook. f. Fl. Tasm. 1 (1860) 
98, t. 160; Jil. Car. iv (1867) 156, t. 508, f. 3. C. inconspicua Col. in 
Trans. N.Z. Inst~xvii (1896) 612. 
Norrs Istanp: Mount Hikurangi, Adams and Petrie / Tongariro, Herb. Colenso ! 
Ruahine Mountains, Colenso! Olsen! EH. W. Andrews! ‘Tararua Mountains, Peirie / 
Sourn IstANnp: Not uncommon on the mountains of Nelson, Canterbury, and West- 
land. Otago—Mountains above Lake Harris, 7. Kirk/ Old Man Range, Petrie ! 
2500-5000 ft. December—March. 
Easily distinguished from C. pyrenaica by the strict nearly terete leaves, smaller 
few-flowered spikelet, and erect subulate bract. It is also found in Victoria and. 
Tasmania. 
3. C. Wallii Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst, liii (1921) 371.—A slender 
more or less matted plant. Leaves few, filiform, flaccid, flat or more or 
less folded, striate, finely scaberulous towards the tips, 24 in. long or less. 
Culms much exceeding the leaves, suberect, more or less curved, glabrous, 
filiform, more or less trigonous, flaccid, 5 in. long or more. Spikelet solitary, 
terminal, small, ovoid, ebracteate, }in. long; the upper flowers male, the 
lower female. Glumes of the female flowers membranous; broadly ovate, 
subacuminate, pale-green, the margins more or less scarious. Utricles 
longer than the glumes, semiterete or broadly biconvex, slightly winged, 
faintly 5-nerved on the back, ovate at the base, gradually narrowed above 
into a slender short entire beak; style-branches 3; nut more or less 
triquetrous. 2 
Sourn Istanp: Wet ground at Centre Hill, Southland, A. Wail. 
Apparently a very distinct species, belonging to the section Primocarea, of which 
C. pyrenaica and QC. acicularis are the only representatives previously known from New 
Zealand. I have only seen a few scraps, and have consequently largely availed myseli 
of Mr. Petrie’s description. 
4. ©. pterocarpa Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxi (1899) 353.—A dwart 
species, forming depressed patches 3-5 in. diam. Rhizome stout, creeping, 
clothed with dark-brown scales. Culms very short, stout, densely tufted, 
11 in. long, rarely more. Leaves sheathing the culms to the top and 
much exceeding them, 3-2 in. long, g—4 in. broad, tapering upwards to an 
acute point, somewhat rigid and coriaceous, flat or involute, deeply grooved ; 
margins scabrid above. Spikelets 2-4, compacted into a broadly ovoid 
head 4-1 in. long, androgynous, pale brownish-green, ¢-$1in. long; lowest 
bract usually with a foliaceous tip. Glumes ovate, acute, membranous, 
with a pale-green centre and brown margins. Male flowers at the top of 
the spikelets, female flowers below. Utricle elliptic-ovoid, plano-convex, 
