256 CYPERACEAE. [ Carex. 
conspicuously winged, strongly nerved, narrowed upwards into a bifid 
beak; margins and beak serrulate. Styles 2. Nut broadly oblong, 
lenticular.—Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 811; Kukenth. in Pflanzenr. 
Heft 38 (1909) 140. C. Thomsoni Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xviii (1886) 
298 (not of Boott). 
Sout [sLanD: Otago—Hector Mountains, Mount Pisa, Old Man Range, Petrie / 
4500-6500 ft. 
A very distinct little plant. 
5. ©. Kirkii Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xviii (1886) 297.—Rhizome 
stout, woody, creeping. Culms short, densely tufted, slender, smooth, 
leafy throughout, $-3in. high. Leaves sheathing the whole or greater 
part of the culm and much longer than it, 2-6in. long, pale-green, 
involute, filiform, usually strict and wiry. Spikelets 3-5, compacted into 
a dense oblong spike {-}in. long, sessile, androgynous, pale-green, few- 
flowered, $-{in. long; bract usually foliaceous. Glumes ovate-lanceolate, 
acute or acuminate, membranous, with a green midrib and pale margins, 
Male flowers 2-3 at the top of the spikelets, sometimes absent in the 
lower ones; female flowers 3-5 at the base. Ubtricle ovate-lanceolate, 
plano-convex, narrowed into a rather long bifid beak, strongly nerved, 
coriaceous, minutely papillose all over; margins and beak very finely 
crenulate. Styles 2. Nut broadly oblong, lenticular.—Cheesem. Man. 
N.Z. Fl. (1906) 811; Kukenth. in Pflanzenr. Heft 38 (1909) 140. 
Var. membranacea Kukenthal MS.—Talier. Leaves 6-10 in. long, sheathing 
nearly the whole of the culm and twice as long as it. Spikelets 5-6, forming a loose 
spike $-lin. long. Utricle more membranous, narrower, with a longer and more 
tapering beak. 
Var. elatior Kukenthal MS. — Stili taller, the culms 6-12 in. long, the upper half 
not sheathed by the leaves. Leaves 9-18 in. long, broader, sometimes 7 in., flat or 
involute at the base. Spikelets 4-8 in a lax spike i-1} in. long, the lowest sometimes 
remote. Utricle as in var. membranacea, but more coriaceous. “47 | 9qcee)) re. 
Souru Istanp: The typical form apparently not uncommon in mountain districts 
from the Clarence Valley to the south of Otago. Var. membranacea: Mount Arthur 
Plateau, T. Ff. 0. Var. elatior: Mount Arthur Plateau, 7. F. C.; Mount St. Bathan’s 
(Otago), Petrie / 2500-4500 ft. December—March. 
An exceedingly variable plant. Depauperated states, with few-flowered spikelets, 
are easily mistaken for C. resectans, although the position of the male flowers at once 
separates the two plants. Var. elatior approaches C. trachycarpa, but is smaller and 
more slender, with narrower leaves, the inflorescence is much more lax, and the 
utricles are smaller and narrower. 
6. C. trachyearpa Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxiv (1892) 413.— 
Culms densely tufted, stout or rather slender, trigonous, scabrid above, 
6-14in. high. Leaves longer or shorter than the culms, flat, grassy, 
striate, zy—-$in. broad; margins slightly scabrid above. Spikelets 4-10, 
compacted into an oblong or linear-oblong spike 3-1 in. long, androgynous, 
brown or pale-brown, ovoid, $4 in. long; lowest bract leafy, shorter or 
longer than the spike. Glumes ovate, acuminate or awned, pale-chestnut 
or pale-brown, with pale-green midribs and hyaline margins. Male flowers 
at the top of the spikelets, usually few. Utricle ovoid, plano-convex, 
narrowed into a short bifid beak, strongly nerved, minutely papillose all 
over; margins finely crenulate above. Styles 2. Nut oblong, lenticular. 
—Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 812; Ill. N.Z. Fl. ii (1914) t. 214; 
Kukenth. in Pflanzenr. Hett 38 (1909) 152. C. muricata Cheesem. in 
Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi (1884) 411, 427. 
