270 CYPERACEAE, [ Carex. 
One of the most distinct species of the genus. The linear flat leaves, of uniform 
width throughout, and very obtuse at the tip, are unmistakable. The styles are some- 
times 2, sometimes 3, but the acutely trigonous nut shows that the alliance of the 
species is with the 3-styled division of the genus. My Cass River specimens have 
narrower leaves and more closely compacted spikelets, and are placed by Kukenthal 
as var. angustifolia, 
33. ©. Heetori Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvii (1895) 405.—Culms 
densely tufted, branched at the base, erect, leafy throughout; 1-3 in. 
high. Leaves exceeding the culms, green, erect, rigid, flat, striate, about 
sin. broad; tips subacute; margins scabrid above. Spikelets 3-4, 
closely approximate, small, }-}in. long, red-brown; terminal one male, 
erect; remainder all female, spreading, ovoid-oblong, sessile or the lowest 
very shortly pedunculate; bracts long, leafy, overtopping the spikelets. 
Glumes ovate, acuminate or cuspidate with the stout excurrent midrib, 
membranous, chestnut-brown with a paler midrib and margins, Utricles 
narrow-ovoid, trigonous, strongly nerved, narrowed at the base and 
upwards into an acutely 2-toothed beak; margins ciliate-serrate above. 
Styles 3. Nut trigonous.—Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 826; Kukenth. 
in Pflanzenr. Heft 38 (1909) 685. 
Sourn Istanp: Otago—Old Man Range, altitude 5000 ft., Petrie / 
In the leaves and arrangement of the spikelets this approaches C. decurtata, but 
the narrow-ovoid trigonous utricle with its long serrate beak is quite different from 
the broad plano-convex utricle of C. decurtata. From C. uncifolia it also differs in 
the slender serrate beak of the utricle. From ©. Berggreni it is removed by the green 
tapering acute leaves, and larger long-beaked utricles. 
34. C. decurtata Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxiv (1892) 414. — 
Small, densely tufted, glaucous-green. Culms short, 1-3in. high, usually 
sheathed to the top by the leaves. Leaves numerous, much exceeding 
the culms, 2-6in. long, zs-?; in. broad, flat, or concave in front and 
convex behind, rigid, coriaceous, grooved; tips incurved when dry ; 
margins scabrid. Spikelets 3-5, usually concealed amongst the leaves, 
short, stout, about tin. long, very closely approximate; terminal one 
male, erect ; remainder all female, spreading, ovoid or ovoid-oblong, sessile 
or the lowest very shortly pedunculate. Glumes broadly ovate or almost 
orbicular, acute or cuspidate, thin and membranous, reddish-brown or 
chestnut with a paler centre and margins. Ubtricles rather longer than 
the glumes, broadly ovoid or elliptic-ovoid, plano-convex or unequally 
biconvex, turgid on the back, obscurely nerved; margins thick, serrate 
above; beak short, stout, sharply bidentate. Styles 3. Nut sharply 
trigonous.—Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 827; Ill. N.Z. Fl. ui (1914) t. 216; 
Kukenth. in Pflanzenr. Heft 38 (1909) 685. C. cryptocarpa Cheesem. im 
Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi (1884) 412, 485 (not of C. A. Mey.). 
Sourn Istanp: Canterbury—Margins of ponds near Lake Tekapo, altitude 
2500 ft. December—February. 
A very curious and distinct little species. 
35. ©. filamentosa Petrie tn Trans, N.Z. Inst. xlviii (1916) 191.— 
Densely tufted, copiously stoloniferous. Culms filiform, smooth, terete, 
faintly striate, 14-4in. long. Leaves 4-8in. long, extremely narrow, 
glabrous, concave above, rounded below, finely serrate at the tip. Spikelets 
3-4, crowded, or the lowermost somewhat distant, ovoid, about }in. long ; 
uppermost male, very slender; the two lower female, usually with 2-3 
