Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/813

Scirpus.]

3. S. aucklandicus, Boeck. in Linnæa, xxxvi. (1869–70) 491.—Forming compact grassy patches 2–6 in. diam. or more. Stems numerous, densely crowded, much branched at the base, stout or slender, striate, leafy at the base, 1–6 in. high. Leaves 2–6, equalling or longer than the stems, stout or slender, usually more or less coriaceous and rigid but sometimes almost flaccid, semiterete, convex on the back, grooved in front, tips obtuse. Spikelet solitary or rarely 2, small, $1⁄12$–$1⁄8$ in. long, broadly ovoid, varying in colour from dark chestnut-brown to pale whitish-green; bract very long, leafy, obtuse at the tip. Glumes few, ovate, obtuse, concave, often with a thick excurrent keel, very variable in colour. Stamens 3 or 2. Style-branches 3. Nut elliptic-ovoid, compressed, trigonous with the angles rounded, white or pale-yellow, smooth but not polished.—Isolepis aucklandica, ''Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 88, t. 50; Handb. N.Z. Fl.'' 302. Isolepis cartilaginea var. rigida, ''Berggr. in Minnesk. Fisiog. Sallsk. Lund.'' (1877) n. viii. 23. I. alpina, ''Hook. f. Fl. Tasm.'' ii. 86 (in part).

4. S. cernuus, Vahl. Enum. ii. 245.—Stems densely tufted, very slender, quite glabrous, 2–6 in. high, rarely more. Leaves setaceous, 1–3 near the base of the stem and shorter than it. Spikelets solitary or 2–3 together, ovoid or oblong-ovoid, $1⁄10$–$1⁄8$ in. long: bract variable in length, usually exceeding the spikelets, continuous with the stem so that the spikelets appear to be lateral. Glumes 6–15, broadly ovate, concave or obscurely keeled, obtuse or with a short