Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/815

Scirpus.] 6. S. inundatus, ''Poir. Encycl. Suppl.'' v. 103.—Very variable in size and habit of growth. Stems 2–12 in. high, often small, slender and filiform, at other times stouter and taller, and resembhng small states of S. sulcatus and S. prolifer. Leaves 1 or rarely 2 at the base of the stem, or reduced to a short and broad sheath. Heads solitary, terminal, of 2–15 crowded spikelets, often proliferous and putting out 1 or several short or long branches ending in a smaller head of spikelets; bract very variable in length. Spikelets $1⁄10$–$1⁄4$ in. long, ovate or ovate-oblong, subacute, pale or dark chestnut-brown, many-flowered. Glumes broadly ovate, concave or keeled at the back, obtuse or subacute, the sides usually more or less stained or striate with dark red-brown, the keel usually pale. Stamen 1. Style-branches 3, long, hnear. Nut about half the length of the glume, oblong-obovoid, equally and conspicuously trigonous, with a small conical point, not longitudinally ribbed, white, smooth but not polished.—''Benth. Fl. Austral.'' vii. 329. S. reticularis, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xviii. (1886) 277. Isolepis inundata, ''R. Br. Prodr.'' 222. I. prolifer, ''Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 301; Fl. Tasm.'' ii. 87, t. 144 (not of R. Br.). I. setacea, ''Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 271, in part (not of B. Br.)''.

7. S. sulcatus, Thouars, Esquisse Fl. Trist. 36, t. 7; var. distigmatosa, C. B. Clarke, MS.—Stems numerous, tufted, 8-16 in. high, stout, grooved when dry, leafless except a large purple or purplish-black sheath at the base. Heads solitary, terminal, of 6–20 densely packed spikelets, often proliferous and emitting 1 or several branches ending in a smaller head of spikelets; bract variable in length. Spikelets rather short, ⅛–¼ long, oblong, obtuse, many-flowered. Glumes broadly ovate, obtuse, concave, dark chestnut-brown with a green keel and pale margins. Hypogynous bristles wanting. Stamens usually 1. Style-branches 2, rarely 3, long, linear. Nut about half the length of the glume, obovoid, plano-convex, the convex side not keeled, smooth and polished, shining, white or pale yellowish-white.—Isolepis prolifer, ''Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 271, for the most part (not of B. Br., nor of Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl.'' 301).