Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/821

Schœnus.] Glumes 6–9, distichous, ovate-lanceolate, acute, concave, nerveless; margins ciliate; the 4–6 outer smaller and empty. Hypogynous bristles wanting. Stamens usually 2. Style-branches 3. Nut small, turgid, obovoid, trigonous with the angles thickened, faces transversely rugose.—''Benth. Fl. Austral.'' vii. 370. S. tenax, ''Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl.'' 298. Chætospora tenax, ''Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel.'' i. 273.

2. S. Tendo, ''Banks and Sol. ex Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl.'' 298.—Rhizome stout, creeping. Stems much more slender than in S. brevifolius, 1–3 ft. high, rigid, deeply grooved throughout their length. Leaves reduced to 2–3 dark chestnut-brown or almost black sheaths at the base of the stem, the uppermost produced into a subulate lamina ¼–½ in. long; the mouths of the sheaths fringed with cobwebby hairs. Panicle slender, narrow, 2–8 in. long; branches short, slender, erect. Spikelets linear-lanceolate, compressed, 2–4-flowered, ¼–⅓ in. long, dark-brown or almost black. Glumes 8–10, distichous, ovate-lanceolate, acute, concave, keeled, nerveless except the midrib; margins ciliate; the 5–6 outer smaller and empty. Hypogynous bristles 3–6, short, slender, sometimes not equaling the nut. Stamens 2. Style-branches usually 2. Nut obovoid, unequally and obliquely biconvex, quite smooth, white.—Chætospora Tendo, ''Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel.'' i. 273.

3. S. Carsei, Cheesem. n. sp.—Rhizome short, stout, creeping, clothed with chestnut-brown scales. Stems densely tufted, very slender, 1–2½ ft. high, terete, grooved. Leaves reduced to 2–3 chestnut-brown sheaths at the base of the stem, produced at the tip into an erect subulate lamina ½–2 in. long; the mouths of the sheaths oblique, glabrous. Panicle slender, narrow, 2–6 in. long; branches filiform, erect; bracts at the base with appressed sheaths, and a short erect lamina. Spikelets numerous, compressed, very narrow, ¼–⅓ in. long, linear-lanceolate, acute, brownish. Glumes 5–7, distichous, closely imbricate, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, concave, keeled, thin and membranous, nerveless; the 3–4 outer empty. Hypogynous bristles wanting. Stamens 3. Style-branches 3. Nut oblong, obtuse at both ends, not trigonous, smooth, white.