Page:The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage.djvu/102

80 sublongiore semitriloculari. — Gaud, in Ann. Sc. Nat. vol. v. p. 100, et in Freyc. Voy. Bot. pp. 132 & 419. D'Urv. Fl. Ins. Mai. in Trans. Soc. Linn. Paris, vol. iii. p. 124. Rcem. et Schultes, vol. vii. pt. 1. p. 196. La Harpe, June. 36. Kunth, En. Plant, vol. iii. p. 325. — Var. /3. inconspicuus. J. inconspicuus, D'Urv., Gaud., La Harpe, locis citatis.

Hab. Lord Auckland's group and Campbell's Island; sparingly in marshy places near the tops of the hills, alt. 1000 feet ; more abundant in the latter island at the level of the sea. /3. Camp- bell's Island, not uncommon in gravelly places.

Cuhni brevissimi, sub unc. longi, saepius pluries divisi, surculos radicantes interdum lateraliter emittentes, basi fibrosi ; fibris simplicibus. Folia subdistiche inserta, stricta, erecta, basi longe vaginantia, longitudine varia, in var. (i. plerumque vix 1 unc. longa, sed exemplaribus plerisque 4-8 uncialia, per totam longitudinem compressa, in acumen curvatum v. uncinatum saepe ad apicem attenuata, herbacea et subgraminea, nunquam dura v. coriacea, striata, pallide viridia ; intus fistulosa, transverse articulata, nodis siccitate solummodo externe conspicuis, internodiis 2-4 iin. longis, nervis prominentibus costatis ; vagina A-^ folii aequantes, nienibranaceo-dilatatae, superne oblique rotundatae v. truncatae, seu in auriculas interdum sursum productae. Scapi foliis £-A breviores, graciles, teretes vel paulo compressi, superne nudi. Capitula 4-8-flora, bractea foliiformi, plus minusve elongata subtensa. Bracteola late ovatae, acuminata?, 3-5-nerves, dorso infra apicem carinatae. Peri-anlhii foliola exteriora vix concava, ovato-lanceolata, acuminata, medio coriacea, trinervia, dorso subcarinata; marginibus late membranaceis, subscariosis, infra apicem involutis, fusco-purpureis ; interiora planiuscula, ovato-oblonga, obtusa v. breviter acuminata, medio incrassata, nervosa, viridia; marginibus albidis v. pallide fuscis, late membranaceis. Stamina foliolis periantbii breviora ; filamenta plaDa, linearia, subelongata ; antheralineari-oblongae, apice breviter unguiculatse. Ovarium triquetrum, triloculare. Stylus erectus. Stigmata 3, elongato-filiformia, horizontaliter patentia, post anthesin torta. Capsula ovato-oblonga, perianthio paulo longior, trigona, angulis obtusis, 3-valvis ; valvce dorso concava?, medio subcanaliculatae, septiferae ; dissepiment is retractis, poly-spermis. Semina plurima, bisei'ialia, ovoidea ; membrana externa byalina, filamentosa, tenuissima, caduca, ad raphin incrassata ; interna pallide fusca, reticulata, utrinque reliquiis membrana? externa; subfilamentosa ; chalaza latiuscula, opaca.

The Auckland and Campbell Island plant is assuredly identical with that of South America, and as a species it is exceedingly distinct from any other with which I am acquainted, except perhaps, as Kunth suggests, the /. microcephalus, H. B. K. Of this plant we have copious specimens, but as they are in the hands of Meyer, who is now preparing a monograph of the genus Juncus, I am unable to compare them. So far as my recollection serves me, there is much similarity between this species and one from the Andes of South America; but judging from the descriptions of Kunth in Humboldt's Nov. Gen., the J. microcephalus differs materially from this in size, in the creeping rhizoma, in the leaves being shorter than the scapes, the dichotomous corymb and many other characters ; in fact, the articulated leaves, described by Kunth as terete, but by La Harpe as compressed, seem to be almost the only character the}* possess in common. This is a much more common species than the J. antarcticus, and differs as materially from it in the structure of the leaf, as the J. biglumis does from J. triglumis. The J. scheuchzerioides has the leaves of a very soft texture, as are the leaflets of the perianth, none of which are carinated at the back. The difference between the length of the scape and leaf is very remarkable.

I have retained the /. exiguus, Gaud., as a variety, though it hardly possesses characters sufficient to rank as such ; it consists here, as in the Falkland Islands, of small specimens of the plant, often growing in a poorer soil or drier locality.