about ⅛ in. long, dark chestnut-brown. Perianth-segments equal, lanceolate, acute. Stamens 3, rarely 6; anthers ovate. Capsule equalling the perianth, ovoid-trigonous, subacute. Seeds ovoid, obtuse, shining, obsoletely reticulate.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 290; Buchen. Monog. Junc. 432. J. pauciflorus, Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. ix. (1877) 551 (not of R. Br.). J. brevifolius, Kirk, l.c. xiv. (1882) 382.
North Island: Rangipo Plain, near the foot of Ruapehu, Petrie! South Island: Nelson—Mount Arthur, Mount Owen, T.F.C.; Lake Rotoiti, Kirk. Canterbury—Broken River, J. D. Enys! Kirk! T.F.C.; Tasman Valley, T.F.C. Otago—Not uncommon in the central and southern districts, Buchanan! Petrie! Stewart Island: Kirk! Auckland and Campbell Islands: Hooker, Kirk! Usually from 1500–4000 ft., but descends to sea-level in Otago and the islands to the south. December–February.
A very distinct species. The Campbell Island plant is said to have 6 stamens and the culms hardly longer than the leaves, whereas in New Zealand the stamens are nearly always 3, and the culms usually (but not invariably) exceed the leaves. I agree with Professor Buchenau in considering Kirk's J. brevifolius to be a mere state of J. antarcticus.
11. J. prismatocarpus, R. Br. Prodr. 259.—Perennial, laxly tufted. Stems erect or sometimes decumbent and rooting at the nodes towards the base, leafy, compressed, often 2-edged, not jointed, 9–24 in. high. Leaves always shorter than the stems, 3–9 in. long, 112–18 broad, gradually narrowed to an acute tip, strongly compressed, flat, soft, multitubular, incompletely and often indistinctly septate; sheathing base long, compressed, tip with 2 obtuse lobes. Cyme very large and compound, with 1 or 2 short leafy bracts at the base; branches long, slender, divaricating. Flowers ⅛–⅙ in. long, greenish or greenish-brown, in many-flowered globular clusters. Perianth-segments about equal, linear-lanceolate or subulate-lanceolate, acuminate. Stamens 3, much shorter than the segments. Capsule usually considerably longer tban the perianth, pale, narrow, prismatic, triquetrous, 1-celled, placentas very feebly developed. Seeds ovoid, apiculate.—Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 131 (in part); Buchen. Monog. Junc. 311.
North Island: Wet places in lowland stations from the Bay of Islands to Wellington, not uncommon. South Island: Nelson—Motueka Valley, T.F.C. November–January.
Easily distinguished from J. holoschœnus by the strongly compressed stems, flattened and incompletely septate leaves, large spreading cymes, and by the stamens being 3 only. It is widely diffused in Australia and eastern Asia.
12. J. holoschœnus, R. Br. Prodr. 259.—Stems laxly tufted, creeping at the base, strict and erect above, terete or subcompressed, smooth, leafy, 6–18 in. high. Leaves few, equalling or exceeding the stems, erect from a long sheathing base, tapering into a long acuminate point, terete or slightly compressed, fistular,
