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.
North Island: From the North Cape to Cook Strait, but rare and local to the south of Rotorua. South Island: Nelson—Aorere Valley, Kirk! Sea-level to 1500 ft. December–January.
Also in extratropical Australia.
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.
North Island: Abundant on clay hills from the North Cape to Hawke's Bay and Taranaki. South Island: Nelson—Aorere Valley, Kirk. Sea-level to 2000 ft. October–January.
Easily distinguished from the preceding species by the more slender grooved stems, smaller darker spikelets, the presence of bristles, and by the smooth biconvex nut.
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.
