of the length of the glumes. I cannot distinguish the species described by Mr. Colenso even as varieties. U. australis is said to occur in the Sandwich Islands.
8. U. leptostachya, Raoul, Choix Pl. Nouv. Zel. 12, t. 5b.—Rhizome short. Culms densely tufted, slender, trigonous and scabrid above, leafy at the base, 1–2 ft. high; sheaths brown or purplish-red at the base. Leaves usually much longer than the culms, slender, flat, 112–110 in. broad; margins scabrid. Spike 1½–5 in. long, very slender, lax-flowered; male portion short, almost filiform; bract setaceous or filiform, longer or shorter than the spike, sometimes wanting. Glumes laxly placed, often distant in the lower part of the spike, oblong-lanceolate, acute or obtuse, from half as long to as long as the utricle, green or purplish-red, 1-nerved on the back, membranous. Utricle narrow-lanceolate or almost fusiform, trigonous, distinctly scabrid above, faintly nerved; bristle twice as long as the utricle.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 286; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 309; C. B. Clarke in Journ. Linn. Soc. xx. 389. U. scabra, Boott in Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 285. U. distans, Boott, l.c. 286. U. disticha, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xx. (1888) 210xx. (1888) 210.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island.—From Mongonui southwards, not uncommon. Sea-level to 3000 ft. November–January.
The distinctly scabrid utricles at once separate this from all its allies. Its habit is that of coarse states of U. riparia.
9. U. riparia, R. Br. Prodr. 241.—Culms densely tufted, slender, leafy, trigonous, scabrid above, 9–20 in. high. Leaves equalling or exceeding the culms, flat or slightly involute, 120–110 in. broad; margins scabrid. Spike 1½–4 in. long, linear, lax, often interrupted below, ⅛–⅙ in. broad; male portion variable in length; bract usually wanting but sometimes present and exceeding the spike. Glumes lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acute or obtuse, pale, membranous, 1-nerved on the back, shorter than the utricle. Otricle lanceolate, acuminate, narrowed at the base, quite glabrous, faintly nerved, about ¼ in. long; bristle twice as long as the utricle.—Hook. f. Fl. Tasm. ii. 102, t. 152b; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 434; C. B. Clarke in Journ. Linn. Soc. xx. 392. U. laxiflora, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvii. (1885) 271. (?) U. obtusata, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi. (1884) 341xvi. (1884) 341.
Var. Banksii, C. B. Clarke in Journ. Linn. Soc. xx. 392.—Leaves narrower, almost filiform, 130—120 in. broad. Glumes very short, often not more than half the length of the utricle. U. Banksii, Boott in Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 287; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 310. U. capillaris, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xx. (1888) 210.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: The typical form in hilly districts from Pirongia Mountain and Taranaki southwards, most plentiful towards the south of the South Island. Var. Banksii: Abundant in the North Island, especially northwards of the East Cape, less common in the South Island, but extending as far as Foveaux Strait. Sea-level to 3000 ft. November–January.
