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Volume 82, 1954-55
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Specimens Examined

Herb. Botany Division.: 7717 Manawatu Gorge, V. D. Zotov; 22734 Moutoa Estate, Foxton, A. J. Healy; 25106 Portage, Picton, A. J. H.; 37059 Feilding, A. J. H.; 40715 Thames, L. B. Moore; 51089 lca Station, Whareama River, Castle Point County, V. D. Zotov; 51908 Golgotha, Wairarapa, A. P. Druce; 63231 and 63232 Manawatu Gorge, 300 feet, A. P. D.; 64938 Gollan's Valley, Eastbourne. Wellington, N. T. Moar No. 3; 78435–78437 Moutoa Estate, Foxton, A. J. Healy; 71112 Leslie Clearing, Caswell Sound, V. D. Zotov; 81276 seaward of Carter's Beach Road, Buller County, R. Mason and N. T. Moar No. 1691; 81299 and 81300 Buller Coalmine Reserve, R. M. and N. T. M. No. 1598.

Herb Dominion Museum: Auckland Domain, T. Kirk; Waihi Lake, Waikato, T. K.; Whaugape, T. K.; Haumurama, Lake Rotorua, D. Petrie; Pukeatua, western Taupo County, D. P.; Cox's Creek, Auckland, T. Kirk; Patetere Plateau, T. F. Cheeseman, Opunake, Taranaki, W. R. B. Oliver; Kapiti Island, W. R. B. O.; Horoeka, Puketoi Mountains, B. C. Aston; Hokitika, T. Kirk; Frying Pan Flat, L. Cockayne No. 956; Half-Moon Bay, Stewart Island, W. R. B. Oliver; Port Fitzroy, W. R. B. O.

Herb. Canterbury Museum. In Herb. H. Carse 424/1 off Manukau Road, Avondale South, Auckland, H. Carse; 424/2 Titirangi, Auckland, H. C., 424/3 near Cornwallis Beach, Manukau Harbour, J. Bishop and H. Carse; 424/5 Lower Waikato, H. Carse; 424/6 Tauhei-Motumaohi Road. Piako, H. C.; 424/7 Palmer-ston North, H. C., 424/8 Maritime Marsh, near Blockhouse Bay, Manukau Harbour, H. C; 424/10 Mauku, Franklin County, H. C.

Type: In making his C. ternaria var. granlis Cheeseman designated no particular specimen which might be considered the Type. The only specimen of Cheeseman's cited by Kukenthal as C. ternaria var. gracilis is from Lake Whangape but not now in the Auckland Museum Herbarium.

Four specimens are now in the Herbarium labelled by Cheeseman C.t. var. gracilis and of these, Nos. 2591 and 2593 are in a very early stage of development so that the floral characters cannot be determined. No. 2592 has three separate inflorescences of differing appearances none of which approach my concept and obviously unsuitable for selection as the Type.

Sheet No. 2590 (Lake Waihi, Waikato, T. F. Cheeseman) is a single inflorescence without basal leaves which agrees well with Cheeseman's brief description. I therefore select this specimen as the Type of the present species.

In his “Revision of the New Zealand Species of Carex” in 1884, Cheeseman described his C. ternaria var. gracilis as follows:—

” Var β. gracilis—Tall, slender; leaves ⅛–⅓ inch; spikelets usually numerous, long, often over 4 inches, very slender, sometimes hardly ⅛ inch in diameter. Approaches C. subdola.”

In his notes to the species he added “var. gracilis is usually found in woods. Small forms appear to pass into C. subdola; but ordinarily it can be distinguished by the longer awns to the glumes, and more numerous ternate or quinate spikelets.”

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Text-Fig, 4.—Carex confusa. A, habit, B, glume; C, utricle; D, nut; E, rachis. [Drawn from Bot. Div. 63232 (A-D) and Bot. Div. 40715 (E).]

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The description, which is essentially the same as that given in the Manuals, is very vague and can be applied to a number of different forms as seems to have been the case with the two herbarium specimens mentioned above. I have therefore emended the descriptions to apply to the plant with fusiform utricles, a character not mentioned by Cheeseman.

Regarding the similarity to C. subdola I can find nothing to support this view either from Cheeseman's or any other specimens. The habit, spikelets and utricles of the two are very different and are readily separable on spikelet colour alone, C. subdola spikelets being reddish brown while those of the present species are greyish green or yellow.

The combination C. gracilis is already occupied by C. gracilis Curt. necessitating the provision of the above new name.

The species is illustrated by Boott under C. ternaria (Ill. Car. iv (1867) t. 598).

Carex darwinii var. aristata C. B. Clarke ex Kukenth. in Engler's Bot. Jahrb xxvii (1899) 529.

  • C. darwinii var. urolepis (Franch.) Kukenth. in Engler's Pflanzenr. Heft 38 (1909) 367; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. ii (1925) 264.

  • C. urolepis Franch. in Miss. Sc. Cape Horn v (1889) 376. t. 5.

  • C. darwinii Boott in Proc. Linn. Soc. i (1845) 261; in Hook f. Fl. Antarct. ii (1846) 364, t. 144; Ill. Car. iv (1867) 156, t. 504–5; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. i (1906) 1154.

  • C. martini Petrie in Trans. N. Z. Inst. lvi (1926) 7 non Léveillé and Vaniot.

Stems stout up to 80 cm. long, drooping. Leaves 12 mm. broad, longer than the culms, long sheathing. Culms stout below lowest bract, slender above, triquetrous. Bracts short-sheathed, exceeding the culms. Spikelets up to 16, distant, geminate or ternate, shorter than the peduncles, 10 cm. × 15 cm., lanceolate, upper 3–4 nodes with entirely male spikelets, remainder female with male flowers at the apices. Glumes lanceolate, 5 mm. × 1.5 mm. with a hispid awn up to 3 mm. long. Utricle 4 mm. long, ovoid, plano-convex or biconvex, turgid and coriaceous, 5-nerved and spotted on the basal half, lateral ridges obscure, beak evident but short, mouth entire. Styles 2. Nut obovate, stipitate. Text-fig. 5.

Habitat: Swamps in lowland areas.

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