Uncinia Pers.

Volume II (1970) - Flora of New Zealand Indigenous Tracheophyta - Monocotyledons except Graminae

UNCINIA Pers., 1807

Infl. a simple terminal spike with unisexual fls, ♂ at top, ♀ lower, in 1-fld spikelets each subtended by a glume; ♂ with 3 stamens; ♀ surrounded by a plano-convex to trigonous, us. glab., occ. hispid, closed sac or utricle; style-branches 3, protruding from mouth of utricle; nut trigonous; axis of spikelet, the rhachilla, produced beyond mouth of utricle and terminating in a rigid glume which is sharply reflexed to form a hook. Perennial herbs, tufted or shortly rhizomatous. Culms ± trigonous, occ. terete, with bract-like sheaths at base. Lvs grass-like, linear, us. Shallowly channelled, almost flat towards the base, flanged-channelled towards the tip, occ. involute, rarely plano-convex, margins ± scabrid, tip us. trigonous, lf-base sheathing. Between 40 and 50 spp., mainly in the S. Hemisphere but not found in S. Africa. Most N.Z. spp. are endemic but 2 are recorded from elsewhere in the Pacific.

SYNOPSIS

A.
- Utricles hispid or scabrid.
- 1.
- - Spikes 2–3 cm. long, fls closely imbricating, coriac., persistent. Plants of open country:
  - 1. sinclairii, 2. elegans (Series Macrolepidae)
- 2.
- - Spikes (3)–5–15 cm. long, lax-fld. Glumes membr. or subcoriac., persistent or deciduous. Plants of forest:
  - 3. leptostachya, 4. scabra, 5. distans (Series Leptostachyae)
B.
- Utricles glab.
- 1.
- - Glumes persistent (Series Ripariae)
  - (a)
  - - Spikes 2–5–(8) cm. long. Grassland spp.:
    - 6. purpurata, 7. fuscovaginata, 8. rubra
  - (b)
  - - Spikes (3)–5–10–(14) cm. long. Spp. us. in forest or scrub:
    - 9. silvestris, 10. affinis, 11. laxiflora, 12. egmontiana, 13. strictissima
- 2.
- - Glumes deciduous
  - (a)
  - - Glumes membr. Female fls up to 40 per spike
    - (i)
    - - Utricles trigonous, contracted above to a conspicuous beak ()
      - α
      - Utricles green to grey-brown. Internodes increasing in length from top to base of spike
        *
        Glumes < or = utricles:
        14. zotovii, 15. rupestris, 16. angustifolia, 17. filiformis, 18. longifructus, 19. gracilenta
        **
        Glumes > utricles:
        20. caespitosa, 21. involuta, 22. viridis
      - β
      - Utricles yellow or brown, shining, densely crowded. Internodes of spikes of equal length:
        23. drucei, 24. divaricata, 25. nervosa
    - (ii)
    - - Utricles subtrigonous, plano-convex or terete, narrowed to a beak only slightly narrower than utricle:
      - 26. hookeri, 27. aucklandica, 28. astonii, 29. banksii (Series Graciles), and 19. gracilenta
  - (b)
  - - Glumes subcoriac. or coriac. Female fls (40)–60–150 per spike. Spikes robust, elongate, dense-fld:
    - 30. uncinata, 31. clavata, 32. ferruginea (Series Australes)

Key

Number of female fls per spike 35–120

Number of female fls per spike < 35

Spikes 1–4.5 cm. long

24. divaricata

Spikes (5.5)–6–20 cm. long

Glumes us. < utricles; utricles < 1.5 mm. diam.

30. uncinata

Glumes > or = utricles; utricles 1.5–2 mm. diam.

Glumes slightly > or = utricles, yellowish to dark brown; utricles spreading widely at maturity

31. clavata

Glumes twice as long as utricles, ferruginous; utricles scarcely spreading at maturity

32. ferruginea

Female fls us. more than 20 per spike, densely crowded, internodes of equal length (< 1 mm. long)

24. divaricata

Female fls fewer than 20 per spike, or fls more than 20 and internodes progressively longer from top to bottom of spike

Utricles glab.

Utricles hispid or scabrid

Male glumes hardly imbricating, all female fls distant

29. banksii

Male glumes closely imbricate, all female fls close-set or sts ± distant below

Glumes membr., us. acute or acuminate; culms us. glab.

Glumes coriac., obtuse or the lowermost subacute; culms scabrid below infl.

Lvs c. 0.5 mm. wide or narrower, channelled; basal sheaths red-brown with conspicuously paler nerves

17. filiformis

Lvs > 0.5 mm. wide, or plano-convex if narrower; basal sheaths light or dark brown, nerves not conspicuously paler

Utricles (1)–1.5–2 mm. diam., ovate; internodes progressively longer from top to bottom of spike

Utricles c. 1 mm. diam., elliptic-lanceolate or oblong; internodes of ± equal length throughout spike, fls either ± distant or close-set

Glumes = or < utricles in lower part of spike (excluding lowermost glume if much elongated and lf-like), ± colourless or green

Glumes > utricles in lower part of spike, brownish

Lvs us. > 2.5 mm. wide; utricles c. 1.5 mm. diam.

14. zotovii

Lvs 1–2 mm. wide; utricles < 1.5 mm. diam.

Plants forming a dense lfy turf; lvs 1.5–2 mm. wide; utricles 1–1.5 mm. diam.

15. rupestris

Plants loosely tufted; lvs us. < 1 mm. wide; utricles c. 1 mm. diam.

16. angustifolia

Lvs involute, cirrhose at tips; utricles shining

21. involuta

Lvs flat or V-shaped, not cirrhose at tip; utricles dull

Lvs yellow-green; spikes > 4 cm. long

20. caespitosa

Lvs bright green; spikes 3 cm. long or less

22. viridis

Basal bracts light brown, grey-brown or straw-coloured

Basal bracts dark brown

Infl. > 4 cm. long

Infl. < 3 cm. long

Lvs bright green; utricles us. < 4.5 mm. long, green, few-nerved; glumes persistent

9. silvestris

Lvs light yellow-green or red; utricles us. > 5 mm. long, grey-green, light brown or reddish, us. many-nerved; glumes deciduous or persistent

Glumes light brown, deciduous; spikes 3–5 mm. diam.; utricles (5.5)–6–7 mm. long

28. astonii

Glumes red or greenish, persistent; spikes c. 3 mm. diam.; utricles 4.5–6 mm. long

12. egmontiana

Lvs rigid, tapering little, tip flattened, rounded

25. nervosa

Lvs soft, tapering to the narrow, triangular tip

Lvs > 1 mm. wide; utricles dark brown

23. drucei

Lvs < 1 mm. wide; utricles olive-green

18. longifructus

Spikes > 5 cm. long

19. gracilenta

Spikes < 5 cm. long

Glumes with a conspicuous, dark brown, lateral vein on either side of a paler midvein; lvs 1.5–2 mm. wide

26. hookeri

Glumes with lateral veins not conspicuously darker, though occ. with a darker midvein; lvs 0.5–1 mm. wide

27. aucklandica

Culms red; lvs red throughout

8. rubra

Culms green; lvs green, some with reddish sheaths, or laminae reddish at base

Lf-sheaths, laminae and glumes without red coloration

Lf-sheaths, or bases of laminae, and occ. glumes red-tinged

Fls lax; utricles c. 1 mm. diam.; culms (10)–12–25–(80) cm. long

10. affinis

Fls close-set; utricles 1–2 mm. diam.; culms (4)–12–25–(40) cm. long

Culms (0.7)–1–1.5–(2) mm. diam.; glumes ± = utricles

7. fuscovaginata

Culms c. 0.5 mm. diam.; most glumes ½–¾ length of utricles

6. purpurata

Lvs 3–6 per culm, ± flat, 2–3 mm. wide

11. laxiflora

Lvs (1)–2–3 per culm, us. involute and c. 1 mm. wide

13. strictissima

Spikes lax-fld, (3)–4–15 cm. long; glumes membr. or subcoriac.

Spikes compact, 1–3 cm. long; glumes coriac.

Lvs (1)–2–3 per culm, us. c. 1 mm. wide and involute, occ. wider and flatter

3. leptostachya

Lvs 3–7 per culm, 1.5–3 mm. wide, not involute

Glumes obtuse, persistent

4. scabra

Glumes acute, deciduous

5. distans

Spikes 1–2 cm. × 4–7 mm.; lvs 1.5–3 mm. wide, rather stiff

1. sinclairii

Spikes (1.5)–2–3 cm. × 2–3–(4) mm.; lvs us. 1–1.5 mm. wide, soft

2. elegans

Most spp. flower between October and November and fr. is set between November and January.

The genus was monographed by Kükenthal in Pflanzenr. 38, 1909, 50–67. The N.Z. spp. have been revised by Hamlin in Bull. Dom. Mus., Wellington 19, 1959, 1–106 and the present treatment is based to a large extent on Hamlin's work.

C. B. Clarke (J. Linn. Soc. (Bot.) 20, 1883, 389, 396) subdivided Uncinia into two sections: 1) Stenandrae, filaments filiform, not dilated; utricles glab., rarely hispidulous; glumes coriac. or membr., persistent or deciduous. Spp. of N.Z., Australia and Patagonia, extending north to Malaysia and Hawaii. 2) Platyandrae, filaments dilated; utricles hispidulous; glumes coriac., persistent. Spp. of South America, extending north to Mexico and the West Indies, Tristan da Cunha, Amsterdam and Kerguelen Is. Hamlin (Rec. Dom. Mus., Wellington 3, 1958, 85–8) subdivided Sect. Uncinia (= Stenandrae C. B. Clarke) into several series. The following synopsis is based on Hamlin's treatment and also on his key to the series in Bull. Dom Mus., Wellington 19, 1959, 8–9. The characters used here are those of N.Z. spp. only and since this synopsis is by no means a key to each series as a whole the series names appear only in brackets.

Fig. 41. UNCINIA. Inflorescences: in U. uncinata and in U. gracilenta only lower part of spike is shown; in U. banksii the central portion is omitted. © All rights reserved. [Image: 4X30]

Fig. 42. UNCINIA. Utricles, with exserted stigmas and hooked rhachillas. © All rights reserved. [Image: 4X31]

Uncinia Pers.

SYNOPSIS

Key

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