Juncus filicaulis Buchenau
Small, very slender tufts; rhizome short. Stems 15-30- (60) cm × 0.5-1 mm, wiry, grey- or blue-green, ridged, dull, pith regularly interrupted by comparatively large cavities. Basal sheaths closely appressed, brownish-pink below. Inflorescence c. 1 cm diam., a compact almost spherical head occasionally with 1- (3) lateral clusters. Tepals 2.5-3 mm long, ± equal, acute. Stamens 3. Capsule 2-2.5 mm long, ± = but usually slightly < tepals, oblong-obovoid, flattened at top, red-brown.
N. Auckland City; Wellington - Gollans Valley. S. Marlborough - Awatere Valley; Canterbury - scattered between the Hurunui River and Banks Peninsula, and near Waimate. On grassy slopes and in damp places. (Australia)
First record: Buchenau 1890: 239, as J. pauciflorus R. Br. var. cheesemanii Buchenau.
First collection: Type of J. pauciflorus var. cheesemanii (see above).
Formerly treated in N.Z. as J. pauciflorus R. Br. var. cheesemanii Buchenau Bot. Jahrb. 12, 1890, 239 (Type: K, Purewa (near Auckland), T. F. Cheeseman No. 14, Nov., 1878; isotype at AK); J. polyanthemus Buchenau var. cheesemanii (Buchenau) Buchenau Bot. Jahrb. 21, 1895, 262.
The very slender stems with proportionately large cavities and very narrow pith partitions are characteristic: of the similar spp., J. distegus differs in the relatively small cavities interrupting the pith, and J. pauciflorus in the continuous pith.
In parts of Banks Peninsula and North Canterbury, this sp. forms large colonies on gully floors, and in poorer swards on drier hill country.