Carex petriei Cheeseman
Original localities: "Mountains of Canterbury, apparently not uncommon between 2,500 and 4,500 feet; T.F.C. Dunstan Mountains, Lake Wanaka, and near Naseby, Otago: D. Petrie." Type: AK, 2707, Mountains above Broken River, Canterbury, 4,000 ft, T. F. Cheeseman, Jan., 1883.
Tufts dense, erect or loosely spreading, red. Culms (6)–10–25–(35) cm. × 0.5–1 mm., glab., terete or flattened; basal sheaths light brown, occ. reddish. Lvs us. slightly > culms, 0.5–2 mm. wide, pink or greenish red, lamina narrow-linear, concavo-convex, grooved on the back, two conspicuous nerves on the upper surface, margins scabrid, tips acute, curled and twisted when dry; sheaths very wide, c. three times width of lamina. Spikes 3–6, dark red-brown, ± approximate but the lowest us. more distant on stiff, erect peduncles; terminal spike male; remaining spikes female, occ. with a few male fls above, 1–3 cm. × 3–6 mm. Glumes < or occ. > utricles, very pale brown, membr., margins often lacerate, tip acute or the midrib produced to a long scabrid awn. Utricles c. 2.5 × 1.5 mm., plano-convex, turgid, very dark red to almost black but paler towards the tip and base, or rarely light brown throughout, smooth or faintly nerved; beak slightly > 0.5 mm. long, orifice shallowly bifid, often finely scabrid, light brown; stipe c. 0.5 mm. long, us. cream. Stigmas 3. Nut c. 1.5 mm. long, trigonous, oblong-obovoid, dull brown.
DIST.: N. Known only from Moawhango R., Kaimanawa Mts. S. Southwards to c. lat. 45º but not found in Westland. St.
On stream banks, river flats or in tussock grassland from 600-1,500 m. altitude.
Cheeseman (Man. N.Z. Fl. 1925, 272) notes that C. petriei is "characterized by the broad sheathing base of the leaves, and their fine curled and twisted points; . . . by the usually pale-coloured glumes; and by the narrow-ovoid or elliptic turgid utricles, which are dark purplish-brown or almost black." The bright red lateral nerves are often very distinct in the darker utricles.
