Flora of New Zealand Series

Type locality: Australian. Type: NSW; isotype at CHR.

Tightly packed clumps, varying in height from 60–200 cm. Rhizome c. 5 mm. diam., horizontal. Flowering stems (1)–2–3 mm. diam., erect, wiry, smooth, shining, bright green, pith interrupted irregularly or occ. continuous; lvs 0; basal bracts dark red-brown below, straw-coloured above, tightly sheathing the stem, or the uppermost often more loosely sheathing. Infl. apparently lateral, variable, many- or few-fld, either open with few to many branchlets and fls in small clusters at the tips of the branchlets, or condensed to a compact central cluster with a few pedunculate side clusters, or to a single spherical compact head wider than 1 cm. Fls 1.5–2 mm. long; tepals brownish green, later becoming brown. Stamens 3. Capsule 1.5–2–(2.3) mm. long, = or < tepals, obovoid, light brown, with a dark brown, obtuse, almost retuse, apiculate tip.

DIST.: K., N., S., St., Ch.

Abundant in damp pasture and swampy places throughout, though not so common north of lat. 37º; sea level to 1,000 m. altitude.

The most abundant of the indigenous rushes, characterised by its smooth, bright green stems and small capsules, us. dark brown at the tip. Cheeseman (Man. N.Z. Fl. 1925, 294) included under J. polyanthemus Buch. plants now known as J. gregiflorus and J. usitatus L. Johnson. Johnson (loc. cit.) states that J. polyanthemus is a rather rare sp. in Australia. It has not been found in N.Z.