Flora of New Zealand Series

Type: CHR, 86924, between Egmont and Pouakai Range, c. 3,000', stream bank, A. P. Druce, Feb., 1961. Two Australian specimens appear to be conspecific.

Slender, close-packed tufts from a shortly creeping rhizome. Culms (5)–10–30 cm. long, slightly < 0.5 mm. diam., soft and us. flaccid; basal bracts light reddish brown. Lvs 1–3–(4) per culm, < culm, c. 0.5 mm. wide; sheaths often tinged with red-purple. Infl. apparently lateral, of 1–3 ovate spikelets, occ. proliferous; subtending bract up to 6 times length of spikelets. Spikelets 2.5–4 × 2–3 mm., varying in colour from pale green to dark red-purple, almost black. Glumes 1–2 mm. long, ovate-elliptical, acute, keel green, prominent, often slightly excurrent, sides wholly cream, or with red-purple markings to almost entirely dark red-purple, but then often with pale cream nerves. Hypog. bristles 0. Stamens occ. 3, but us. 2 in lower glumes, us. 1 in upper glumes; very rarely 1 in all glumes. Style-branches 3. Nut 1–1.5 mm. long, slightly > 0.5 mm. wide, obovate-elliptical, trigonous with angles slightly thickened, cream to occ. light brown, minutely stipitate and apiculate.

DIST.: N. Southwards from lat. 38º. S. Nelson, Westland, Fiordland and Southland, rare in Marlborough, Canterbury and Otago. St., Ch., A., C.

Stream banks, bogs, or damp ground in tussock grassland or forest, 600–1,500 m. altitude, but descending to sea level in Fiordland and on the southern islands.

Specimens from Fiordland, Otago, Southland, Stewart Id, Chatham Is, Auckland Is and Campbell Id have dark glumes (occ. almost black) in contrast to the paler glumes found in plants from further north.

S. habrus and the following sp., S. subtilissimus, are distinct from other N.Z. spp. of Sect. Isolepis in their relatively ∞ soft lvs, 3 style-branches, 1–2 stamens and cream trigonous nuts. S. habrus is larger than S. subtilissimus in every respect.