Flora of New Zealand Series

Chaetospora capillacea Hook. f. Fl. Tasm.  2,  1858,  81, t. 141 A 

non Nees in Linnaea 9, 1834, 299.

Chaetospora capillaris F. Muell. Fragm. Phyt. Austr.  9,  1875,  34.

Cladium capillaceum (Hook. f.) C. B. Clarke in Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl.  1906,  789.

Machaerina capillacea (Hook. f.) Koyama in Bot. Mag., Tokyo  69,  1956,  63.

Type locality: Australian.

Rhizome c. 1 mm. diam., often much elongated, covered with red or pale brown, membr., imbricate bracts. Culms (15)–30–80–(110) cm. × c. 0.5 mm., tufted, wiry, shining, light green. Basal lvs reduced to red, mucronate, sheathing bracts; the uppermost up to 15 cm. long, with a very slender mucro-like lamina, up to 5 mm. long. Panicle 1.5–3 cm. long, of 3–7, us. stalked spikelets; subtending bracts with a long lamina > spikelets. Spikelets c. 5 mm. long, narrow, dark brown or reddish, 2–(1)-fld. Glumes distichous, lanceolate, acuminate, with white membr. margins, the upper 1–2 pubescent towards the tip, the others glab., the lower 3–4 and the upper 1–2 empty. Hypog. bristles 0. Stamens 3. Style-branches 3. Nut c. 1.5 × 1 mm., ellipsoid or oblong-ovoid, light brown with 3 white ribs, surface smooth, crowned by a pubescent, persistent style-base, as long as the nut but much narrower throughout.

DIST.: N. North Cape southwards to lat. 39º30'. S. Nelson and Westland.

Swampy ground or pakihi, or in dry sand or scrub; sea level to 600 m. altitude.

FL. 12–2. FT. 2–4.

Australian specimens have almost capillary culms, very much more slender than in N.Z. plants. Minute hypog. bristles are also sometimes found in Australian plants of T. capillaris.

Schoenus tenuis Kirk in T.N.Z.I. 1, ed. 2, 1875, 94, was cited by Cheeseman in Man. N.Z. Fl. 1925, 235, as a synoym of Cladium capillaceum. Kirk says of the plant, however, "specimens have not been produced in a fit state for description" and so S. tenuis is considered to be a nomen nudum.