Flora of New Zealand Series

Isolepis subtilissima Boeck. in Flora  41,  1858,  416.

Schoenoplectus merrillii Palla in Allgem. bot. Z.  17, Beil.,  1911,  3.

Scirpus merrillii (Palla) Kük. ex Merr. Enum. Philipp. Fl. Pl.  1,  1923,  117.

Type locality: Tasmania. Isotype: K. Recorded also from the Philippines, New Guinea and Australia.

Small, fine-lvd tufts, from a much-branched, creeping rhizome up to 0.5 mm. diam. Culms filiform, 1–5–(9) cm. × 0.2–0.3 mm. Lvs 1–4, < or often > culms, c. 0.5 mm. wide, setaceous, channelled. Infl. apparently lateral, us. a solitary spikelet, occ. 2, subtending bract much > infl., up to 3 cm. long. Spikelets 1–2.5 × 1–1.5 mm., ovate, pale green. Glumes only slightly > 1 mm. long, ovate or elliptical, ± acute, pale cream and membr., or marked with red, keel green, prominent, occ. slightly excurrent, margins hyaline. Hypog. bristles 0. Stamens 1, occ. 2–3 in lowermost glumes of spikelet. Style-branches 3. Nut < 1 mm. long, c. 0.5 mm. wide, almost = glume, trigonous and prominently ribbed on dorsal angle, mucronate, pale straw-coloured.

DIST.: N. Southwards from lat. 38º30'. S. Nelson and Westland.

Damp ground to 1,300 m. altitude.

Schoenoplectus merrillii. Type locality: Philippines. Isotype: BRI.

Found us. at altitudes above 300 m., but some specimens from lower altitudes in the Hutt Valley and in Westland have lvs mostly < culms, short bracts subtending infl., and glumes almost entirely red-brown. In other respects they match S. subtilissimus.