Var. concinnus.—Smaller, more rigid and wiry, 1–3 in. high. Spikelets solitary or rarely 2 together, slightly compressed, ⅙–⅕ in. long, dark-brown or almost black. Nut rather larger, broadly ovoid, trigonous, sometimes scabrid at the tip.—S. concinnus, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 299. Chætospora concinna, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 274, t. 62, f. b.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: From Lake Taupo southwards, but often local. Sea-level to 2500 ft. December–March.
A most variable plant. Hooker's S. concinnus appears to me to be a depauperated state connected with the type by numerous intermediates, and I have consequently followed Mr. C. B. Clarke in reducing it to S. nitens. The typical form is not uncommon in Australia, ranging from Queensland to Tasmania and Western Australia.
9. CLADIUM, P. Browne.
Perennial herbs. Stems stout or slender, terete or compressed, sometimes leafy throughout, sometimes at the base only, or the leaves reduced to sheathing scales. Leaves terete or compressed, more rarely vertically flattened and equitant at the base. Inflorescence paniculate. Spikelets numerous, rarely few, 1–3- or rarely 4–6-flowered, the lowest flower always perfect and fruit-bearing. Glumes imbricate all round, 1–4 outer empty, smaller than the succeeding flowering ones. Hypogynous bristles usually wanting. Stamens 3. Style long, linear; base often dilated but continuous with the nut; style- branches 3, rarely 2. Nut ovoid or oblong, terete or obscurely trigonous or tricostate, smooth, crowned by the adnate base of the style.
Species between 40 and 50, widely distributed, but more plentiful in the Southern Hemisphere than in the Northern. Of the 10 species found in New Zealand, 6 extend to Australia and Tasmania, 3 of them being also found in the Pacific islands or eastern Asia, the remaining 4 are endemic.
| A. Vincentia. Spikelets with 2–4 perfect flowers. Nut stipitate, triquetrous, narrowed upwards into a long cuspidate beak. | |
| Tall, 2–5 ft. Stems and leaves flattened, the latter ½–1 in. broad. Panicle very large, lax, drooping | 1. C. Sinclairii. |
| B. Baumea. Spikelets with 1 or rarely 2 perfect flowers. Nut sessile, often tumid at the apex, not narrowed into a cuspidate beak. | |
| * Spikelets usually 2–3-flowered, 1 or sometimes 2 of the flowers perfecting fruit. | |
| Stems and leaves flattened, ¼–½ in. broad. Panicle 6–12 in., narrow. Nut ovoid, trigonous | 2. C. complanatum. |
| Stems and leaves stout, terete, transversely septate. Panicle very large and broad, drooping. Nut obovoid, trigonous | 3. C. articulatum. |
| Stems and leaves slender, terete, not septate. Panicle narrow, erect, 3–10 in. long, interrupted; bracts spathaceous. Nut reddish-yellow, trigonous | 4. C. glomeratum. |
| Stems and leaves slender, terete, not septate. Panicle narrow, 10–18 in.; branches drooping. Nut pale | 5. C. Huttoni. |
