16. C. lagopina, Wahl. in Vet. Akad. Nya Handl. Stockh. (1803) 145.—Culms densely tufted, short, wiry, smooth or scabrid above, leafy at the base, 2–8 in. high. Leaves shorter than the culms, flat, grassy, grooved, 120–110 in. broad; margins smooth or nearly so. Spikelets 2–4, rarely more, approximate in a short terminal spike about ½ in. long, sessile, androgynous, red-brown, about ⅕ in. long; lowest bract short, not exceeding its spikelet. Glumes broadly ovate, obtuse or subacute, membranous, red-brown with a green midrib and pale hyaline margins. Male flowers at the base of the spikelets, females above. Utricle rather longer than its glume, red-brown, elliptic-ovate, plano-convex, not winged, faintly nerved, rather abruptly narrowed into a short slender beak. Styles 2. Nut broad, lenticular.—Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvi. (1894) 262; Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxviii. (1896) 593. C. Parkeri, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiii. (1881) 332; Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi. (1884) 426.
South Island: Nelson—Dun Mountain Range, H. H. Travers! Canterbury—Craigieburn Mountains, Petrie! Otago—Hector Mountains, Mount Arnould, near Mount Aspiring, mountains at the head of Lake Wakatipu, Petrie! 4000–6000 ft. January–March.
Also found in arctic and alpine Europe, north Asia, and North America, but only known from New Zealand in the Southern Hemisphere. Easily distinguished from C. leporina, to which it is allied, by the much smaller size and rounder wingless utricles. Certainly indigenous.
17. C. leporina, Linn. Sp. Plant. 973.—Culms laxly tufted, stout or rather slender, trigonous, scabrid above, 6–18 in. high. Leaves shorter than the culms, flat, grassy, striate, 110–18 in. broad; margins minutely scabrid. Spikelets 4–6, crowded in an oblong lobed spike ¾–1 in. long, sessile, androgynous, ovoid, brownish-green, shining, about ⅓ in. long; lowest bract like the glumes or rarely with a short leafy point. Glumes oblong-ovate or oblong-lanceolate, acute or subacute, pale-brown with a green midrib and hyaline margins. Male flowers at the base of the spikelets, female above. Utricle equalling its glume, elliptic-ovoid, plano-convex, winged, striate, narrowed into a long beak; margins and beak finely serrulate. Styles 2. Nut oblong, lenticular, shining.—Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xiv. (1882) 301; xvi. (1884) 426.
North Island: Auckland—Near Mauku, H. Carse! Wellington—Ohariu Valley, Kirk! South Island: Nelson—Not uncommon in the western portion of the district, ascending to 4000 ft. on the Mount Arthur Plateau, T.F.C. November–January.
A common plant in northern Europe, north Asia, and some parts of North America. It is probably introduced into New Zealand.
18. C. Gaudichaudiana, Kunth, Enum. ii. 417.—Rhizome stoloniferous. Culms slender, strict, trigonous, smooth or slightly scabrid above, very variable in height, usually from 4 to 12 in.,
