23. C. dipsacea, Berggr. in Minneskr. Fisiog. Sallsk. Lund. (1877) 28, t. 7, f. 8–14.—Densely tufted. Culms slender, smooth, erect, leafy, 1–2 ft. high, scarcely elongating in fruit. Leaves numerous, longer than the culms, rather narrow, 112–18 in. broad, flat, keeled, striate; margins and keel sharply scabrid. Spikelets 4–7, close together except the lowest, which is usually remote, dense-flowered, pale or dark-brown; terminal one male, slender, sometimes mixed with female flowers; remainder female, but often with a few male flowers below, short and broad, ½–1 in. long, sessile or the two lower shortly pedunculate; bracts long and leafy, far overtopping the inflorescence. Glumes rather shorter than the utricles, orbicular-ovate, obtuse, membranous, pale or dark chestnut-brown, midrib vanishing at the apex or shortly excurrent; margins scarious, pale. Utricles densely packed, spreading when ripe, elliptic-ovoid, unequally biconvex or almost plano-convex, smooth, nerveless; margins sharply and distantly serrate above; beak short, 2-toothed. Styles 2. Nut obovoid-oblong, lenticular.—Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi. (1884) 432.
North and South Islands: From the Lower Waikato to Foveaux Strait, not uncommon. Sea-level to 3000 ft. November–January.
Very close to C. testacea, but usually recognised without difficulty by the densely packed utricles, spreading on all sides when ripe.
24. C. testacea, Sol. ex Boott in Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 282.—Laxly tufted. Culms very slender, sometimes filiform, smooth or slightly scabrid above, 6–18 in. high, in some varieties elongating in fruit and becoming prostrate, occasionally reaching a length of 4–5 ft. Leaves longer or shorter than the culms, 115–18 in. broad, flat, usually keeled, striate; margins harsh and scabrid. Spikelets 3–5, approximate, pale-brown; terminal one male, slender; remainder all female, sometimes with a few male flowers below, rarely above, short and broad, ½–1 in. long, ¼–⅓ in. broad, sessile or the lowest shortly peduncled; bracts long and leafy, far overtopping the inflorescence. Glumes broadly ovate, thin and membranous, deeply emarginate or bifid, with a long or short awn from the centre of the emargination, pale-brown streaked with chestnut, median portion more or less conspicuously 3-nerved. Utricles equalling the glumes or shorter than them, broadly ovate, plano-convex or nearly so, 7–11-nerved on the convex face, polished and shining, purplish at the apex, paler below, or wholly pale-brown; margins more or less distinctly serrate above, rarely even; beak short, with 2 widely divergent teeth. Styles 2. Nut obovoid-oblong, lenticular.—Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 314 (in part); Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi. (1884) 434.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Abundant throughout. Sea-level to 3500 ft. October–January.
