44. C. trifida, Cav. Ic. v. 41, t. 465.—A very tall and stout species, forming dense tussocks 1–2 ft. diam. Culms stout, erect, 2–4 ft. high, obtusely trigonous, quite smooth, thickened at the base, copiously leafy. Leaves very large, overtopping the culms, 3–6 ft. long, ⅓–½ in. broad, sheathing at the base, keeled, rigid, striate; margins scabrid. Spikelets 6–12, very large and stout, 3–5 in. long, ⅓–⅔ in. broad; upper 2–4 male, rather closely placed, sessile or nearly so; lower 4–6 female, further apart, shortly stalked, the lowest often compound; bracts long, leafy. Glumes linear-oblong or lanceolate, deeply bifid, membranous, chestnut-brown; midrib produced into a long hispid awn. Utricle shorter than the glumes or almost equalling them, stipitate and attenuate at the base, oblong-obovoid, turgid, obsoletely trigonous, strongly nerved, rather abruptly contracted into a 2-toothed beak. Styles 3. Nut obovoid-oblong, trigonous.—Raoul, Choix, 40; Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 89; Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 284; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 316; Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi. (1884) 439. C. incrassata, Sol. ex Boott, Ill. Car. iv. 138.
South Island: Marlborough—Queen Charlotte Sound, Banks and Solander. Canterbury—Akaroa, Raoul. Otago—Near Dunedin, Buchanan! Lindsay, Petrie! Bluff Hill, Kirk! Dusky Sound, Lyall. Stewart Island: Petrie! The Snares, Auckland and Campbell Islands, Antipodes Island: Not uncommon. Sir J. D. Hooker, Kirk!
Also in temperate South America, from Chili to Fuegia and the Falkland Islands. The large size, stout habit, and numerous massive spikelets readily distinguish it from any other species found in New Zealand.
45. C. breviculmis, R. Br. Prodr. 242.—Culms short, tufted, erect or spreading from the base, 1–6 in. high. Leaves very much longer than the culms, spreading, 120–112 broad, flat, grooved; margins slightly scabrid above. Spikelets 2–5, small, green, approxnnate, ⅙–⅓ in. long; terminal one male; remainder all female, sometimes with male flowers at the top, erect, sessile or the lowest very shortly pedunculate; bracts long, narrow, leafy. Glumes laxly imbricate, ovate, pale-green, membranous; midrib stout, produced into a long hispid awn. Utricles shorter than the glumes, stipitate, narrow-elliptic, trigonous, faintly many-nerved, green, pubescent, narrowed upwards into a short pyramidal beak. Styles 3. Nut elliptic-obovoid, trigonous; style-base dilated just above the top of the nut.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 283, t. 63a; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 316; Fl. Tasm. ii. 101; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 445; Boott, Ill. Car. iv. 181; Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi. (1884) 439.
North and South Islands: Abundant from the North Cape to Foveaux Strait. Sea-level to 3000 ft. October–March.
Easily recognised by the small size and pubescent utricles. Also found in Australia and Tasmania, the Himalaya Mountains, China, and Japan.
