CYPERACE^!. . 579 



nium 1"' diam., white (or variegated). — Hab. Jamaica !, Sw., Pd., in woods ; Trinidad !, 

 Pd. ; Haiti to Brazil !]. 



98. S. bracteata, Cav. Leaves linear: sheaths not winged, Z-gonal, devoid of as- 

 perities, but mostly pubescent : ligule herbaceous, bluntly deltoid ; panicles terminal <J , 

 short, lax, axillary ones narrow, superior mixed of $ and ? , inferior $ ; $ glumes 3-androus ; 

 achenium globose, transversely rugose and hairy, mucronate with the style-base : disk at 

 length double, exterior and interior broadly 3-lobed, the latter tardily separated. — Mart. Fl. 

 Bras. 3. t. 24 : the interior disk still included and subentire. — Macrolomia, Ns. — Leaves 

 2"'-5'" broad; achenium white, 1'" diam. or less. — Hab. Triuidad!, Pd. ; [Cuba! and 

 Mexico ! to Brazil ! and Peru !]. 



Sect. 2. Hypoporum, Ns. — Disk minute, entire, patelliform. — Stem slender ; ligule short, 

 or none ; spikelets in spicate clusters, <? , $ , or androgynous mixed. 



99. S. hirtella, Sw. Leaves pilose, narrowly linear, superior short ; spike simple : 

 clusters 8-5, distant, hirsute : bracts short ; $ glumes 2-androus ; achenium globose, 

 smooth, slightly mucronate, 3-gonal-3-furrowed at the base : furrows 4-5-porous along the 

 upper margin : disk flat, 3-goual. — Hypoporum, Ns. S. distans, Poir., Kth. — 1'-3' high ; 

 spikelets 2'" long j achenium §'" diam., white. — Hab. Jamaica (Sw.) ; Trinidad !, Lockh., 

 Pd., Cr., common in moist savannahs ; [Florida ! and Mexico ! to Peru ! and Brazil]. 



100. S. filiformis, Sw. Leaves narrowly linear, keeled, glabrous: ligule bluntly 

 deltoid ; spikes terminal (and axillary, peduncled) : clusters few, distant, glabrous : common . 

 bract long-setaceous ; $ glumes 1-androns ; achenium globose, smooth, slightly mucronate, 

 3-furrowed at the base : furrows devoid of special pores : disk obtusely 3-goual, brown at 

 the tumid margin. — S. purpurea, Poir., Sieb. Tr. 14 ! Hypoporum purpurascens, Ns. — 

 l'-2' high, usually flaccid ; spikelets 3'" long ; achenium 1'" diam., white. — Hab. Jamaica !, 

 Pd., M'Nab, Wullschl., in arid mountains, Manchester, Westmoreland; Antigua!, Wullschl., 

 Dominica!, hnr.; Trinidad!, Sieb., Cr. ; [Cuba!, Haiti]. 



13. BECQTJERELIA, Brongn. 



Character of Scleria, but androgynous spikelets compound at the base, the lowest glumes 

 producing special $ spikelets, the middle empty, and the superior ones approximate around 

 the single ^ flower. Disk adnate to the achenium, simple, entire. — Leaves devoid of a 

 ligule, lowest long, rosulate ; spikelets clustered: clusters in terminal and axillary corymbs 

 or spikes ; $ glumes 1-androus. 



101. JB. cymosa, Brongn. Leaves broadly linear, keeled ; clusters in compound, di- 

 verging corymbs : axillary corymbs exceeded by their leaves ; glumes subulate, uppermost 

 exceeding the tubercled, mucronate,. depressed-globose achenium. — Marl. Fl. Bras. 3. t. 27. 

 — B. Merkeliana, Ns. — 2'-4' high ; leaves 8-4'" broad ; spikelets 2"' long ; achenium 

 white. — Hab. Trinidad !, Cr., in savannahs ; [Guiana !, Brazil]. 



14. PTEROSCLERIA, Ns. 



Spikelets androgynous, compound : partial inferior few, $ , superior 1 -flowered, $ . Glumes 

 sharply keeled on the back, larger ones recurved-mucronate, lower in $ empty, 2 uppermost 

 including the flower. Style 3-fid. Achenium bony, seceding from the repand disk. — Leaves 

 devoid of a ligule ; spikelets clustered, in single terminal, and axillary heads. 



Nees' generic character (as well as his description of the habit) corresponds exactly with 

 our species : only what he calls geminate spikelets, is to be interpreted as the production of 

 partial spikelets from the axils of glumes, as is evident from the structure of our plant, and 

 from the homologous organs in the allied genera Becquerelia and Calyptrocarya. I am, 

 however, not acquainted with the original P. guianensis, Ns. (comprising probably Scleria 

 capitata, \V.), which would be distinguished by short leaves, the reduced number of spike- 

 lets and glumes, and by a smooth achenium. 



102. P. longifolia, Gr. {n. sp.). Stem erect, 3-quetrous ; leaves long, linear, flat, 

 acuminate ; heads dense, subglobose, axillary distaut, shortly peduncled, or subsessiJe ; ? 

 partial spikelets numerous ; achenium white, globose, slightly 3-keeled, and longitudinally 



