I HE CYPERACE.E OF THE liOMBAY PRESIDENCY. (i9.3 



■11 



C. aristatus, liofUt. o-(i inches, tufted, very slender, 

 Umbel I'lipitate ur simple with short ra3's. Spikelets golden 

 yeliow, often very closely spikate, \ x .vinoh. Glumes with a long 

 squarrosely recurved arista. Usually ])laeed here on account of the 

 shortly spikate spikelets, but all its afhnities are with species lG-18. 

 An abundant weed throughout the Presidency. (Tropics generally). 



Xofc. — Some of tho very abundant Bombay material shows spikelets 

 deciduous as in MnriscuK, which wouhl seem to api)roximate to M, squar- 

 rns'ci Clarke. But as all specimens show the typical striate glumes of C. 

 nrt''ffifii<, and as neither Clarke's description nor his illustration indicate 

 the striate condition 1 have had to leave all the mateiial in this species. 



B. — Meiliitm annual icith compressed spikelets. 



-^. C. COmpreSSUS, Linn. Annual 5-1 G inches. Umbels 

 with few rays. Spikelets 1 X i inch, compressed but Avith a me- 

 dian ridge on each side (so that a cross-section would be diamond- 

 shaped), usually greenish. Glumes with a compressed very slightly 

 recurved mucro. 



Fairly common in (\xy ground, especially cultivated land, throughout the 

 Presidency (Tropics generally). 



C. — Medium annual with distant, obtuse, f/olden yellow ;/hunes. 



20. C. Iria, Linn. Annual, very variable, 4 ins. to 2 ft. 

 Umbel simple or compound. Spikelets normally j x jV,- inch. 

 G-20 flowered (often much less), spreading or secund, ahvays 

 golden yellow. Glumes distant, very obtuse, almost globose, with 

 hwaline margins. Nut shortly obovoid. 



Very abundant throui^hout the Presidency, usually in damp places. 

 (Warm regions of the old world). 



(/') Var. paniciformis, Clarhe. Spikelets with 1-4 flowers, very 

 secund, on spikes which are drawn out into almost linear racemes. 



Standing or running water, especially in North Gujarat. Taller than 

 the type. A distinct variety, but the type is so variable that many indi^ 

 viduals show the tendency to develop few flowered secund spikelets. 



(c) A very slender form, with filiform stems 4-10 inches; low'est 

 bract erect, filiform, like a continuation of the stem. Umbel rays 

 few and short. Spikelets few but of normal size. 



Ghats and Konkan, (Herb, St. X. Coll. — a good many collections). 



D. — Perennials, lihachilla of spikelets not much winyed, slender. Gluines 

 (mature) ivith concave backs, not appressed. 



Key to the Subsection : — 



1. Spikelets very slender, almost filiform, spread- 



ing stellately, glumes very distant . . .'iO. C. disfnns. 



2. Spikelets less slender, secund, in tassel-like 



clusters on tho ends of the very long rays. .'51. C. nutans. 



3. Spikelets less slender, firm, erect or spread- 



ing . . . . . . . . . . . . '62. C. elcusinoides. 



