114 A FLORA OF MANILA 
1. T. ferax (Rich.) Ham. (7. confertum Desv.). 
A rather coarse, erect, glabrous plant 0.2 to 1 m high, scarcely tufted, 
the stems 3-angled. Leaves few, 1 cm wide or less, the bracts subtending the 
inflorescence spreading, few to many, leaf-like. Umbels usually com- 
pound, 10 to 25 cm in diameter. Spikes 2 to 5 cm long, bearing very 
numerous, spreading, slender spikelets. Spikelets usually about 1 cm 
long, yellow or brown, the glumes 6 to 10, rather distant, elliptic, about 
7-nerved, the rachilla flexuose, breaking up into joints, each bearing one 
glume and nut. Nut oblong, about 1.8 mm long. , 
In open wet places, occasional, fl. Nov._Jan.; widely distributed in the 
Philippines. All warm regions. 
s 7. ELEOCHARIS R. Brown 
Glabrous, erect, tufted plants, the stems simple, without nodes. Leaves 
none; sheaths few, cylindric, truncate or with a small tooth. Inflores- 
cence a single terminal spikelet. Glumes imbricate all around. Hypogy- 
nous bristles 5 to 8. Nut obovoid, plano-convex or 3-angled; style-base 
constricted and apparently articulated on the nut but usually persistent; 
arms 2 or 3. (From the Greek “marsh” and “grace.’’) 
More than 100 species, in all parts of the world, 8 or 9 in the Philip- 
pines. 
1. Spikelets elongated, 1 cm iong or more. 
ARES TIE et : ae a Oe a ge Sa RS SEL ER pe > Ce Waka sap 1. E. equisetina 
2. Nuts longitudinally rugose............... nie hea meee an a 2. E. variegata 
1. Spikelets globose or ovoid, 5 mm long or less......................-- 3. E. capitata 
1. E. equisetina Presl. 
A somewhat slender tufted plant, the stems sometimes nearly 1 m 
high, usually much shorter, about 3 mm in diameter, transversely septate 
when dry, the uppermost sheath close-fitting, continued on one side as a 
short triangular tooth. Spikelet 1 to 3 cm long, scarcely thicker than the 
stem. Glumes broadly oblong-ovoid, rounded. Nut smooth and shining, 
ellipsoid or obovoid, 2 mm long. 
In open wet lands, swampy places, etc., fl. Oct._Dec., and probably in 
other months; of local occurrence in the Philippines. Ceylon to New 
Caledonia. 
2. E. variegata Kunth, var. laxiflora (Thw.) C. B. Clarke. 
A rather slender tufted plant 10 to 30 cm high, the stems about 1.5 
mm in diameter. Sheaths close-fitting. Spikelet only a little thicker 
than the stem, 1.5 to 2.5 em long. Glumes oblong-ovate, acute or acu- 
minate, 4 mm long. Nuts brown, obovoid, nearly 2 mm long, longitudi- 
nally rugose, the hypogynous bristles longer than the nut, retrorsely 
scabrid. 
In old rice-paddies near Caloocan, fl. Dec.—Feb.; of local occurrence in 
the Philippines. India to China, Malaya, a Polynesia, 
3. E. capitata (L.) R. Br. 
Stems slender, densely tufted, erect, rather stiff, often purplish at 
the base, 10 to 30 cm long. Spikelets small, dense, ovoid, 4 to 5 mm long. 
Glumes ovate, obtuse, thin, 2 mm long. Nut black, shining, obovoid, about 
1 mm long, the bristles as long as the nut, retrorsely scabrid. 
In open wet grass lands especially near the sea, fl. most of the year; 
widely distributed in the Philippines. Most warm countries. 
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