al 
CYPERACEAE 115 
8. FIMBRISTYLIS Vahl 
Tufted plants from fibrous roots. Leaves all basal, short or long. 
Inflorescence terminal, umbellate, simple or compound, or reduced to a 
single spikelet. Spikelets solitary or clustered, sessile or pedicelled, many- 
flowered. Glumes spirally arranged, imbricate, or the lower ones 2-ranked. 
Hypogynous bristles none. Style usually long, villous, 2- or 3-fid. Nut 
obovoid, rarely oblong, usually compressed and biconvex, smooth, striate, 
or rugose. (From the Latin “fringe” and “style.”) 
A large genus with 125 or more species, about 25 in the Philippines. 
1. Glumes all spirally arranged. 
2. Stems with only one spikelet. 
@ Nut: linear-oblongs 2c. ies ape tek hana... .20 1. F. tetragona 
3. Nut obovoid. 
4. Nut transversely wavy-wrinkled........0020....02.00022.2..-..- 2. F'. acuminata 
si Nat crore ee ee ee 3. F’. polytrichoides 
2. Stems with few to many spikelets. 
3. Style 2-fid. 
4. Spikelets few, 2 to 5. 
O, cpemciets 2 to 1.5 chi Tong he oe re ee 4. F. schoenoides 
5. Spikelets less than 1 cm long..........-....2.....2...- 5. F’. corniculata 
4. Spikelets numerous. 
5. Nut cylindric; glumes long-acuminate, the tips spreading. 
6. F'. dipsacea 
5. Nut obovoid; glumes obtuse or acute. 
6. Nut longitudinally striate; leaves many, mostly long. 
7. F. diphylla 
6. Nut smooth or nearly so; leaves usually short, often wanting. 
8. F. ferruginea 
8. Style 3-fid. 
4. Spikelets crowded in globose, solitary heads................ 9. F’. barbata 
4. Spikelets in open decompound umbels........................ 10. F. miliacea 
1. Lower glumes distichous, the upper ones spiral; spikelets 1 or 2 on each 
CE BRC 9 ie See a RE BOE IDN tPA A ROD MAR ESL LCS 11. F. monostachya 
1. F. tetragona R. Br. 
A slender, tufted, leafless or nearly leafless annual plant 10 to 45 cm 
high, the stems somewhat 4-angled. Spikelets erect, solitary, terminal, 
ovoid-conic, 7 to 14 mm long, densely flowered. Glumes oblong, obtuse, 3 
to 3.5mm long. Nut linear-oblong, 2 mm long, reticulate, somewhat curved; 
style villous, the arms 8 or 2. ; 
In open wet grass lands, La Loma, rare, fl. Nov.—Jan.; of local occurrence 
in the Philippines. India to Australia. 
2. F. acuminata Vahl. 
A slender, tufted, somewhat wiry leafless plant, the stems nearly terete, 
10 to 25 em high. Spikelets solitary, terminal, 8 to 12 mm long, lanceo- 
late, acuminate. Glumes ovate, usually brown or purplish with a green 
keel, about 5 mm long, acute. Nut obovoid, compressed, about 2 mm long, 
transversely wavy-wrinkled. Style 2-cleft. 
In open wet grass lands, Novaliches road; widely distributed in the 
Philippines. Tropical Asia through Malaya to Australia. 
3. F. polytrichoides (Retz.) Vahl. 
A rather slender, glabrous, densely tufted plant 10 to 20 em high. Leaves 
slender, one-half as long as, or equaling, the stems. Spikelets terminal, 
