296 XyridecB. 



cordate, acuminate, 7-9-veined, sometimes as broad as long; 

 petioles of lower 1. stout, terete; ped. emerging from the 

 channelled sheath of the uppermost 1. ; raceme subsessile^ 

 spiciform, young globose, rhachis lengthening as the fl. ex- 

 pand, terminal fl. the first to open, pedicels \-\ in. ; perianth 

 \ in. across, segm. unequal, 3 larger obovate, 3 smaller oblong; 

 fil. and anth. as in M. hastcsfolia ; capsule f in. long, 

 oblong. 



Var. /?, plantagrlnea, Solms. M. plantagmea, Kunth ; Thw. Enum. 

 321. C. P. 3686. 

 Fl. B. Ind. 1. c. 



Whole plant smaller, 1. narrow, raceme few-fld. 



Low country, in ponds and wet places ; common ; var. /i less frequent, 

 Fl. March ; blue. 



Also in India, Malaya, China, Japan, Trop. Africa. 



CXXXV.— XYRIDE.^. 



Erect, tufted, rush-like, scapigerous, glabrous herbs ; stem 



short, simple; 1. radical, elongate, narrowly linear, flat or 



terete, sheath short ; scape stout or slender, stiff, as long or 



longer than the 1., terete, angled, or compressed ; fl. small, 



bisexual, solitary, sessile in the axils of the rigid imbricating 



bracts of a terminal globose or ovoid cone-like, naked spike,. 



opening one at a time, 3-bracteolate ; bracts orbicular, 



coriaceous, convex, persistent ; bracteoles deciduous, lateral 



narrowly navicular, arched, scarious, keeled or winged, dorsal 



petaloid, broader, membranous, arching over the young fl. ; 



pet. 3, usually long-clawed, obovate or spathulate, coloured ; 



stam. 3, fil. short, inserted on the pet., anth, 2-celled, dorsi- 



fixed, dehiscence dorsal ; ov. superior, i -celled, style short, 



3-fid, arms long, stigmas terminal, ovules many, on 3-parietal 



placentas, orthotropous; capsule obovoid, .strongly laterally 



compressed, i -celled, loculicidaly 3-valved, valves thin, with 



the placentas extending from the base to the apex ; seeds very 



minute, oblong, strongly ribbed, embryo very minute in floury 



endosperm. 



The bracteoles are regarded by some authors as sepals ; by others the 

 two lateral alone are regarded as bracteoles, the dorsal as a fourth petal. 



