CXLVI. CYPERACEJB. 881 



5. Fimbristylis aestivalis, Vahl, Enum. v. 2 (1806) p. 288. 

 An annual glaucous herb, more or less slightly pubescent ; roots 

 fibrous ; stems 2-8 in. long, erect, trigonous, filiform, striate. Leaves 

 shorter than the stem, very narrow, acute. Umbel compound or sub- 

 decompound, lax, with many slender erect rays ; bracts 3-5, the longest 

 usually much exceeding the umbel, narrowly linear, acute, leaf-like, 

 pubescent. Spikolets 4—^ by yV-jV ''^•> elliptic-oblong, brown, the two 

 lowest glumes empty, bract-like, -^ in. long, longer than the others, 

 with a hispid keel which is produced into a long recurved mucro, and 

 usually with hyaline margins ; rhachilla prominently scarred. Grlumes 

 (fertile) y\ in. long, oblong, puberulous, suberect; back strongly keeled, 

 the keel produced into a siJout mucro about Jjy in. long, which is often 

 pubescent ; sides streaked with reddish-brown, the margins not hyaline. 

 Stamen 1. Nut scarcely -^ in. long, orbicularly obovoid, much coin- 

 pressed, biconvex, with an acute margin, narrowed to the base, straw- 

 colored, smooth, slightly umbonate ; style about -^ in. long, slightly 

 pubescent, with a bulbous base ; stigmas 2, recurved, nearly as long as 

 the style. Fl. B. I. v. 6, p. 637 ; Boeck. in Linnjea, v. 37 (1871) p. 11 ; 

 Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 13 (1901) p. 431; Prain, Bang. Pi. 

 p. 1151. — Elowers : Sept.-Dec. 



Konkan: Matheran, H.M.Birdwood, Woodrow. Deccan: Miiwal (Poona districts), 

 Woodrow ; Kanara, i«w!— Distrib. More or less throughout India, S. and E. Asia, 

 Australia. Sir Joseph Hooker (Trim. Fl. Ceyl. v. 5, p. 51) considers the Ceylon plant 

 a distinct species and not conspecific with Vahl's plant, which latter he says has not 

 hitherto been found in Ceylon. 



6. Fimbristylis argentea, Vahl, Enum. v. 2 (1806) p. 294. A 

 densely tufted glaucous glabrous annual ; root-fibres filiform ; stems 

 many, 4-8 in. long, filiform, trigonous, striate. Leaves shorter and often 

 more slender than the stem, flexuous, smooth, canaliculate, acute ; 

 sheaths short, glabrous. Spikelets ^— | in. long, 3-20, sessile, forming 

 a terminal globose head, cylindric-oblong, terete, obtuse, many-fiovvered ; 

 bracts 3-4, much longer than the head, reaching 3 in. long. Grlumes 

 -^ in. long, closely imbricate, ovate, obtuse, not cuspidate ; back with a 

 strong green keel, obscurely 3-nerved ; sides brown, with hyaline 

 margins. Stamen 1. Nut Jq- in. long, orbicularly obovoid, compressed, 

 biconvex, shortly stipitate, with narrow acute margins, straw-colored, 

 quite smooth, umbonate ; style -^ in. long, minutely hairy in the upper 

 part, with a bulbous base ; stigmas 2, shorter than the style, Fl. B. L 

 V. 6, p. 640; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 287; Boeck. in Linnsea, v. 37 (1871) 

 p. 8; Prain, Beng. PI. p. 1151. Scirjms argenteus, Eottb. Descrip. et 

 Icon. (1773) p. 51, t. 17, fig. 6; Grah. Cat. p. 232. 



This is given for the Bombay Presidency on the authority of Dalzell & Gibson (Bo. 

 Fl. 1. c), who assign no locality to the plant. Woodrow does not include it in his list 

 of plants and there are no specimens from the Bombay Presidency in Herb. Kew. 

 The plant seems to be tolerably common in Madras. — Distrib. India (Bengal, 

 W. Peninsula) ; Ceylon, Mauritius. 



7. Fimbristylis ferruginea, Vahl, Enum. v. 2 (1806) p. 291. 

 ? Perennial ; rhizome or scarcely any ; root-fibres stout and slender ; 

 stem 1-2| ft. long, subtrigonous. Leaves or few, short, very narrow, 

 glabrous or hairy ; sheaths pubescent, thin. Umbels simple or sub- 

 compound, of few spikelets ; bracts shorter than the umbel, striate, 



VOL. II. 3 M 



