882 CXLVI. CYPERACE^. 



slender. Spikelets | by ^ in., ellipsoid, pale reddish -brown, pubescent, 

 the lowest spikelets usually bractil'orm, variable, ^-\ in. long, cuspidate, 

 the mucro varying from y^y to -^ in. long, pubescent ; rhachilla stout, 

 angular, with large pits. Glumes ^ by -jIq in., erect or slightly recurved, 

 broadly ovate, subacute, concave, shortly mucronate, chartaceous ; the 

 back with a green keel but with no conspicuous nerves. Stamens 2-3. 

 Nut y'^ in. long, obovoid or suborbicular, narrowly margined all round, 

 compressed, umbonate, with a long stipe, pale sti-aw-colored, not ribbed, 

 obscurely reticulate, smooth ; style -^-^ in. long, flattened, slightly dilated 

 at the base, the margins of the upper part villous ; stigmas 2, short. 

 El. B. I. v. 6, p. 688 ; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 287 ; Boeck. in Linnaea, v. 37 

 (1871) p. 16,: Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 13 (1901) p. 431 ; Praiu, 

 Beng. PI. p. 1151. — Flowers : Sept. -Dec. 



Deccan: ¥00113,, Cooke \, Wood )-ow I Sind : Pinwill [ — Distrib. Tbroiigbout India ; 

 Ceylon, China, Jajjan, Malaya, Australia, Polynesia. 



8. Fimbristylis diphylla, VaJil, Enum. v. 2 (1806) p. 289. 

 Ehizome or rarely up to 1 in. long, stout; root-fibres rather stout; 

 stolons ; stems 6-24 in. long, tufted, slender, angled, striate, smooth. 

 Leaves usually shorter than the stem, j^-^ in. broad, linear, coriaceous, 

 rather rigid, often serrulate towards the acute tip, striate above, 

 obscurely 2-nerved beneath, and with scaberulous margins ; sheaths 

 glabrous or pubescent, rather short. Umbel simple or compound (or 

 spikelets in a compact head) ; rays few, very unequal, up to 2 in. long ; 

 bracts filiform, long or short. Spikelets scattered or clustered, -^g in. 

 long, ovoid, acute, terete, the lowest 1-3 glumes empty, snaaller than 

 the others, deciduous (rarely elongate and bract-like); rhachilla stout, 

 pitted. Glumes -l- by -^-^ in., broadly ovate, acute, apiculate, concave, 

 chartaceous, loosely imbricate ; keel obtuse, green, 3-nerved, the midrib 

 reaching the tip ; sides chestnut-brown. Stamens 1-3 ; anthers long 

 with a conical tip. Nut -^ in. long, broadly or orbicularly ovoid, com- 

 pressed, biconvex, shortly stipitate, many-ribbed, trabeculate, umbonate, 

 pale straw-colored or nearly white; style jL in, long, very broad, 

 villous throughout, base dilated, truncate ; stigmas 2, short. Fl. B. I. 

 V. 6, p. 636 ; Trim. Fl. Ceyl. v. 5, p. 53 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. 

 V. 13 (1901) p. 431 ; Prain, Beng. PL p. 115] . Fimbristylis polymorpha, 

 Boeck. in Linnaea, v. 37 (1871) p. 14. — Flowers : Aug. 



KoNKAN : Stocks !, Woodrow. Kanaka : Tcdhot, 601, ex C. B. Clarke, in Journ. Linn. 

 Soc. V. 34, p. 68. SiND : Pimoilll — Distkib. Throughout India; Ceylon, most warm 

 regions. 



9, Fimbristylis spathacea, Tioth, Nov. PI. Sp. (1821) p. 24. 

 Khizome short or elongate, stout, woody ; root-fibres both stout and 

 slender ; stems densely leafly below, |-1| ft. long, stout, obtusely 

 trigonous, striate. Leaves many, densely crowded on the rootstock, 

 much shorter than the stem, spreading and recurved, narrowly linear, 

 obtuse or acute, up to j^^ in. broad, rigidly coriaceous, \\ith recurved 

 scaberulous margins ; sheaths short, open, coriaceous. Umbel simple or 

 compound, open or with the spikelets more or less crowded, sometimes 

 into a globose head, but almost always pedicellate; bracts short, rigid, 

 erect, leaf-like, with broadly dilated base which often has membranous 

 margins. Spikelets \-\ by -^-^ in., ellipsoid or ovoid, pale brown, 



