CXLYI. CrPEBACETB. 895 



similar to that of Scirjjiis grossus ; bracts 3, very unequal, the longest 

 often 2 ft. or more long, the shortest 2-3 in., leaf-like. Spikelets \-\ iu. 

 long, subglobosely ovoid, brown. Glumes i in. long, broadly ovate or 

 suborbicular, membranous, reddish -brown, with a strong keel in the 

 upper part produced into a straight or slightly recurved mucro about 

 -^ in. long. Stamens 3, reaching i in. long ; hypogynous bristles 5, 

 plumose with many minute multicellular hairs. Nut -^^ i^* 'ong, 

 obovoid, trigonous, with pyramidal apex, smooth, yellow; style j^^ in. 

 long with dilated red base ; stigmas 3, as long as or longer than the 

 style. 



Mr. Clarke, in Hook. f. Fl. B. I. (i. c), gives the number of hypo- 

 gynous bristles as 6. Eoxburgh (I. c.) says 5, and I have invariably 

 found 5 in many specimens that I have examined. Graham, Cat. p. 233 ; 

 Dalz. & Gibs. p. 288 ; Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 6, part 2, p. 490. 

 Scirpus grossus var. Kysoor, C. B. Clarke, in Hook. f. i'l. B. I. v. 6 (1893) 

 p. 660 ;' Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 13 (1901) p. 432 ; Prain, Beng. 

 Pi. p. 1159. — Mowers: Sept. Veen. Kachar. 



KoNKAN : beds of rivers in bot.li Konkaus, Graham ; Bombaj', Balzcll \, cultivated, 

 Woodrow. — DiSTRiB. More or less throughout India, sometimes cultivated. 



The tubers are dug up in the cold season, sliced and eaten by the natives in many 

 parts of India. They are sweet and starchy and are considered cooling and highly 

 nutritious ( Watt). 



9. Scirpus Kyllingioides, Boeclc. in Linncea, v. 36 (1870) p. 733. 



Perennial, glabrous ; stem 3-6 in. long, slender, with thickened base 

 and sometimes with long slender stolons. Leaves ^-| the length of 

 the stem, -^ in. broad, green, keeled, narrowed above and with very 

 minutely dentate margins. Head terminal, -1— i in. in diam., of 5-15 

 spikelets ; bracts 3, leaf-like, spreading or refiexed, 1-3 in. long. Spike- 

 lets very small, closely packed, ovoid-lanceolate, many-flowered. Glumes 

 ovate-lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, subacute, keeled, many-nerved, 

 straw-colored ; hypogynous bristles 0. Stamens 2 or 3 ; filaments 

 scabrous ; anthers small, not crested. Nut obovoid-oblong, minute, 

 scarcely half as long as the glume, equally trigonous or subcompressed, 

 obtuse, shortly apiculate, yellowish-black or reddish, minutely punctu- 

 late ; style slender, shorter than the nut ; stigmas 3. !F1. B. I. v. 6, 

 p. 662 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 13 (1901) p. 432 ; Prain, Beng. 

 PI. p. 1158. 



Kanaka : Young ex C. B. Clarke (Fl. B. I. I. c). 



I have not seen any Bombay specimens ; there are none iu Herb. Kew. — Distrib. 

 India (N.-West, Bengal, Rajputana, W. Peninsula) ; Tropical Africa. 



10. Scirpus Michelianus, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753) p. 52. A small 

 glabrous tufted ainmal ; roots fibi'ous ; stems 2-5 iu. high, triquetrous, 

 leafy towards the base and there brown. Leaves as long as or some- 

 times longer than the stem, grass-like, narrowly linear, acute. Spikelets 

 numerous, in dense compound terminal heads i-|- in. in diam, (generally 

 1 head in the middle and 4 or 5 in the circumference) ; bracts many, the 

 longest sometimes reaching 3-^ in. long, leaf-like, linear, dilated at the 

 base, acute at the apex. Spikelets i-4- in. long, oblong, subterete, 

 straw-colored. Glumes y^j in. long, elliptic, hyaline, with a long mucro 

 about \ the length of the blade, 3-nerved on the back. Stamens 

 usually 2. Nut J^ in. long, fusiform, smooth, pale yellow, minutely 



