900 CXLVI. CYPEHACEiE, 



corymbose depressed panicles ; bracts leaf-like, 2-6 in. long. Spikelets 

 ■^-^ in. long, sessile or shortly pedicellate, subglobose or oblong-cyliudric. 

 Glumes yV~i ^^^- ^o"S» oblong, obtuse, sometimes apiculate, 1-nerved, 

 with scarious margins, brown speckled with minute darker spots; 

 hypogyuous scales (or bracteoles) 2 at the base of the nut, yu hy -^ in., 

 oblong, obtuse, cymbiform, scarious, with a scabrous or hairy keel. 

 Stamens 2; filaments long, slender ; anthers linear-oblong. Nut i-^ in. 

 long, ovoid-lanceolate, terete or slightly compressed, beaked, veined 

 below with stout obtuse veins, yellow, minutely dotted with darker 

 spots ; stjde short ; stigmas 2. Yl. B, 1. v. 6, p. 678 ; "Woodr. in Journ. 

 Bomb. Nat. v. 13 (1901) p. 432.— llowers : Dec.-Feb. 



Stocks without locality in Herb. Kew. ! S. M. Country: Castlerock, Kanitkarl 

 Kanaka : Dxlzell \ ; KatgaJ (N. Kauara), Woodrow ! — Disteib. India (W. Peninsula, 

 Nicobai's). 



11. RHYNCHOSPORA, Vahl {Rynchospora). 



Usually tall herbs ; stems simple, leafy throughout (rarely at the base 

 only), stout or slender. Leaves narrow, often filiform. Spikelets small, 

 ovoid, capitate, corymbose, subumbellate or paniculate, with 1 or 2 

 bisexual flowers ; bracts various. Glumes imbricate all round the 

 rhachilla, membranous or coriaceous, 1-uerved, the 3 or 4 low'er shorter, 

 empty, the next 1 or 2 fertile, the uppermost empty ; hypogynous 

 bristles or 6 (rarely fewer), scabrid with teeth pointing upwards. 

 Stamens 1-3 ; anthers linear. Ovary I'ounded ; style slender, glabrous, 

 with conical base ; stigmas 2. Nut ovoid or subglobose, turgidly 

 biconvex, smooth or transversely waved, crowned by the conical much 

 enlarged often very long and stout persistent style-base. — Disteib. 

 Species 150, in the warmer regions of the world, numerous in America. 



Stem leafy towards the base only ; spikelets in a single terminal 

 head. 



Nut biconvex, j'o in- long 1. B. WallicMana. 



Nut flattened, ^ in. long 2. R. Wightiana. 



Stem leafy throughont its entire length ; spikelets in panicu- 



lately arranged corymbs 3. R. aiirea. 



1. Rhynchospora Wallichiana, Kimth, Enum. v. 2(1837) p. 289. 

 Stems 6-24 in. high, leafy at the base only, tufted, slender, striate, 

 trigonous. Leaves shorter than the stem, narrowly linear, up to ^ in. 

 broad, flat or complicate, narrowed from the sheath to the tip, acute. 

 Head of spikelets globose, terminal, brown, shining, f— i in. in diam. ; 

 bracts 3-8, spreading or dcflexed, 1-3 in. long, linear-lanceolate, acute. 

 Spikelets ~ in. long, sessile, densely clustered in a terminal head, 

 lanceolate, acute. Glumes glabrous, shining, chestnut- brown, the lowest 

 3-4 short, ovate-lanceolate, empty, the fertile ghunes ~ in. long, ovate- 

 lanceolate, acuminate ; hygogynous bristles if present as long as the nut 

 or shorter, scabrid with teeth pointing upwards. Stamens 2-3 ; anthers 

 with an acute tip. Nut nearly -^^^ in. long, with a rather long stalk, 

 turgidly biconvex, strongly margined, with a conical beak, nearly bhick ; 

 style very slender; stigmas 2, very long. EL B. I. v. 6, p. 668 ; Bocck. 

 in Linniea, v. 37 (1871) p. 512 ; Trim. Fl. Ceyl. v. 5, p. b'3 • Woodr. in 



