352 CYPERACE. [ FIMBRISTYLIS. 
towards tae apex, sheaths more or less villous or glabrous, margins 
membranous. Spikelets in compound or decompound umbels, 
ellipsoid or subcylindric }-} in. long, primary bracts leaf-like usually 
much exceeding the inflorescence. Glumes 34 in. long, closely im- 
bricate, boat-shaped, keel green 1-3-nerved, prominent and excurrent 
as a small mucro, margins membranous, pale brown. Rachilla after 
the fall of the glumes deeply pitted. Style flattened, villous in the 
upper half. Nut zs in. long, pale brown, biconvex, 5-9-ribbed. 
Saharanpur (Royle, Jameson), Delhi (Royle), Agra (Jameson), Merwara 
(Lowrie), Etawah (Duthie), Pilibhit (Inayat), Kheri (Inayat), Gorakh- 
pur (Harsukh). Duistrre: Warm regions of the old world. 
F. estivalis, Vahl. A very similar plant but more pubescent and 
with a smooth nut possibly occurs but the specimens are too young 
for satisfactory identification. 
4. F. spathacea, Roth, Nov. Pl. Sp. (1821) 24; F. B. I. vi, 640 ; 
Cooke, Fl. Bomb. w, 882. 
Perennial, rhizome woody, stems 6-18 in. long, stiff, striate, leaves 
many near the base of the stem and up to its length, coriaceous, 
narrow, scabrid on the recurved margins, sheaths glabrous, margins 
not hyaline. Spikelets 4-4 in. long, ovoid in simple or compound 
umbels which are often congested or subcapitate, bracts nearly as 
long as the rays, leaf-like, rigid with broad bases. Glumes 4 in. 
long, boat-shaped, obtuse, with a small obtusely triangular auricle 
on either side a little below the middle (caused by a portion of the 
glume breaking away and remaining attached to the rachillum), 
keel distinct, 1-2 additional pairs of rather obscure nerves, white 
and hyaline except for red streaks near the keel. Rachilla after 
fall of the glumes very ragged with prominent scales. Style glabrous, 
not flattened, conspicuously swollen at the base. Nut 4, in. long, 
minutely stipitate, biconvex, broadly obovate, obtuse, brown at first 
then dark grey or almost black, microscopically rugose. 
Merwara (Duthie 4920). Distrip. Orissa, S. India, Ceylon, Arabia, 
Malaya, etc. 
5. F. squarrosa, Vahl, Enum, ii (1806) 289; F. B. I. vi, 635; 
Prain, Beng. Pl. 1153; Collett, Fl. Siml. 560. 
Annual, tufted, more or less pubescent or glabrous, stems 2-8 in. high, 
slender, striate, leaves narrow, about half the length of the stem, 
sheaths densely pubescent. Spikelets 4-1 in. long, squarrose from 
the prominent tips of the glumes, in umbels consisting of a sessile 
