138. CYPERACE.E. 



Stem almost 3-winged at top. Spkts. terete. 

 Gl. "08" with incurved margins all round 

 when dry. Wings very narrow . . .19. malaccensis. 

 Stem 3-gonous. Gl. "l". Wings hroader. 



Bracts rarely half the length of the umbel 20. tegefiformis. 

 Stem obscurely 3-gonous at top, sometimes 

 obscurely septate when dry. Wings as in 

 20. Bracts \ to as long as umbel. Spkts. 



reddish 21. corymhosus. 



Stems terete, septate or articulate when dry. 



Bracts very short, almost scale-like . .22. arficulatus, 

 iii. L. usually short (4-8") or rarely 16". Bracts 

 very long and overtopping the decompound 

 umbel. Wings of rhachilla very strong 

 embracing the ovary and nut : — 

 Gl. "12" rounded at back. Nut half as long, 



oblong, style shorter than nut . . . 23. tfifjefiim, 

 &. Nut broadly ellipsoid or obovoid. Spikelets of 

 nearly equal length usually stiffly spi-eading 

 in fruit, in almost cylindric spikes with 

 spreading branches at their base. Rhachilla 

 compressed : — 

 i. Rhachis of spike or glumes more or less 

 scabrous or pubescent : — 

 Gl. •05-07", glabrous. Spkts. •1.5--3" . . 24. piloms. 

 Gl. '06-09" hispid on top of keel. Spkts. 7" 2.5. bahakensi?. 

 Gl. •!" glabrous. Spkts. •6-l'2" . . .26. procerus, var. 



lasiorrhachh. 

 ii. Rhachis of spikes and glumes glabrous : — 



Gl. 'Og-'l". Rhachilla wings narrow or . 2Q, procern*. 

 Gl. 'Oo-'Oe". Rhachilla wings broad. Spkts. 



spreading 27. exaltatns. 



As in 27 but spkts. denser, erecto-patent, dull- 

 coloured ... . . . . .28. radiatus. 



2. Rhachilla with wings only apparent after fall of 

 the glumes which have broad margins decur- 

 rent on the rhachilla (either adnate to the wings 

 or wings being bases of the glumes) : — 

 Base of stem slcTider. Infl.lax . . . .29. rotundus. 



Base of stem woody. Ravs of umbel very slender 30. tuberosas. 

 Base of stems slender. Inflorescence subcapitate 31. polystachyug. 



1. C. cephalotes, Vahl. 



Stems and roots slender. Leaves 2-5, about two-thirds as long as 

 the stem. Spikelets many in a single dense compound head •4-'75" 

 diam. often with broad bracts above the 3 (-5) foliaceous ones. Spike- 

 lets •25--b" long by -12" broad, rigid, often bent, with stout persistent 

 angular, hardly winged rhachilla. Glumes closely imbricate, cymbi- 

 form, green with red or broAvn, -V long. Nerves exc. midrib obscure. 

 Style with minute stigmas. Nut ovoid, unequally trigonous {i. e. 

 somewhat plano-convex), passing gradually into the linear style, 

 stipitate below, cork3^ 



Floating in tanks with slender stolons (Clarke). No S]iecimens from within our 

 area but it extends from Bogra in Bengal to Madras and therefore almost certainly 

 occurs in Orissa. Fl. May. 



Stems 4-16". L. about -17" broad. Bracts up to 4-8" long. St. 3-2, filaments 

 broad, anthei-s large, linear-oblong. Nut '08" long (or half glume, Clarke). 



Clarke remarks that in those Cyperacesp which float in tanks which do not drj- 

 up a corky thickening of the cells, especially towards the lower angles of the nut, 

 enables them to float and vegetate among the rotting surface vegetation of the 

 tank. 



892 



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