7. Eleocharis.] 138. CYPERACEM. 



single brownish spikelets •7-1-2" long and about same diameter as 

 the stem, embraced at the base by a very short rounded scarious 

 margined bract appearing as a continuation of the stem. Glumes 

 closely imbricate, •2-'3" long broadly oblong to somewhat ovate or 

 obovate, tip always rounded and with a thin scarious margin, back 

 closely striate and sometimes with a faint keel. Bristles 7-8 about 

 as long as the nut (excluding the pyramidal style-base), retrorsely 

 hispid. Nut light brown polished smooth about one-third as long 

 as glume, biconvex or obscurely 3-gonous according as the stigmas 

 are 2 or 3, tipped with the persistent conical articulate base of the 

 style which is two-thirds to three-fourths as long as the nut. Style 

 very long. 



Monghyr, Jfam. ! Hazaribagh. Clarke \ Gregarious in shallow tanks from the 

 Sikkim Tarai ! to Raipur (in the Central Provinces outside our S.W. district) ! 

 also in Bengal proper, so that it will probably be found in other districts within 

 our area. FL, Fr. Oct.-Dec. 



Stolons long ■12-"17" diam. Sheaths at base of stems 2-8" long, thin and torn. 

 Rhachilla after fall of glumes stout with deep depressions and marked ledges (on 

 which the nut rested). 



2. E. fistulosa, Schultes. 



Habit of the last but stems triquetrous at the top and not trans- 

 versely septate when dry, spikelets about the same size but more 

 acute and the tips of the glumes less closely appressed, nut distinctly 

 longitudinally striate and more minutely transversely striate from 

 the superficial transversely-oblong cells being arranged in vertical 

 series. 



Same situations as E. plavtagineu and sometimes growing intimately associated 

 with it so that with one hand one may collect several culms of both species. 

 Jalpaiguri, probably therefore Purneah ! Jumalpur (MonghjT Dist.), Keu- Herb. I 

 Rjinchi, Clarke ! Fl., Fr. Oct.-Dec. 



The sheaths and the shape of the glumes are much the same as in JE. plantaginea 

 but the rhachilla is somewhat slighter, less deeply excavate and often with 

 membranous appendages (remains of the glumes ?) after fall of the glumes, 



3. E. palustris, Br. 



A rather slender caespitose vSedge with creeping rhizome black or 

 dark brown. Stems 4-20" high up to -12" diam. (rarelj^ -1" in our 

 area) terminated by an ellipsoid or cylindric dense-fid. yellow or 

 brownish spikelet wider than the stem -3-1" long and •15--2''' broad. 

 Glumes much imbricate long, boat-shaped with green keel and 

 hyaline or coloured margins, lanceolate when unfolded, -18 — 22" long, 

 obtuse. Nut including the large style-base •06--08" long, biconvex, 

 obovoid rounded and very broad, style-base nearly half as long as 

 nut ovoid or broadly conical. 



Shahabad, Samajad Lal\ Also in Lower Bengal, so that it will probably be 

 found in the intermediate plains districts. Fl., Fr. Dec. -March. 



Stems with loose often red leaf-sheaths below, the uppermost sometimes pro- 

 duced on one side into a triangular point otherwise truncate. Stem with a terminal 

 small glume-like bract supporting the spikelet oblong green with broad scarious 

 margins. Bristles 6 as long as or exceeding the nut, retrorsely scabrous (sometimes 

 reduced in both number and length, Clarke). Clarke speaks of the nut being much 

 nai-rowed at the top, sometimes to a very short beak ; it is rounded at the top in 

 specimens seen by me. Outer cells obscure, rarely reticulate. 



The plant is cosmopolitan and is common in the British Islands where the nut is 

 usually striate. 



912 



