Fimbristylis.'] clvi. CYPERACEiE (clarke). 413 



Heads and whole plant nearly plabrous. 



Nut pallid ; spikelet 1 (rarely 2-3) to each 



stem ....... 22. F. monosiachya. 



Nut black-browu ; Spikelets 2-6 (rarely 1) to 



each stem ...... 23. F. tristachya. 



Heads (as nearly the whole plant) hairy . . 2i. F. africana. 



1. F. polytrichoides, R. Br. Prodr. 2'2^i. Glabrous. Stem 

 tufted, 4-8 in. long, slender. Leaves J-| the length of the stem, 

 scarcely -^^ in. broad. Spikelet 1, J by J in., ellipsoid-oblong. Glumes 

 ovate, obtuse, dusky ferruginous ; the lowest like the others, or bract- 

 like, \~\ in. long, as though continuing the stem. Style 2-branched, 

 a little shorter than the nut, nearly glabrous. Nut |- the length of the 

 glume, obovoid, biconvex, smooth or obscurely scabrous on the shoulders, 

 dark brown.— C. B. Clarke in Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. vi. 032 ; K. 

 Schum. in Engl. Pfl. Ost-Afr. C. 124. Scirpus polytrichoides, Rptz. 

 Obs. iv. 11. 



Mozamb. Dist. Zanzibar, 5owi» .' German Etist Africa : Usambara.; Tanga, 

 Solst, 2123 ! 



Also in India, Malaya, Chusau and Australia. 



2. P. dipsacea, Benth. in Benth. el Hook, f. Gen. PI. iii. 1049. 

 Annual, almost glabrous. Stems 2-5 in. long. Leaves often as long 

 as the stems, capillary. Umbel compound or simple, with 12-13 

 (occasionally with 2-1) spikelets ; bracts capillary, often longer than 

 the umbel. Spikelets \-\ in. long, ovoid, dense. Glumes elliptic, long 

 aristate, finally squarrose, pallid or greenish. Style 2-branched, short, 

 glabrous ; style-base small, conic, deciduous with the style. Nut a 

 little shorter than the glume (exclusive of its arista), linear-oblong, 

 slightly curved, pale brown, obscurely transversely wavy-lineolate, 

 occasionally with a row of 4-6 large stalked loosely cellular glands on 

 either margin. — C. B. Clarke in Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. vi. 635, and in 

 Durand & Schinz, Conspect. Fl. Afr. v. 604 ; Durand k Schinz, Etudes 

 Fi. Congo, i. 301. Scirpus dipsaceus, Rottb. Descr. et Ic. 56, t. 12, 

 fig. 1 ; Boeck. in Linnsea, xxxvi. 736, and in Engl. Gazelle lieise, Bot. 

 16. Echinolytrum dipsaceam., Desv. Journ. Bot. i. 21, t. 1. Isolepis 

 dipsacea, B-oem. & Schultes, Syst. Yeg. ii. 119 ; Kunth, Enum. ii. 205. 

 /. elachista, Schultes in Roem. <fe Schultes, Syst. Yeg. ii. Mant. 61 ; 

 Kunth, Enum. ii. 217. 



Xiower Guinea. Lower Conjro: mouth of the River Kwa, 1000 ft., EenSy C, 

 118! Kinchassa, on Stanley Pool, Luja, 174 partly ! 



Also in India, Malaya, and China, extending to Amur. 



3. F. squaxTOsa, Vahl^ Enum. ii. 289. Annual, pubescent or 

 glabrous. Stems 2-7 in. long, tufted. Leaves J-| the length of the 

 stem, setaceous or narrowly linear. Umbel usually compound (but 

 depauperated examples occur with few or only 2 spikelets to a stem) ; 

 bracts 3-4, similar to the leaves, often nearly as long as the umbel. 



