454 CLVi. CYPERAC^E (clarke). [Sch'pus. 



The African material divides easily into two groups : 



(a) Stems slender ^ in. thick. Spikelets ^-^ in. long, very obtuse, greenish- 

 fellow. Glumes very obtuse, concave, somewhat infl;ited, searious. Nut smnll, 

 pallid, with wavy horizontal lines. — This is called Isolepis senegalensis by Hoch- 

 stetter, /. prcBlongata by Nees. 



(5) Stems ^^ in. thick. Spikelets ^ in. long and upwards, acute, marked red 

 ar.d brown. Glumes at the tip triangular, subacute. Nut large, dark-brown, with- 

 out wavy horizontal lines. 



These two forms appear separate in Africa; but the great quantity of Indian 

 material has not been divided satisfactorily between the two. All modern authorities> 

 from Boeckeler to Schumann, unite the two African forms as one species. 



13. S. quinquefarius, ^oec^. in Liwucea, xxxvi.701. Spikelets in 

 fruit J by \-^ in., the glumes laxly spreading ; otherwise as S.articulatua^ 

 Linn., form a. — C. B. Clarke in Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. vi. 657, in 

 Durand & Schinz, Conspect. Fl. Afr. v. 629, and in Dyer, Fl. Cap. vii. 

 228. Isolepis lupuHna, Nees in Wight, Contrib. 107 ; Kunth, Enum. 

 ii. 197. 



irile ]band. British East Africa : Athi, Gregory, 102 ! 



Frequent in India, also once collected in the Transvaal. 



Tlie stems are with or without false transverse septa. 



This species might be reduced to S. articulatus ; owing to the yellow-brown 

 much-inflated spreading glumes, the specific name " lupuHna" (like hop-heads) waa 

 aj plied by Nees. 



14. S. mucronatus, Linn. Sp. PI. ed. 2, 73 mainly. Glabrous. 

 Bo^ts fibrous, or rarely a horizontal rhizome 4-6 in. long. Stems 

 ti^f '.ed, J-2J ft. long, stout, triquetrous, bearing 1 apparently lateral 

 held ; lowest bract trigonous, appearing as a continuation of the stem, 

 I -3| in. long. Leaves 0. Spikelets few or numerous, \-\ in. long, 

 ellipsoid, subacute. Glumes ovate, subacute, nearly entire at the tip. 

 Hypogynous bristles usually 5 (or 6), unequal, some nearly as long as 

 the nut, brown, retrorse-scabrid (but the bristles are sometimes small 

 and occasionally 0). Style linear ; branches 3. Nut less than \ the 

 length of the glume, obovoid, trigonous, shining black-chestnut, smooth 

 or obscurely transversely wavy. — Delile, Fl. jlgypt, 14, t. 7, fig. 3 ; 

 Kunth, Enum. ii. 161 ;.. Boeck. in Linnsea, xxxvi, 703; C. B. Clarke in 

 Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. vi. 657, in Durand & Schinz, Conspect. Fl. Afr. 

 V. 6^8 ; K. Schum. in Engl. Pfl. Ost-Afr. C. 126 partly. 



Upper Cuinea. Cameroons : Yaunde, Zenker, 677 ! 



Also in Europe, Western Asia to Japan, Australia, and Polynesia. — This species, 

 abundant in Europe and India, appears to avoid Africa, as it is not recorded even in 

 Algeria by Cosson and Durieu, nor have I ever seen any example from Africa except 

 Zenker's. It is, however, a weed that might appear anywhere in a rice-field, and 

 may have been carried to the Cameroons. 



15. S. lacustris, Linn. Sp. PI. ed. 2, 72. Glabrous, except the 

 glumes. Rhizome horizontal. Stem 2-6 ft. long, stout, terete or 

 somewhat trigonous at the top. Leaves usually ; occasionally 6-12 in. 

 long. Umbel simple or compound, rarely contracted into a head of 



