Lipocarpha.] CLVi. cyperace^ (clarke). 469 



view was st »rt?cl by Kunth, and Theo. Holm writes to mo that after a prolonged 

 investigation he is decisively of the same opinion. If this is so, Lipocarpha must he 

 remote from every other genus. 



Spikelets terete, smooth; glumes with obtuse triangular 

 tips incurved in fruit. 

 Nut about \ the length of the glume ; style § the 



length of the nut , . . . . . \, L. aryentea. 



Nut \ the length of the glume ; style 0, the 3 branches 

 just united. 

 Nut oblong ; lower hyaline scale narrow-elliptic. 



Stem very slender, with 3-1 spikelets . . 2. L. filiformia. 



Stem medium-sized, with 3-18 spikelets . . 3.. L. tricepa. 



Nutobovoid; lower hyaline scale suborbicular . 4, L. prieuriana. 

 S))ikelets hispid ; glumes acuminate with linear tips sub- 

 erect in fruit. 

 Medium-sized plants with stolons. 



Stolons very slender; spikelets pallid or cinnamon- 

 coloured . . . . . . . 5. i. alhiceps. 



Stolons rather stout ; spikelets purple-yellow . 6. L. purpureohitea. 



Small plants ; stolons 0. 



Stems 4-8 in. long, slender, with 5-1 spikelets . 7. L. atra. 

 Stems less than 1 in. long, wit^ 1 spikelet . . 8. i. multibracteafa. 



Spikelets squarrose ; glumes with a long linear tip re- 

 curved in fruit. 

 Stems 12-20 in. long, rather robust ; spikelets 



obscurely squarrose ..... 9. i. Barteri. 



Stems 4-14 in. long, slender; spikelets strongly 



squarrose ....... 10. L. ptdcherrima. 



1. L. argemtea, R. Br. in Tuckey^ Congo, Append. 459. 

 Glabrous. Rhizome usually 0, sometimes up to \\ in. long. Stems 

 tufted, 4-24 in. long, round-trigonous, smooth, with no nodes between 

 the basal leaves and single head. Leaves sometimes as long as the stem, 

 often only J its length, \-\ in. broad, rather fleshy at the base. 

 Spikelets 8-10, \-\ by \ in., ovoid or cylindric, obtuse, terete, not 

 rough from excurrent points of glumes, white ; bracts 3-2, horizontal, 

 lowest 1-4 in. long and similar to the leaves. Glumes very dense in 

 numerous spirals, obovate, with obtuse triangular tips, erect or incurved 

 in fruit, thick in texture. Hyaline scales shorter than the glume; 

 lower anticous narrow-elliptic and o-veiiied, upper posticous oblong and 

 3-veined. Stamens usually 2 ; anthers narrowly oblong, muticous. 

 Style linear, # the length of the nut ; branches 3-2, very short, scarcely 

 exserted. Nut about J the length of the hyaline scale, trigonous-com- 

 pressed, oblong-obovoid, brown-black, smooth. — Kunth, Enura. ii. 2G(I ; 

 Benth. in Hook. Niger Fi. 555 ; Boeck. in Linnaea, xxxvii. 114 partly 

 (i.e. excl. the American examples), in Flora, 1879, 567, and in Engl. 

 Gazelle Reise, Bot. 14 ; T. Thoms. in Speke, Nile, Append. 654 ; Oliver 

 in Trans. Linn. Soc. xxix^ 169; Ridley in Trans. Linn. Soc. ser. 2, Bot. 

 ii. 163; Goeb. in Ann. Jard. Buit. vii. 131, t. 14, fig. 18, t. 15, fig. 

 19-20 ; C. B. Clarke in Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. vi. 667, in Durand A 

 Schinz, Conspect. Fl. Afr. v. 649, and in Dyer, Fl. Cap. vii. 265 ; 

 Durand and Schinz, Etudes Fl. Congo, i. 308 ; Durand and De Wild, in 



VOL. VIII. Q 



