Cyperm.~] cyperacEjE. 387 



union of Mariscus with Cyperus, no character existing to separate them, and the habit being 

 nearly identical in some species of each. 



9. C. pennatus, Lam. ; Kunth, Ermm. ii. 80. A coarse species, of a 

 glaucous or pale green colour. Stem 2 ft. high or more. Leaves often longer, 

 rather stiff, with very rough serrulate edges. Umbel compound, often with 

 numerous rays, but very compact, seldom above 4 in. diameter ; the leafy bracts 

 very long. Spikelets lanceolate, not much flattened, about 3 lines long, very 

 spreading, in dense spikes occupying the whole length of the partial umbels. 

 Glumes 6 to 10, closely imbricate, many-nerved, not keeled, of a pale whity- 

 brown colour. Styles 3 -cleft. Nuts about half as long as the glume. — 

 O. canescens, Vahl; Nees in PI. Meyen. 61. 



Hongkong, Hance, Harland, Wright. In Ceylon and the Indian Peninsula, the Malayan 

 Peninsula, the Archipelago, Pacific islands, and S. China. 



10. C. pilosus, Vahl; Kunth, Enum. ii. 80. A coarse species, much 

 resembling the last in habit, but greener, the leaves and leafy bracts not quite 

 so long nor so rough at the edges. Umbels similarly compounded but larger 

 and looser, some of the rays often 4 in. long. Spikelets 2 to 3 lines long, very 

 spreading, in loose spikes occupying the whole length of the partial rays ; the 

 rhachis always hairy on the edges, whilst in all the allied species it is glabrous. 

 Glumes 6 to 10, loosely imbricate and more or less spreading at the tips, pale 

 brown, with scarious edges. Style 3-cleft. Nut about ^ as long as the glume. 

 — C. obliquus, Nees; Kunth, Enum. ii. 69. , 



Hongkong, Wright. In northern and eastern India and the Archipelago. 



C. marginellus, Nees in Hook, and Arn. Bot. Beech. 22?, apparently common in S. China 

 as well as in northern and eastern India, hut not yet received from Hongkong, is perhaps a 

 variety only of C. pilosus, differing in the longer spikelets (about 4 lines), and more numer- 

 ous glumes usually of a darker reddish-brown. 



11. C. rotundus, Linn. ; Kunth, Enum. ii. 58. Sterns^ to 1£ ft- high, 

 from a short sometimes slightly creeping rhizome, the fibrous roots occasion- 

 ally forming small tubers. Leaves flaccid, much shorter than the stems. 

 Umbel-rays not numerous, the outer leafy bracts seldom so long as the longest 

 rays. Spikelets linear, acute, usually about 6 lines, but sometimes 10 or 11 

 lines long, 3 to 8 together, in short spikes at the ends of the rays. Glumes 

 numerous, imbricate, narrow-ovate, scarcely pointed, red-brown, with a green 

 keel and light-coloured edge. Style long, 3-cleft. Nut much shorter than 

 the glume. 



Hongkong, Hance and others. Widely diffused over the tropical and temperate regions of 

 the New and the Old World. 



12. C. distans, Linn. ; Kunth, Enum. ii. 93. A coarse species, with a 

 horizontal or slightly creeping rhizome. Stems 1 to 2 ft. high or even more. 

 Leaves often as long or longer. Umbel more or less compound, with numer- 

 ous slender rays, and 1 or 2 of the outer leafy bracts much longer than the 

 rays. Spikelets slender, \ in. long or more, in loose spikes along the rays of 

 the partial umbels. Glumes narrow, rather distant, so as scarcely to overlap 

 each other, red-brown on the sides, more or less green on the keel. Style rather 

 short, 3-cleft. Nut narrow, nearly as long as the glume. 



Hongkong, Wright. Diffused over the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, 

 and Australia, occurring also in some parts of tropical America. 



2 c 2 



