Lipocarpha.] cyperacejE. 389 



with almost filiform stems, 3 to 6 in. high. Leaves short, subulate. Spikes 

 3 or 1, ovoid or nearly globular, about 2 lines diameter, with 1 or 2 long- 

 subulate leafy bracts. Glume-like scales linear-cuneate, with long spreading 

 or recurved subulate points, giving the spikes a squarrose appearance, Glumes 

 narrow and exceedingly delicate, 3-nerved. Style short (2-cleft?). Nut 

 oblong, nearly as long as the glumes. 



Hongkong, Wilford. In Java and Australia, and apparently a larger variety in tropical 

 Africa. This species so closely resembles in aspect the Isolepis squarrosa, Roein. and Sch. (an 

 Indian plant, not found in Hongkong) as scarcely to be distinguished except by the presence 

 of the inner scales or glumes, and by the differently shaped nut. 



4. HYPOELYTRUM, Eich. 



Spikelets 1 -flowered, densely crowded in ovoid or cylindrical spikes resem- 

 bling spikelets, the imbricated glume-like bracts under each spikelet as long as 

 the spikelets themselves. Glumes 2, very flat, acutely keeled. Flowers her- 

 maphrodite without hypogynous scales or bristles. Stamens 3 or fewer. 

 Style 2- or 3 -cleft. Nut slightly compressed or obtusely 3 -angled, falling 

 away from the glumes when ripe. — Herbs usually coarse. Spikes brown, re- 

 sembling the spikelets of Scirpus, pedicellate in corymbose panicles like those 

 of Rhynchospora. 



A small tropical and subtropical genus, common to the New and the Old World. 



1. H. latifolium, Rich.; Kunth, Enum. ii. 271. Stems acutely triangular, 

 2 to 4 ft. high. Leaves usually longer, \ to 1 in. broad, with 3 prominent 

 nerves, and more or less rough on the edges and midrib. Panicles 2 to 4 in. 

 diameter, with 2 or 3 long leafy bracts. Spikes oblong-cylindrical when in 

 flower, ovoid when in fruit, 2 to 3 lines long. Glume-like bracts brown, 

 mostly obtuse, or the lower ones acute. Spikelets shorter, very flat. Glumes 

 pointed, ciliate on the keel. Stamens 2. Style 2-cleft. Nut nearly globular, 

 scarcely beaked, more or less reticulate with raised veins. — H. trinervium, 

 Kunth, Enum. ii. 272. AlbikJcia scirpoides, Presl, Eel. Hsenk. t. 35, and A. 

 schcenoides, t. 34. 



Hongkong, Harland, Hance, Wright. Widely diffused over tropical Asia and Africa. 



5. ABILDGAABDIA, Vahl. 



Spikelets several-flowered, flattened, often becoming spiral when old. Glumes 

 distichous ; the lower 2 or rarely 3 empty. Flowers hermaphrodite, without 

 hypogynous scales or bristles. Stamens 3 or fewer. Style 3-cleft, often 

 thickened at the base and articulate on the nut, below the bulb. — Habit of 

 Fimbristyles, from which it only differs in the distichous glumes. 



A small tropical and subtropical genus, common to the New and the Old World. 



Spikelets solitary 1. A monostachya. 



Spikelets several in an irregularly compound umbel. 



Leaves glabrous, 1 line broad. Glumes pale brown, scarcely pointed 2. A. Eragrostis. 



Leaves pubescent, \ line broad. Glumes rich-brown narrow-pointed 3. A.fusca. 



1. A. monostachya, Vahl; Kunth, Enum. ii. 247. A densely tufted 

 almost bulbous perennial. Leaves linear- subulate, stiff, 4 to 8 in. long. 

 Stems slender, stiff, 8 in. to 1 ft. long, bearing a single flat ovate-lanceolate 



