398 cyperace^). [Arthroatyle*. 



the stem. Glume9 finely pointed, 1 or sometimes 2 innermost with a herma- 

 phrodite flower, about 4 others gradually shorter and empty. Stamens 3, witli 

 very short filaments. Style 3-cleft, with a bulbous swelling evidently articu- 

 late, although the nut is still very young in our specimens. 

 Hongkong, Wright. Not known from elsewhere. 



13. G-AHNIA, Forst. 



S pikelets 1 -flowered or with a second male flower. Glumes imbricate all 

 round, the outer ones empty. Flowers hermaphrodite, without hypogynous 

 bristles or scales. Stamens 4 to 6, the filaments very long and persistent. 

 Style 3-cleft, the subulate branches often 2-cleft. — Tall rigid rush-like peren- 

 nials. Spikelets densely clustered in compound spikes, arranged in a narrow 

 terminal leafy panicle. 



A small genus spread over Australia, the Pacific islands, and eastern tropical Asia. 



1. G. tristis, Nees ; Steud. Syn. Oyp. 163. Stems cylindrical, stiff and 

 hard, 2 to 4 ft. high. Leaves long, narrow, with subulate points, very rough 

 on the edges. Panicle 8 in. to near 1 ft. long, consisting of a number of erect 

 dense compound spikes, the lower ones 1 to 1 J- in. long, the upper ones gradu- 

 ally shorter, each in the axil of a leafy bract. Spikelets dark brown, about 4 

 to 5 lines long, clustered in the axils of short glume-like or sometimes almost 

 leafy bracts, with a small bract under each spikelet. Glumes, 5 or 6 outer 

 empty ones, of which the lowest short, the inner ones longer and very pointed ; 

 and within them 3 or 4 more, much shorter, very broad and obtuse, closely 

 enveloping the flowers. Stamens usually 4. Style with 3 long hair-like simple 

 black branches. Nut obovoid, near 2 lines long, smooth and shining, pale 

 coloured, with a minute black slightly raised tip. 



Hongkong, Harland, Wright ; common on the hills, Wilford. Also on the adjacent 

 continent, but not known out of S. China. 



14. LEPIDOSPERMA, Labill. 



Spikelets with 2 or 3 flowers, all apparently hermaphrodite, but only one 

 fertile, with several outer empty glumes. Hypogynous scales 3 to 6, short and 

 thick or sometimes very minute or wanting, and no bristles. Stamens 3. Style 

 3-cleft. Nut obovoid, triangular, surrounded at the base by the hardened scales 

 or seated on a hardened disk as in Scleria. — Stems rigid and rush-like, leaf- 

 less, but enclosed at the base by the sheaths of the radical leaves. 



A small genus, chiefly Australian, extending also over the Pacific islands and tropical Asia. 



1. L. chinensis, Nees, PL Meyen. 117. Stems nearly cylindrical, 2 to 3 ft. 

 high. Leaves rather shorter, cylindrical, stiff, shortly sheathing the stem at 

 the base. Spikelets 3 to 4 lines long, densely clustered in compound erect 

 spikes of -g- to 1 in. long, forming a terminal interrupted spike or oblong 

 panicle of l-§- to 4 in. Subtending bracts oblong, dark brown or glaucous, 

 shorter than the spikes. Glumes dark brown, almost distichous, the inner 

 flowering ones the longest. Mowers usually 3, of which the lowest fertile. 

 Hypogynous scales reduced to the minute, often scarcely projecting teeth of 

 the thickened disk. Nut dark, spotted with white. 



Hongkong, Hinds, Hance ; very common in marshy places, Wilford. Also on the adja- 

 cent continent, but not known out of S. China. 



