400 cyperacEjE. [Scleria. 



Hongkong, Hance. Spread over India, from Ceylon and the Peninsula to the Archipe- 

 lago. Like the last, it appears to vary in India with much broader leaves than in Hong- 

 kong. 



3. S. pubescens, Steud. Syn. Cyp. 168. Stems stiff, 3-angled, 1 to 2 

 ft. high. Leaves rigid, linear, 3 to 4 lines broad, pubescent, the sheaths acutely 

 3-angled, but rarely winged. Peduncles usually 1 terminal and 1 axillary, 

 each branching into a small pyramidal panicle. Spikelets not numerous, 

 solitary, or 2 or 3 together. Nut white, ovoid, triangular, slightly tubercu- 

 late and pubescent. Disk with 3 lanceolate lobes. 



Hongkong, Hance, Harland, Wright. Also in Java. This plant is certainly very near 

 the S. hebecarpa, Nees, to which Munro (in Seem. Bot. Her. 423) referred it, but in that 

 species the nuts, although pubescent, are smooth and shining as in S. lithosperma, and the 

 leaves are glabrous or nearly so The S. pubescens has the disk of S. tessellata, with the 

 nuts and inflorescence more like those of S. chinensis. 



4. S. chinensis, Kunth, Enum. ii. 357. Stem acutely 3-angled, lj to 

 3 ft. high. Leaves linear, rather obtuse, 3 to 4 lines broad, the sheaths 3- 

 winged, the ligula often 4 to 5 lines long. Peduncles several, axillary and 

 terminal, each bearing numerous spikelets in a narrow somewhat pyramidal 

 close panicle, 1 to 2 in. long. Bracts subulate, with a broad and usually ciliate 

 base. Spikelets usually in pairs, 1 female, the other male. Nut white, 

 nearly glabrous, marked with irregularly reticulate raised transverse tubercles. 

 Disk with 3 short broad obtuse lobes. — 8. ciliaris, Nees in Wight, Contrib. 

 117; not of Mich. 



Abundant in ravines, Hinds, Champion, and others. In Bengal, Silhet, and S. China. Munro 

 (in Seem. Bot. Her. 423) refers Hance's specimens to the S. scrobicuJata, Nees, but in that 

 species the panicle is more spreading and pyramidal, and the leaf-sheaths are not winged. 

 The limits however of the different species of Scleria are ofteu very difficult to fix. 



5. S. Isevis, Retz ; Kunth, Enum. ii. 342. A coarse species, 3 or 4 ft. 

 high, the stems acutely 3-angled. Leaves long, \ to \ in. broad, acute, often 

 very rough, the sheaths acutely 3-angled or with very narrow wings, the ligula 

 very short. Peduncles axillary and terminal, bearing short pyramidal pani- 

 cles with spreading branches. Bracts subulate. Nuts ovoid or nearly glo- 

 bular, very smooth and shining, of a dark or leaden colour. Disk with 3 short 

 obtuse entire lobes. 



Hongkong, Hance. In Ceylon, the Malayan Peninsula, and the Archipelago. 



Var. scaberrima. Leaves \ to f in. broad, exceedingly rough, the sheaths more evidently 

 winged. Panicles rather looser. Nut often white. 



Hongkong, Harland. This may be the Chinese plant which Nees refers as a variety to 

 the S. American S. communis, Kunth, but my Brazilian specimeus of that species have always 

 a small much depressed nut. 



6. S. purpurascens, Steud. Syn. Cyp. 169? A stout species, several 

 feet high, often acquiring a purple tint, especially the panicle and leaf-sheaths. 

 Leaves numerous, often above 1 ft. long, the lower sheaths usually pubescent, 

 angled, but not winged. Ligula rounded, often ciliate. General panicle 

 narrow- pyramidal, 8 in. to 1 ft. long, the partial ones much branched with 

 subulate bracts mostly short except a leafy one at the base of each panicle. 

 Spikelets numerous, of a deep reddish-purple. " Disk with 3 entire obtuse 

 lobes." 



Hongkong, Harland. The specimens are only in very young flower, and I am therefore 



