o 



8 Cyperacecz. \Cyperus~ 



imbricate, - t V in- l°ng> ovate, obtuse, dorsally rounded and 

 faintly veined, margins hyaline; stam. 3, anth. very small,, 

 oblong, obtuse; nut from 3- shorter to nearly as long as the 

 glume, shortly stipitate, ellipsoid oblong or subobovoid,. 

 trigonous, beaked, sometimes curved, pale, style shorter than 

 the nut, stigmas 3, filiform. 



In water; very rare. Haragama. Fl. July. 

 India, Asia generally, Africa, Australia. 



38. C. platyphyllus, Roem. and Sch. Syst. ii. 876 (1817). 



C. Roxburghii, Nees; Thw. Enum. 343. C. P. 3041. 

 Fl. B. Ind. vi. 618. 



Perennial ; rootstock woody, as thick as the thumb, 

 stolons o, root-fibres stout ; stem 6-20 ft., stout, triquetrous,, 

 base thickened, angles scabrid, cutting; 1. as long as the stem, 

 up to 1 in, broad, flat, 3-veined, keel and margins serrulate,, 

 whitish beneath when dry; umbel decompound, 3-4 in. diam., 

 rays 8-10, stout, erect, 4-10 in. long, trigonous towards the top,, 

 bearing large brush-like fascicles of 6-20 long, stout, narrow 

 cylindric spikes ; bracts 4-6, longest up to 20 in., bracteoles- 

 shorter than the spikes; spikes 1-3 in. by \ in. diam., of 

 innumerable small spirally arranged spikelets ; spikelets sub- 

 erect, \-\ in. long, subterete, acute, 10-14-fld., golden-brown,, 

 shining, wings of rhachilla broadly lanceolate, acuminate, 

 deciduous; glumes very closely imbricate, broadly ovate,, 

 obtuse, cymbiform, apiculate, dorsally rounded, 3-veined, 

 sides broadly hyaline ; stam. 3, anth. narrow, tipped with a 

 scabrid appendage about half as long as the cells ; nut §-§ as 

 long as the glume, ellipsoid, trigonous, narrowed at the top, 

 style shorter than the nut, stigmas 3, capillary. 



Ponds in the moist low country ; rather rare. Kukul Korale, Matara. 

 Fl. Dec.-Feb. 



Also on Coromandel coast. 

 Our largest species. 



39. C. alopecuroides, Rottb. Descr. et Ic. 38 (1773). 



Thw. Enum. 342. C. P. 3560. 



Fl. B. Ind. vi. 595 (Juncellns). Rottb. 1. c. t. 8, f. 2. 



Perennial ; rootstock short, stout, stolons o, root-fibres very 

 stout and slender mixed ; stem 2-3 ft., stout, 1 in. and more 

 in diam. towards the base, trigonous, leafy, angles smooth ;. 

 1. many, as long as the stem or shorter, \-\ in. broad, 

 coriaceous, acute, 3-veined, white beneath, keel and margins 

 scaberulous towards the tip, umbel large, compound, primary 

 rays 4-6, up to 4 in. long, slender, secondary up to 1 in.,, 

 bearing clusters of oblong, cylindric, sessile and peduncled 

 spikes %-\\ in. by ^-£ in. diam., densely covered with small 



