40 Cyperacece. [Mariscus. 



spikes sessile, densely crowded in a globose head § in. diam. 

 or less, rhachis very short, stout, concealed after the fall of 

 the spikelets by the persistent lowest glumes; spikelets \-\ in., 

 ovate-oblong, turgid, 4-6-fld., rhachilla very short, winged ; 

 glumes closely imbricate, orbicular-ovate, deeply cymbiform, 

 subacute or apiculate, many-veined, dorsally rounded, not 

 keeled, greenish, speckled with red-brown, margins hyaline ; 

 stam. 3, anth. very small, oblong ; nut shortly stipitate, \ to \ 

 the length of the glume, obovoid or oblong, trigonous, cuspi- 

 date, black, style shorter than the nut. 



Damp ground in the low country ; rather rare. Galle (Gardner) ; 

 Kurunegala ; Lunugala, Uva. Western Province on the seashore 

 (Pearson). Fl. all the year. 



Also in India, Malaya, and S. Africa. 



2. XKE. albescens, Gaud, in Freyc. Voy. Bot. 415 (1826). Ramba, 

 S. Irampai, T. 



Cyperus fiennatus, Lam.; Thw. Enum. 343. C. P. 678. 

 Fl. B. Ind. vi. 623. Rheede, Hort. Mai. xii. t. 55. 



Perennial ; rootstock tuberous, woody, stoloniferous, root- 

 fibres very stout ; stem 2-3 ft., stout, trigonous, smooth ; 1. 

 many,' longer than the stem, up to 6 ft. by \ in. or more broad, 

 coriaceous, 1 -veined, margins and keel scaberulous; umbel 

 compound, 4-8 in. diam., rays 4-8, rather stout, bearing short 

 ternate secondary rays with spreading cylindric sessile spikes 

 \-\ in. long, covered with stout horizontally spreading 

 spikelets ; rhachis of spike rather stout, loosely clothed with 

 the persistent scarious lower glumes ; bracts 4-6, leaf-like, up 

 to 16 in. long; spikelets \ in. long, ovoid or lanceolate, 

 acuminate, almost terete, 3-5-fld., pale brown or straw-col'd. ; 

 rhachilla with very short winged internodes; glumes closely 

 imbricate, rather thin, broadly ovate or almost orbicular, 

 obtuse, dorsally rounded, not keeled, striolate with brown, 

 veins many very slender, margin narrowly hyaline; stam. 3, anth. 

 very small oblong ; nut not stipitate, \ as long as the glume, 

 broadly oval, trigonous, cuspidate, narrowed at the base, black, 

 style about as long as the nut. 



Tanks, &c. in the low country, especially in the dry region ; common. 

 Fl. Sept.-March. 



Tropics of the Old World generally. 



The leaves of this species are described in Fl. B. Ind. as being trans- 

 versely lineolate, which character does not hold good for the Ceylon 

 specimens. 



3. DX. microcephalus, Fres/, Rel. Haenk. i. 182 (1830). 

 Cyperus dilutus, Vahl; Thw. Enum. 344. C. P. 815. 



Fl. B. Ind. vi. 624. 



