Fimbristylis.'] CypCraceCB. 49 



Rootstock creeping, with many stout fibrous roots; stem 

 10-18 in.; very slender, subtrigonous, deeply grooved, 1. o, or 

 ovate, erect, limb bordered with brown, sheath short; spikelet 

 solitary, \-^ in., erect or inclined, ovoid, subacute, terete, dark 

 brown, many-fid., lowest glume bracteiform, orbicular, coria- 

 ceous, persistent, rhachilla stout, angular, with large pits 

 between the glumes; glumes closely imbricate, \ in., orbicular 

 or very broadly ovate, concave, tip rounded, apiculate, scarious 

 with a broad coriaceous centre, lower 2-3 shorter, empty; 

 stam. 3, anth. slender, acuminate ; nut -^o in- long, broadly 

 obovoid, biconvex, transversely crossed by 5-6 wavy, broad, 

 nodulose ridges, white, style very broad, pubescent, base 

 truncate, not dilated, stigmas 2. 



Moist low country ; common in wet places. Fl. all the year. 



Also in Burma, Nicobar Is., Borneo, China, Australia. 



Differs from F. acuminata in the often inclined, more obtuse, many- 

 fid, spikelets, persistent bracteiform lowest glume, and smaller more 

 obovoid nuts. 



4. F. polytrichoides, Vahl, Enum. PL ii. 248 (ii 



Scirpus polytrichoides, Retz. Obs. iv. 11 ; Moon, Cat. 6. Thw. Enum. 

 .348,433- C. P. 3786. 



Fl. B. Ind. vi. 632. Rumph. Herb. Amb. vi. t. 7, f. 1. 



Perennial (?) very densely tufted, root-fibres filiform; stems 

 .4-12 in., filiform, leafy at the base, trigonous, grooved; 1. half 

 as long as the stem or more, as slender, wiry, acute, terete 

 or trigonous, striate, sheaths with hyaline margins, glabrous 

 or puberulous; spikelet solitary, \-\ in., erect, oblong or 

 ovate-oblong, obtuse, terete, many-fid., lowest glumes some- 

 times subulate, green, as long as the spikelets and persistent, 

 sometimes deciduous like the other glumes but shorter, 

 broader, and empty, rhachilla stout, terete, deeply pitted ; 

 glumes \ in., linear-oblong, subacute or obtuse, apiculate, 

 scarious or membranous, 1 -veined, lower 2-3 shorter, broader, 

 and empty; stam. 2-3, anth. slender, acuminate; nut obovoid 

 or obcordate, 2V m - l on g> rnuch compressed, biconvex with 

 rather acute margins, minutely striolate and trabeculate, pale, 

 at length iron grey and dotted white with marcescent outer 

 cells, style slender, sparsely hairy, base hardly dilated, 

 stigmas 2, rather long. 



Sandy seashores ; common, especially in the dry region. Fl. all the 

 year (?). 



Tropics of the Old World. 



5. F. schoenoides, Vahl, Enum. PL ii. 286 (1806). 

 Thw. Enum. 348. C. P. 833. 



Fl. B. Ind. vi. 634. 



Perennial, densely tufted, root-fibres slender; stem 6-18 

 part v. E 



