Eleocharis.~\ Cyperacece. 69 



insertions of the glumes; glumes closely imbricate, i in. long, 

 ■quadrately ovate, truncately rounded at the top, coriaceous, 

 persistent, i-veined, 1 or 2 lower bracteiform, broadly ovate; 

 bristles 7, equalling or exceeding the nut, retrorsely scabrid, 

 yellow ; stam. 3, anth. narrowly linear, tip long, setaceous ; 

 nut very small, y 1 - in. long, orbicular- obovoid, rather com- 

 pressed, quite smooth, yellowish, style very long, flattened, 

 base triangular, stigmas 3. 



In water, moist low country; rather common. Fl. Dec, &c. 



Tropics of Old World generally. 



2. f. equisetina, Presl, Rel. Haenk. i. 195 (1830). 

 Scirpus pla.7itagi?ieiis, var. (3, Thw. Enum. 434. C. P. 3777. 

 Fl. B. Ind. vi. 626. 



Stem 12-20 in., tufted, stoloniferous, as thick as a crow- 

 •quill or less, deeply grooved, appearing septate when dry, 

 upper sheath 2-3 in. long, with an ovate, acute, appressed 

 limb; spikelet i-i| in., straw-col'd., rather broader than the 

 •stem ; glumes many, i—| in. long, narrowly obovate-oblong, 

 •coriaceous, persistent, margins broadly hyaline, mid-vein in- 

 •distinct ; bristles longer than the nut, retrorsely spinuiose ; 

 anth. with a short conical tip ; nut obovoid, somewhat nar- 

 rowed at the triangular top, style very long, stigmas 3. 



Low country ; very rare. Kurunegala. Fl. Sept., &c. 



Also in Philippine Is. and New Caledonia. 



There are no ripe nuts in the Ceylon examples. Two stigmas occur 

 in Indian specimens. 



3. S. variesrata, Kunth, Enum. PL ii. 153 (1837), var. lasiflora, 

 €. B. CI. in Fl. B. Ind. vi. 626. 



Scirpus laxiflorus, Thw. Enum. 435. C. P. 3762. 

 Fl. B. Ind. 1. c. 



Rootstock stout, creeping, root-fibres very stout ; stems 

 1-2 ft., densely tufted, about as thick as a crow-quill, terete or 

 ■slightly flattened on one side, striate, not septate, upper sheath 

 2-4 in., with an obliquely truncate acute or rounded dis- 

 coloured mouth ; spikelet I in., thicker than the stem, lowest 

 glume bracteiform, rounded, green with a hyaline margin, 

 rhachilla angular with broad concave facets between the 

 glumes ; glumes closely imbricate till fruiting, i in. long, 

 ■oblong, obtuse, coriaceous with hyaline tip and margins above, 

 i-veined, dorsally green, sometimes margined with brown, 

 persistent ; bristles 7, longer than the nut, retrorsely scabrid, 

 yellow; tip of anth. short, conical ; nut T V in., nearly orbicular 

 ■compressed, oval in transverse section, many-ribbed, inter- 

 stices minutely pitted, yellowish or pale brown, style rather 

 long, base conical, two-thirds as broad as the nut, stigmas 2 

 or 3. 



