j 6 Cyperacece. [Stirpus. 



imbricate, persistent and marcescent on the rhachilla, membra- 

 nous, about \ in. long, broadly ovate, subacute, mucronate, not 

 keeled, mid vein slender, margins broadly hyaline; hypogynous 

 bristles o; stam. 3, anth. linear, obtuse; nut T V in., trigonously 

 •obovoid, black, opaque, angles rather acute, faces convex, 

 smooth, tip with a minute cone, style slender, stigmas 3. 



Wet places, especially in the dry region ; common. 



Also in India, Philippine Is., Australia, Africa. 



Roxburgh (Fl. Ind. i. 215) describes the glumes as broadly cordate, 

 and the styles as slightly 2-cleft. I find the stigmas to be sometimes as 

 long as the style. 



6. S. mucronatus, L. Sp. PI. 50 (1753). 



S. triangulatus, Roxb. ; Nees in Wight, Contrib. in. Thw. Enum. 

 251. C. P. 41. 



Fl. B. Ind. vi. 657. Reichb. Ic. Fl. Germ. t. 303. 



Stems 1-2 ft., tufted on a small rootstock with rather stout 

 root-fibres, as stout as a goose-quill, triquetrous or almost 

 3- winged, spongy, striate, flowering near the top; 1. o, sheaths 

 membranous with a very oblique mouth obtuse at the tip ; 

 spikelets ^ to nearly f in., ovoid or oblong-ovoid, terete, sessile 

 in a single lateral cluster ^-1 in. diam., pale with brown or 

 purple margins of the glumes, rhachilla never exposed ; 

 bracts o but the short top of the stem ; glumes ^ in. long, 

 closely imbricate, persistent and marcescent on the rhachilla, 

 membranous, broadly ovate, apiculate, veins o, or one very 

 slender, not keeled, margins opaque; hypogynous bristles 5 

 or 6, unequal, retrorsely scabrid; stam. 3, anth. linear-oblong; 

 nut broadly obovate or nearly orbicular, ^ in. diam., biconvex, 

 minutely beaked, dark brown, polished, margins obtuse, style 

 slender, stigmas 3. 



Margins of ponds, &c, throughout the island ; common. Fl. Dec, 

 Jan., March. 



Also in Europe, Asia, Australia, Madagascar. 



7. S. subcapitatus, Thw. Enum. 351 (1864). 

 C. P. 306. 



Fl. B. Ind. vi. 661. 



Stems 8-18 in., densely crowded on a short creeping root- 

 stock with very stout root-fibres, as thick as a sparrow's quill, 

 terete, striate; 1. O, sheaths elongate, coriaceous, striate, mouth 

 obliquely truncate, acute, with scarious brown margins and 

 cuspidate tip; spikelets \—\ in., 3-6 in a terminal subspicate 

 cluster, ovate-oblong, erect, pale brown, rhachilla rather stout, 

 scarred ; bract o, or much shorter than the spikelets ; glumes 

 loosely imbricate, thin, ^ in. long, ovate-oblong, obtuse, keel 

 3-veined, not prominent, green, sides membranous, pale, 

 speckled with brown, tips papillose ; hypogynous bristles 6, 



