92 CyperacecZ. {Scirpodendron. 



globose or conical, \-% in. diam. ; glumes \-\ in., linear- 

 oblong, obtuse, thinly coriaceous ; scales \ in., 2 lateral obtuse, 

 keel narrowly winged; nut \ in. diam., globose, base suddenly 

 narrowed into a short stipes, and top into a stout acuminate 

 beak. 



In running water, very rare, in the moist region below 1000 ft. 

 Singhe Raja Forest ; Pasdun Korale. FI. Sept. 



Endemic. 



19. SCIRPODENDRON, Zipp. 

 Rootstock horizontal or ascending; stem scarcely any; 1. 

 very long, narrow, caudate; infl. a shortly peduncled bracteate 

 head of spikelets, hidden amongst the 1., ped. elongating in 

 fr.; bracts much exceeding the heads; spikelets densely com- 

 pacted, often 3-nate; glumes large, oblong, obtuse, coriaceous, 

 1- or more-fid.; scales many, 2 lateral broadest, concave, 

 keeled, keel ciliate, monandrous, inner about 6, some monan- 

 drous; fil. elongate, anth. very slender; ov. solitary, central, 

 narrowed into a slender style, stigmas 2, short ; nut large, 

 deeply 6-10-grooved. — Monotypic. 



S. costatum, Kurz in Journ. As. Soc. Bens;, xxxviii. pt. 2, 85 

 (1869). [Plate XCVII.] Hin-keyiya, S. 



S. pandaniforme, Zipp. MSS. Pandanus pumilus, Moon, Cat. 67. 

 Hypolytrum costatum, Thw. Enum. 346. Chionanthus Ghaeri, Gaertn. 

 Fruct. i. 190. C. P. 3222. 



Fl. B. Ind. vi. 684. Miq., 111. Fl. Arch. Ind. t. 28 (S. sulcatum) (not 

 good). Gaertn. 1. c. t. 39. 



Rootstock rather slender, clothed with large, acute, im- 

 bricating scales, which pass gradually into foliage 1., emitting 

 from the under surface long, stout, simple roots ; 1. very many, 

 up to 10 ft. long by i-\\ in. broad, linear, suddenly contracted 

 into a filiform scabrid tail 6-10 in. long, 3-veined, margins and 

 keel aculeolate, or nearly smooth, narrowed below into short 

 coriaceous, slowly imbricating, open sheaths ; ped. stout, 

 trigonous, angles smooth, fig. short, frg. up to a foot long'; 

 head of spikelets 3—4 in. long, ovoid or subglobose ; bracts 

 many, lower 2-4 ft. long, leaf-like, inner broadly oblong with 

 filiform scabrid tips ; ' spikelets often in threes, the lateral 

 i-fld., the median 2-3-fid.' — Trimen ; glumes |-| in.; nut 

 |-§ in. long, ellipsoid, acute at both ends, epicarp fleshy, 

 endocarp bony, very deeply grooved, ribs acute, seeds globose. 



Ditches and flooded land near the sea-coast of the moist region; very 

 rare. Kalutara (Moon). Wellewatte, 5 miles S. of Colombo ; abundant. 

 Fl. Nov. 



Also in Malay Peninsula, Java, Queensland, Samoa. 



The leaves are used for mat-making at Colombo. 



