114 A FLORA OP MANILA 



1. T. ferax (Rich.) Ham. (T". eonfertum, Desv.). 



A rather coarse, erect, glabrous plant 0.2 to 1 m high, scarcely tufted, 

 the stems 3-angled. Leaves few, 1 cm wide or less, the bracts subtending the 

 inflorescence spreading, few to many, leaf-like. Umbels uisually com- 

 pound, 10 to 25 cm in diameter. Spikes 2 to 6 cm long, bearing very 

 numerous,' spreading, slender spikelets. Spikelets usually about 1 cm 

 long, yellow or brown, the glumes 6 to 10, rather distant, elliptic, about 

 7-nerved, the, rachilla flexuose, breaking up into joints, each bearing one 

 glume and nut. Nut oblong, about 1.8 mm long. 



In open wet places, occasional, fl. Nov.-Jan.; widely distributed in the 

 Philippines. All warm regiops. 



7. ELEOCHARIS R. Brown 



Glabrous, erect, tufted plants, the stems simple, without nodes. Leaves 

 none; sEeaths few, cylindric, truncate or with a small tooth. Inflores- 

 cence a single terminal sp^kelet. Glumes imbricate all around. HjTpogy- 

 nous bristles 5 to 8. -Nut obovoid, plano-convex or 8-angled; style-base 

 constricted ,and apparently articulated on the nut but usually persistent; 

 arms 2 or 3. (From the Greek "marsh" and "grace.") 



Moi^ than 100 species, in all parts of the world, 8 or 9 in the Philip- 

 pines. 



1. Spikelets elongated, 1 cm long or more. 



2. Nuts smooth 1. E. equiaetina 



2. Nuts longitudinally rugose 2. E. variegata 



1. Spikelets globose or ovoid, 5 mm long or less 3. E. capHata 



1. E. equisetina Presl. 



A somewhat slender tufted plant, the stems sometimes nearly 1 m 

 high, usually much shorter, about 3 mm in diameter, transversely septate 

 when dry, the uppermost" sheath close-fitting, continued on one side as a 

 short triangular tooth. Spikelet 1 to 3 cm long, scarcely thicker than the 

 stem. Glumes broadly oblong-ovoid, rounded. Nut smooth and shining, 

 ellipsoid or obovoid, 2 mm long. 



In open wet lands, swampy places, etc., fl. Oct.-Dec, and probably in 

 other months; of local occurrence in the Philippines. Ceylon to New 

 Caledonia. 



2. E. variegata Kunth, var. laxiflora (Thw.) C. B. Clarke. 



A rather slender tufted plant 10 to 30 cm high, the stems about 1.5 

 mm in diameter. Sheaths close-fitting. Spikelet only a little thicker 

 than the stem, 1.5 to 2.5 cm long. Glumes objong-ovate, acute or acu- 

 minate, 4 mm long. Nuts brown, obovoid, nearly 2 mm long, longitudi- 

 nally rugose, the hypogynous bristles longer than the nut, retrorsely 

 scabrid. 



In old rice-paddies near Caloocan, fl. Dec.-Feb.; of local occurrence in 

 the Philippines. India to China, Malaya, and Polynesia. 



3. E. capitata (L.) R. Br. 



Stems slender, densely tufted, erect, rather stiff, often purplish at 

 the base, 10 to 30 cm long. Spikelets small, dense, ovoid, 4 to 5 mm long. 

 Glumes ovate; obtuse, thin, 2 mm long. Nut black, shining, obovoid, about 

 1 mm long, the bristles as long as the nut, retrorsely scabrid. 



In open wet grass lands especially near the sea, fl. most of the year; 

 widely distributed in the Philippines. Most warm countries. 



