CYPERACEAE 115 



8. FIMBRISTYLIS Vahl 



Tufted plants from fibrous . roots. Leaves all basal, short or long. 

 Inflorescence terminal, umbellate, simple or compound, or reduced to a 

 single spikelet. Spikelets solitary or clustered, sessile or pedicelled, many- 

 flowered. Glumes spirally arranged, imbricate, or the lower ones 2-ranked. 

 Hypogynous bristles none. Style usually long, villous, 2- or 3-fid. Nut 

 obovoid, rarely oblong, usually compressed and biconvex, smooth, striate, 

 or rugose. (From the Latin "fringe" and "style.") 



A large genus with 125 or more species, about 25 in the Philippines. 



1. Glumes all spirally arranged. 

 2. Stems with only one spikelet. 



3. Nut linear-oblong 1. F. tetragona 



3. Nut obovoid. 



4. Nut transversely wavy-wrinkled 2. F, acuminata 



4. Nut smooth..; 3. F. polytrichoides 



2. Stems with few to many spikelets. 

 3. Style 2-fid. 



4. Spikelets few, 2 to 5. 



5. Spikelets 1 to 1.5 cm long. '. 4. F. schoenoides 



5. Spikelets less than 1 cm long 5. F. comieulata 



4. Spikelets numerous. 



5. Nut cylindric; glumes long-acuminate, the tips spreading. 



6. F. dipaacea 

 5. Nut obovoid; glumes obtuse or acute. 



6. Nut longitudinally striate; leaves many, mostly long. 



7. F. diphylla 

 6. Nut smooth or nearly so ; leaves usually short, often wanting. 



8. F. ferruginea 

 3. Style 3-fid. 



4. Spikelets crowded in globose, solitary heads 9. F. barbata 



4. Spikelets in open decompound umbels 10. F. miliacea 



1, Lower glumes distichous, the upper ones spiral; spikelets 1 or 2 on each 

 stem 11. F. monostaehya 



1. F. tetragona R. Br. 



A slender, tufted, leafless or nearly leafless annual plant 10 to 45 cm 

 high, the stems somewhat 4-angled. Spikelets erect, solitary, terminal, 

 ovoid-conic, 7 to 14 mm long, densely flowered. Glumes oblong, obtuse, 3 

 to 3.5 mm long. Nut linear-oblong, 2 mm long, reticulate, somewhat curved; 

 style villous, the arms 3 or 2. 



In open wet grass lands. La Loma, rare, fl. Nov.-Jan. ; of local occurrence 

 in the Philippines. India to Australia. 



2. F. acuminata Vahl. 



A slender, tufted, somewhat wiry leafless plant, the stems nearly terete, 

 10 to 25 cm high. Spikelets solitary, terminal, 8 to 12 mm long, lanceo- 

 late, acuminate. Glumes ovate, usually brown or purplish with a green 

 keel, about 6 mm long, acute. Nut obovoid, compressed, about 2 mm long, 

 transversely wavy-wrinkled. Style 2-cleft. 



In open wet grass lands, Novaliches road; widely distributed in the 

 Philippines. Tropical Asia through Malaya to Australia. 



3. F. polytrichoides (Retz.) Vahl. 



A rather slender, glabrous,.densely tufted plant 10 to 20 cm high. Leaves 

 slender, one-half as long as, or equaling, the stems. Spikelets terminal, 



