120 A FLORA OF MANILA 



13. SCLERIA Bergius 



Annual or perennial, usually tufted, the stems erect, leafy. Leaves 

 narrow, often minutely toothed, sheathing at the base. Panicle often stout, 

 elongated, compound, sometimes narrow, the primary tracts leaf-like, the 

 secondary .ones often setaceous. Flowers all unisexual, usually both male 

 and female in the same spikelets, one female below and few males above, 

 usually 2 to 4 empty glumes below the flowering ones. Stamens 1 to 3. 

 Nut bony, often shining, smooth or variously roughened, globose or ovoid, 

 the gjmophore usually prominent under the nut. (From the Greek "hard," 

 alluding to the hardened seeds.) 



Species 150 or more in most warm countries, about 15 in the Philippines. 



1. Nut smooth; slender plants less than 60 cm high. 

 2. Rootstocks stout, woody; spikelets 3 to 4 mm long, few. 



1. S. lithosperma 

 2. Roots fibrous; spikelets 4 to 5 mm long 2. S. zeylanica 



1. Nut rugose. 

 2. Slender, hairy or smooth; nuts tesselate, the raised reticulations with 



short hairs 3. S. tesaellata 



2. Coarse, scabrid; nuts rugose, glabrous 4. S. scrobiculata 



1. S. lithosperma (L.) Sw. 



A rather slender, laxly tufted plant, or the stems scattered, from woody 

 rootstocks, glabrous or the sheaths somewhat pubescent, 15 to 60 cm high. 

 Leaves 2 to 20 cm long, 2 to 3 mm wiSe. Panicles thin, rather lax, narrow, 

 5 to 15 cm long, the branches few, distant. Spikelets few, more or less 

 clustered, 3 to 4 mm long. Nut hard, white, shining, smooth, 2.5 mm long, 

 ellipsoid, slightly 3-ahgle'l at base and apex. 



In dry thickets, Masambong, fl. July-Nov. ; widely distributed in the Phil- 

 ippines. Tropics generally, except Africa. 



2. S. zeylanica Poir. 



A. rather slender, glabrous or somewhat hairy plant, tufted or the 

 stems scattered, 20 to 40 cm high, from fibrous roots. Leaves 5 to 20 cm 

 long, about 2.5 mm wide. Panicles axillary, distant, small, or reduced to 

 spikes, 1 to 2.5 cm long. Spikelets 4 to 5 mm long, the glumes prominently 

 acuminate. Nut ovoid, white, usually shining, smooth or obscurely rugose, 

 about 2 mm long. 



In open wet grass lands, old rice-paddies etc., Caloocan to San Pedro 

 Macati, fl. Sept.-Jan.; widely distributed in the Philippines. India and 

 Ceylon to Malaya. 



3. S. tessellata Willd. Catabad (Tag.). 



Erect, slender, loosely tufted, from fibrous roots somewhat hairy or 

 glabrous, 30 to 60 cm high. Leaves linear, 10 to 20 cm long, scattered. 

 Inflorescence interrupted, the partial panicles 5 to 7 cm long, few-flowered. 

 Spikelets 3 to 4 mm long, the glumes caudate-acuminate. Nut white; sub- 

 globose, about 2 mm in diameter, prominently tessellate, the margins of the 

 raised reticulations pubescent with short pale or brownish hairs. 



In old rice lands and similar places, occasional, fl. Aug.-Jan. ; of wide 

 distribution in the Philippines. India to Japan southward to Australia. 



