392 CLXii, jrNCACE^. (J. D. Hooker.) 



Oadeb clxii. juncacxsh:. 



Erect, rarely anmial herbs ; stems tufted or with a creeping rootstock. 

 Leaves flat, terete, or reduced to sheaths. Flowers ia axillary or terminal 

 cymes, 2 sexual, braoteate, green, or whitish and membranous, or brown 

 and coriaceous. Perianth inferior, segments 6 in two series, persistent, 

 imbricate. Stamens 6, rarely 3, hypogynous or on the bases of the seg- 

 ments ; anthers basifixed. Ovary \- or 8-celled, style filiform or short, or 0, 

 stigmas 3, filiform ; ovules 3 basilar in the 1-celled ovary, or many in the 

 inner angles of the 3-celled, anatropous. Capsule 1-3-celled, loculicidally 

 3-valved. Seeds erect, testa membranous, often produced at each end ; 

 albumen dense; embryo small, next the hilum. — Genera 14 j species 

 about 200. 



Ovary many-ovuled 1. Jtjhotjs. 



Ovary l-celled 3-ovuIed 2. Luzula. 



1. JUNCVSs Unn. 



Glabrous herbs. Perianth with the 3 outer segments keeled or the 

 midrib thickened. Stamens 6, rarely 3. Ovary 3- rarely 1-celled, ovules 

 many. — Species about 150, temperate and arctic, rarely tropical. 



Sect. I. Annual. Stem, copiously branched. Leaves not septate. 

 Oym.es scattered, few-fld. 



1. J. bufonius, Linn. Sp. PI. 466; slender much dichotomously 

 branched from the base upwards, cymes numerous, flowers pale green 

 solitary or clustered, sepals and petals unequal. Kunth Enwm. iii. 353 ; 

 Beichb. Ic. Fl. Germ. t. 395 ; Boyle III. 401 ; Wall. Cat. 8997 ; .Bom. Fl. 

 Orient, v. 361 ; Buchen. in Fngl. Bat. Jahrh. xii. 174. 



NoBTHEBN IirniA ; from the plains to 13,000 ft. in the Himalaya, but local. — 

 DiSTBlB. N. temp, reg^ions. 



Densely clustered, 1-12 in. high, erect or ascending, pale green. Leaves few, 

 setaceous, channelled above, sheaths pale. Cymes scattered on the stein, branches 

 short or long, often flexuous ; bracts scarious ; flowers i-J in. long, lateral open 

 6-androus, terminal closed 3-androus ; sepals and petals lanceolate, long acuminate 

 and with broad membranous margins. Stamens lialf as long as the sepals. Capsule 

 shorter than and closely embraced by the perianth, obovoid, obtuse, mucronate, pale. 

 Seeds very minute, finely reticulate, tips nearly rounded. 



Sect. II. Perennial. Rhizom,e stout, tufted and creeping. Stems tall, 

 terete, produced beyond the decompound cyme and then erect and pun- 

 gent ; bases closed with rigid leafless sheaths. Leaves 0, or terete like the 

 stem. Flowers usually distinctly pedicelled. 



2. jr. effusus, Linn. Sp. Fl. 326 ; stems soft, pith continuous, sepals 

 lanceolate exceeding the obovoid refuse capsule, stamens usually 3, seeds 

 not tailed at the ends. Beichb. Ic. Fl. Germ. t. 920 ; Boiss. Fl. Orient, v. 

 352 ; BucJien. in Fngl. Bot. Jahrb. vi. 199 ; xii. 228. J. communis, F. Mey. 

 June. 12 ; Kunth Enum. iii. 320. 



SiKKiM HiMAiAYA, alt. 6-10,000 ft. Khasia Hiils, alt. 5-5500 ft. — Disteib. 

 Europe, N. Asia, Africa, America, and Australia. 



Usually forming circular densely matted tufts of pale green finely striate stems, 

 1-3 ft. high, nnd ^-J- in. dium. ; spathes iill leafless. Cymes most variable, effuse 

 hix and pendulous with slender branches and distant flowers, or globose sessile and 



