686 CLXxii. OTPBRACB^. (C. B. Clarke.) [Scleria. 



Spiheleis much clustered, many bisexual i in. long, nearly smooth and glabrous, 

 very similar to those of 8. pergracilis but larger. Nut -Jj in. long (sometimes much 

 smaller) ellipsoid, trigonous, base narrow trigonous. 



Var. ;8 {BoxburgMi), Thw. Enum. 354 ; rather stouter, nut rather larger with 

 pyramidal subacute apex, transversely wrinkled by ferruginous glands-(at least when 

 young). Hypoporum Eoxburghii, Nees ms. — Ceylon, Thwaites ; Deccan Peninsula, 

 Wight. — Partial panicles much more rigid, subpyramidal, clusters of spikelets more 

 numerous and dense. — This might be esteemed a species, but too much regard must 

 not be paid to the reticulation or wrinkling of the nut in Scleria, which arises from 

 irregularities in drying, &c. The outer cells of the nut in Scleria are in every species 

 small, quadrate-hexagonal, obscure. 



3. S. corymbosa, Roxh. Fl. Ind. iii. 574; robust, coarse, nearly 

 glabrous, panicle long copious of several compoundedly-corymbose axillary 

 partial panicles, style 3-fid, nut white, smooth, disc very small. S. andro- 

 gyna, Nees in lAnneea, ix. 303, & Wight Contrib. 117 ; Thw. Enum. 353 ; 

 Boeck. in lAnnsea, xxxviii. 536. S. majus. Moon Cat. PL Oeyl. 62. S. 

 corymbifera, Boeclo. I. c. 537.— Scleria, Wall- Cat. 3412. 



Warm moist region, sparsely scattered from Khasia. Tekai, J.D.S., to Ceylon, 

 Thioaites, and Malacca, Griffith. 



Rhizome horizontal, often \ in. in diam., clothed with brown scales. Stems 

 3-8 ft., stout ; sheaths triquetrous, not winged. Leaves 20 by 1 in. j margins sca- 

 brous. Injl. 1-2 ft. by 4-6 in. ; lower peduncles exserted 1-4 in., rigid. Spikelets 

 i in. long, nearly all bisexual, clustered and solitary, usually brown or straw-colrd., 

 sometimes more or less chestnut-colrd. , constructed nearly as in S. Uthosperma 

 but stouter ; stamens often 3. Nut nearly i in. long, ellipsoid, aubtrigonous, much 

 narrowed at base. Disc slightly dilated, scarcely 3-lobed, yellow-brown ; margin 

 (inner disc of authors) very short, subtriangular, glandular, often dark red. 



4. S. Ilidleyi, C. B. Clarice; slender, nearly glabrous, panicle of 

 few small very distant axillary corymbs, style 3-fid, nut white smooth 

 apiculate, disc very small. 



Singapore ; Pular Buru, Sidley (n. 1641). — Distrib. Hongkong. 



Shizome horizontal, ^ in. in diam., clothed by small ovate striate dark-red scales. 

 Stem 2 ft., Jjj in. in diam., triquetrous, scabrous ; sheaths very narrowly winged ; 

 ligule almost truncate, margin narrow scarious hardly hairy. Leaves 12 by ^ in. 

 Partial panicles scarcely 1 in. in diam., lowest 4^8 in. from the next, with about. 

 8-20 spikelets. Nut-bearing spikelets usually with male fl. at top, other male spike- 

 lets also added. Nut (rather more pointed) and disc as in S. corymbosa, Eoxb., to 

 which Boeckeler has referred it and which is the true affinity ; but the difference in 

 stoutness, stem-leaves, and panicle is very great. 



Subgenus II. Scleria proper. Bisexual spikelets none or few. 



Sect. I. Tessellat.«. Slender (sometimes tall) plants. Roots fibrous, 

 or the rhizome very short not thick. Leaves not caudate-setaceous at tip. 

 Panicle narrow, the lower axillary panicles often remote, reduced to spikes, 

 sometimes very short. 



* Nut tessellated. 



5. S. tessellata, Willd. 8p. PI. iv. 315 {excl. cit. Bumph.) ; slender 

 sometimes tall, hairy or glabrate, roots fibrous, panicle elongate thin 

 lower branches remote, style 3-tid, nut tessellate, lobes of disc-margin 

 short ovate erect thin pale. Nees in Wight Contrib. 118; Thw. Enum. 

 p. 354 (var. (3 only) ; Boeck. in Linnsea, xxxviii. 470. 8. propinqua & 



