Lipocarpha.] CLII. OYPEEACEyE. 1775^ 



scales oblong. Stamen 1. Style-branches 3. Nut oblong, much flattened, 

 obtuse, smooth. — Kunth, Enum. ii. 266; Bceokel. in Linnnja, xxxvii. 114 ^ 

 HypiBlyptmn arc/cnteum, Vahl ; F. v. M. Fragm. viii. 288. 



Hab.: Brisbane Biver, Bailey. At one time plentiful near where tlie Toowong Kailwayj 

 Station now stands. 



Widely spread over the tropical regions o£ the Old World. 



2. Xi. microcephala (small heads), Kitnth, F.num. ii. 2G8 ; Bcnth. VI. Anstr: 

 vii. 837. A tufted annual, the very slender stems usually ftom 1 or 2 to 6in , 

 but sometimes nearly 1ft. high. Leaves shorter, very narrow, with rather broad 

 striate sheaths. Spikelets usually 3, but varying from 1 to 5 or very rarely more. 

 Involucral bracts very narrow, the longest 1 to 2in. long. Spikelets ovoid- 

 conical, Ih to 2 lines long. Glumes very numerous, narrow, slightly cuueate, 

 acuminate, the green keel produced into tv sliort usually spreading point. 

 Hypogynoua hyaline scales narrow. Stamens 1 or 2. Style-branches 2. Nut 

 oblong-linear, compressed, rather acute or almost obtuse, rather shorter than the 

 hypogynous scales. — Breokel. in Linnaja, xxxvii. 118 ; Thjpali/ptum microcephalum,, 

 E. Br. Prod. 220; F. v. M. Fragm. viii. 238; Scopus Icptociupua, F. v. M. in 

 Trans. Phil. Soc. Viet. i. 109, and in Hook. Kew. Journ. viii. 334. 



Hab.: Between Norman and Gilbert Rivers. Gulliver; Brisbane Riser, RockiiiKha,™ Bay, 

 Dallachy; Herbert Creek. Bowman; Dtj-heel Creek, Leicliliardt ; Rockhampton, O^SIuiMsy. 



8. HYPOLYTRUM, Eich. 



(From hypo, beneath, and dytron, a sheath.) 



Spikelets numerous, in a corymbose panicle rarely contracted into a dense 

 cluster, with several often numerous hermaphrodite flowers. Glumes imbricate 

 all round the rhachis, several of the lower ones smaller and empty. Flowers flat. 

 Hypogynous scales (bracteoles ?) 2, placed right and left, complicate, the keel 

 acute usually ciliate, no inner flat ones. Stamens 3 or fewer. Style slender, 

 deciduous, stigmatic branches 2 or 3, filiform. Nut hard, obtusely 3-angled or 

 compressed, smooth or irregularly wrinkled. — Usually coarse perennial plants 

 with leafy stems. Panicles compound, with long leafy involucral bracts. 

 Spikelets small. 



The genus conapi-ises but few species dispersed over the tropical and subtropical regions of 

 the New and the Old World, the Australian species having a very wide general range. 



1. H. latifolium (broad-leaved), Bich; Kunth, Enum. ii. 271; Benth. I<L. 

 Austr. vii. 339. Stems acutely 3-angled, 2 to 4ft. high. Leaves usually longer, 

 ^ to lin. broad, with 3 prominent nerves and. more or less scabrous on the 

 margins and midrib. Panicle densely corymbose, 3 to 4in. diameter, with 2 to 

 4 long leafy involucral bracts. Spikelets very numerous, oblong-cylindrical at 

 first, ovoid when in fruit, 2 to 3 lines long. Glumes numerous, broadly ovate, 

 obtuse or scarcely mucronate, the midrib slightly prominent, otherwise nerveless, 

 3 or 4 of the lower ones empty and uiore acute. Hypogynous scales or bracteoles 

 prominently keeled when in flower, opened out and nearly flat under the fruit, 

 shorter than the glume. Stamens 2. Style-branches 2 (or 3 ?). Nut when 

 fully ripe nearly globular, slightly compressed, rather longer than the glume, 

 very obtuse and smooth, in some specimens narrower conical at the top and' 

 somewhat rugose but perhaps not ripe. — F. v. M. Fragm. viii. 238 ; H. 

 gu/anteum, Wall.; Bot. Mag. t. 6282 ; Bceckel. in Linnaea, xxxvii. 131. 



ilab.; Eockingham Bay, Dallachy ; Daintree River, FiUalan. Common in tropical Asia and. 

 Africa. 



9. MAPANIA, Aubl. 

 (Pandaaophyllum, Hassle. Thoraoostachyum, Kur.i). 



Spikelets solitary clustered or paniculate, with numerous hermaphroditfr 

 flowers. Glumes imbricate all round the rhachis, a few of the' lowest empty. 

 Flowers flattened. Hypogynous scales 6, 2 outer ones (bracteoles ?) placed right 



