1776 CLII. CYEERACE^, IMflpania. 



and left, complicate, the keel acute, usually ciliate ; 4 inneE ones flat or concave, 

 narrow, thin, often several-nerved but without any prominent midrib, one next 

 the glume, the 3 others ailternating. with the stamens. Stamens usually 3; 

 2 lateral and 1 next the glume. Style slender, glabrous, deciduous ; stigmatic 

 branches 3, filiform. Nut sessile, triquetrous or flattened. — Stout perennial 

 plants usually with long broad leaves. Stems leafless or leafy at the base only, 

 sometimes scape-like with a singlp large spikelet or head of spikelets and ^rnall 

 involucral bracts, sometimes with a terminal head, corymb or panicle of' few or 

 numerous spikelets and long or large leafy involucral bracts. Spikelets usually 

 large. 



The genus is now known to contain a considerable number of species from the tropical regions 

 of America, Africa and Asia, extending to the South Paoifio Islands. 



1. T/L. hypoljrtroides (Hypolytrum-like), F. v. M. Benth. H. Austr. vii. 341 

 Stems stout, 3-angled. Leaves 4ft. long, 1 to 2in. broad, with scabrous edges. 

 Panicle dense, very compound, 6 to lOin. diameter. One or two of the lower 

 involucral bracts 1 or gft. long and | to liu. broad, tapering into long points. 

 Spikelets very numerous, shortly pedicellate, said to be white when fresh, light 

 brown when dry, ovoid, 3 to 4 lines long, about 2 lines diameter. Glumes closely 

 imbricate, ovate or oblong, obtuse, thin, with only a very slender central nerve 

 especially on the outer ones, 3 or 4 of the lowest smaller and empty. Hypogynous 

 scales all narrow, thin and rather shorter than the glume; the 2 outer ones (or 

 bracteoles) with ciliate keels, the 4 inner ones glabrous. Style-branches 3. 

 Young nut triquetrous, but not seen full grown. — Hypdhjtnm j>andanopJiyllum, 

 J'. V. M. Fragm. ix. 16. ■' 



Hab.: Eockiugbam Bay, Dallachy. 



10. SCIRPODENDRON, Kurz. 

 (Tree-5c»'j!)Ms.) 



Spikelets in deuse clusters, with numerous hermaphrodite flowers. Glumes 

 imbricate all round the axis, a few of the lower ones empty. Flowers flattened. 

 Hypogynous scales several, 2 outer ones (bracteoles?) placed right and left, 

 complicate, the keel acute, usually ciliate, the inner ones flat or concave without 

 -any prominent midrib. Stamens 6 (or more?). Style slender, glabrous, with 3 

 or 2 short filiform branches. Nut large, woody, with very prominent longitudinal 

 ribs. — Stout plant with long broad leaves. Stems leafles#'or leafy at t'Be base 

 only. Clusters of spikelets in a dense thyrsoid panicle with long leafy involucral 

 bracts. 



The genus is limited to a sin,'le speaies dispersed ■ over the Malayan Archipelago and 

 apparently also in Ceylon and the Samoa Islands. It is closely allied to Mapania and 

 hepironia, differing from both in the nut, the largest known in the Order. 





1. S. COStatum (ribbed), Kun in Journ. A-'iiat. Snc. 75«»y. xsxviii. 85 ; Reuth. 

 Fl. Austr. vii. 341. Stems from a thick woody rhizome stout, B-angled, 1 to 2ft. 

 high. Leaves 6 to 9ft. long, lin. broad or more, 3-nerved; with scabrous 

 margins. Clusters of spikelets sessile or nearly so, in a dense oblong4hyrsoid 

 panicle, the lower leafy involucral bracts 1 to 2ft. long. Spikelets ovoid, 4 to 5 

 lines long, 2 to 3 lines diameter. Glumes closely imbricate, very broad and thin, 

 many-nerved and readily splitting into as many shreds. Scales as long, 

 apparently more than 6 besides the 2 outer complicate ones or bracteoles but 

 splitting so readily that it is difficult to ascertain their number. Stamens '3 or 

 sometimes 7 ; anthers very long. Nut ovoid conical or nearly globular, 4 to 6 

 lines diameter, with 6 to 10 very prominent thick longitudinal ribs, the apex 

 truncate or convex in .some specimens, conical in others. — S. sulcatum, Kurz (by a 

 clerical mistake ?) Miq. |I11. Fl. Archip. Ind. 65. t. 28; Hypolytnm costahm, 

 Thw. Enum. PI. Zeyl. 346, according to Kurz. 

 Hab.: Daintree River, FiUalan, 



