Rhynchospora.] CLII. CYPERACEiE. 1781 



Three at least of the bristles much longer than the nut. Nut oblong. 



Stem usually under 1ft. 

 Spikelets 4 to 5 lines long. Not tuberoulate or hispid, the beak 



closely sessile and often aa long as the nut. Leaves shorter than the 



stem ; i. R. longisetis. 



Spikelets about 3 lines. Nut smooth or nearly so, the beak short and 



constricted at the base. Leaves often as long as the stem .... 5. J?, tcnuifolia. 



1. R. aurea (golden), Vahl; Kunth, Knum. ii. 293; Bmth, Fl. Austr.vn. 



348. Stems 2 to 3£t. high, 3-angled, leafy throughout. Leaf-sheaths terminating 

 in a short broad membranous ligula, the blade long, pointed, with scabrous edges. 

 Spikelets very numerous, clustered in more or less corymbose panicles almost 

 shortened into compound umbels, usually one large terminal one 3 to 4in, 

 diameter and 1 to 3 smaller axillary ones lower down the stem. Floral'leaves or 

 bracts usually longer than the inflorescence. Spikelets 3 to 4 lines long, with 1 

 perfect flower and 1 or 2 males. Hypogynous bristles G, usually longer than the nut 

 but scarcely so long as the beak. Nut obovate, often scabrous, especially in the 

 centre of each side, the beak sessile, as long as the beak or longer and as broad 

 as the base, usually but perhaps not always furrowed t>p each side. — Boeokel. in 

 Linriaea, xxxvii.'626; R. Br. Prod. 230 ; F. v. M. Fragm. ix. 17. 



Hab.: Endeavour River, Banlcs and SolamUr ; Eooklngham Bay, Dallachy; Brisbane Eiver, 

 Bailey. 

 Widely spread over the tropical regions of the New and the Old World. 



2. B>. glauca (grey), VaJd ; Kunth, Enum. ii. 297 ; Benth. Fl. Austr. vii. 



349. Stems angular and 1 to 2ffc. high or even more but slender. Leaves few, 

 narrow and distant, the radical ones sometimes as long as the stem. Sp.ikelets 

 not very numerous, clustered in small loose irregvilar corymbs ^ to nearly lin. 

 diameter, the terminal one more compound, with several small distant ones 

 shortly pedunculate in the upper axils. Spikelets 2 to 3 lines long, with 1 or 

 2 hermaphrodite and 1 or 2 male flowers. Outer empty glumes 3 or 4, short. 

 Hypogynous bristles 6 or 7, mostly rather longer than the nut. Nut obovate, 

 marked with minute transverse wrinkles, the beak conical shorter than or nearly 

 as long as the nut, sessile, not furrowed. — Boeckel. in Linnjea, xxxvii. 585 ; 

 P. V. M. Fragm. ix. 17; Fi. la.va, R. Br. Prod. 230; Kunth, I.e. 298; E. 

 Brownii, Roem. et Schult. Syst. ii. 86 ; Boeckel, I.e. 581. 



Hab.: Endeavour River, Banks and Solander; Brisbane Eiver, Moreton Bay, F. v. Mueller. 

 Extends over the tropidal and subtropical regions of the New and the Old World. 



3. B.. "Wallichiana (after Dr. N. Wallich), Kunth, Enum. ii. 289 ; Benth. 

 Fl. Austt. vii. 349. Stems 1 to 2ft. high, leafy at the base only. Leaves narrow, 

 nearly as long as the stem or much shorter, the outer ones with open sheaths not 

 ciliate, the inner one with a long close, sheath. Spikelets numerous in a dense 

 globular heads Involucral bracts spreading, the longest 2 to Sin. long. Spike- 

 lets brown, 2f to 3 lines long, with 1 hermaphrodite and often 2 male flowers, 

 and 3 or 4 outer empty glumes. Hypogynous bristles not so long as thdnut and 

 sometimes very short. Nut obovate-orbieular, smooth, the beak scarcely one- 

 third of its length.— Bceckel. in Linnsea, xxxvii. 542 ; F. v. M. Fragm. ix. 17 ; 

 Morisia Wallachii, Nees; Hook. f. Fl. Tasm. Prsef. 48. 



Hab.: Rockingham Bay, DaiJacfti/ ; Wide Bay, Bitiroiii ; Brisbane Eiver, Bj(7e!/. 

 Extends over tropical Asia and Africa. 



i. R. longisetis (bristles long), R. Br. Prod. 230 ; Bentli. I<1. Austr. vii. 



350. Stems 6in. to 1ft. high. Leaves shorter, mostly at the base of the stem, 

 narrow, with loose open ciliate sheaths, the inner one or two with close sheaths 

 reaching sometimes halfway up the stem. Spikelets numerous, in a dense 

 terminal globular head. Involucral bracts spreading or reflexed, the longest 2 to 

 4in. long, linear, subulate-acuminate, dilated and ciliate at the base. Spikelets 



Pabt VI. G 



