1788 CLII. CYPEBACE^. [Elynanthus. 



thickened hard persistent base continuous with the ovary ; stigmatio branches 3 

 or 4, filiform. Nut ovoid, crowned by the hard ovoid or oblong persistent base 

 of the style, sometimes as big as itself and either continudus with it or slightly 

 contracted under it. — Perennials with the habit of the narrow paniculate Schceni. 

 Besides the following Australian species which is endemic, the genus includes several from 

 South Africa, the characters of some of which - however require revision. The spike'ets are 

 nearlj those of Schmnus, but without the elongated flexuose rhaohis, and the style and nut are 

 almost as in Caasfis. .,,,,, 



1. E. capillaceus (hair-like), Benth. Fl. A ustr. vii. 377. Stems filiform, 



1 to 1 Jft. long, leafless except a rather long sheath at the base, either truncate or 

 with a setaceous lamina or point. Panicle small and narrow, the spikelets 3 or 4 

 together in the axil of the lower sheathing bracts, 1 or 2 in the upper ones, the 

 bracts with short subulate points. Spikelets very narrow, 1| to 2 lines long. 

 Glumes acute or acuminate, 3 or 4 outer empty ones rather shorter. Flowers 

 usually only 1 fertile. Stamens 8. Nut ovoid, crowned by the ovoid persistent 

 base of the style as long as itself as in Camtis.-^Chmtoxpora capillacea,'^o6k, f. 

 Fl. Tasm. ii. 81, t. 141 A ; C. capillaris, F. v. M. Fragm. ix. 34. 



Hab.: Mount Harold, ilZesCoit, what appears a luxuriant growth of this' plaat. Xhe stems 

 30in. long, the inflorescence in too oairly a stage to fully determine. • , ; 



On examining more than a dozen spikelets from different specimens I have been unable, to 

 detect any trace of the 3 hypogynous scales figured in the plate, which must be very exceptional 

 or perhaps some mistake of the artist. — B«H(/(. 



20. TRICOSTULARIA, Nees. 



(Referring to the 3-ribbed nut.) 



(Discopodium, Stead.) 



Spikelets in a spikelike or loose or luuch-brauched panicle, with 1 to 3 flowers, 

 the upper one fertile, the lower sterile or male or deficient, the rhachis very short 

 and straight. Glumes scarcely distichoils, membraSnous, pale brown,' 2 tc 4 outer 

 empty ones, and a small narrow empty one immediately above the upper flower. 

 Hypogynous bristles G or fewer, shprt slender and usually unequal. Stamens 3. 

 Style slender, deciduous; stigmatic, branches 3, filiform. 'ITut oho void, often 

 contracted at the base but not distinctly s'ti'pitate. — Perennials. Leaves radical, 

 often reduced to sheathing scales rarely 1 or 2 distant on the stem. Spikelets 

 laether small, sessile or pedunculate, solitary or clustered in the axils of sheathing 

 bracts of which the lower ones have sometimes leaflike laminae, or variously 

 patiiculate. ' 



Besides the Australian species ol \yhtoh. there are, 5 all endemic,' one of them only found in 

 Queensland, there is one in Ceylon vaA- am>th«iv-.in':- Borneo. The nut is neaxly.- that of 

 Schasnus, but the flowers when more than one are close together without the more or less 

 flexuose rhachis characteristic of Schaenus, and it is the terminal not the lower one which is 

 epecially fertile. — Benth. 



1. T. paludosa (a marsh plant), Benth. Fl. Aitsti: vii. 382. Stems slender, 

 rather weak, 6in. to IJft. high. Leaves at the base of the stem much shorter, 

 narrow-linear or almost subulate, and 1 or 2 on the stem passing into the floral 

 bracts. Panicle long narrow and very loose, the spikelets not numerdus, all pedicel- 

 late, the peduncle or branches 2 or 3 together in the axils ofleafy bracts, the lower 

 bracts distant with long linear-subulate laminaj, the upper ones small. Spikelets 



2 to 2J lines long, usually erect, lanceolate, more or less flattened, pale brown. 

 Plowers usually 2, rarely 3, the upper one or rarely 2 fertile, the rhachis not 

 elongated nor flexuose between them. Glumes distichous, acute or the outer one 

 shortand aristate, about. ^ outer opes empty and a small, empty glunie close to the 

 Tipper floAver. Hypogynous bristles 6, shorter than the nut, shortly serrulate- 

 ciliate. Stamens 3. Style slender, deciduous. Nut ovoid, finely 3-ri^bed, 

 smooth or minutely granular. — Chxtospora paltidosa, R. Br. Prod. 23S ; F. v. M. 

 Pragm. ix. 35. 



Hab.; Moreton Bay, F. v. Mueller. 



