1. Cyperus. 



CYPERACEAE. 



89 



5. C. enervis, R. Br. Resembles C. gracilis, but the spikelets are 6-14 mm. long, 12-24- 

 flowered ; glumes mucronate, with 2 nerves on each side of and close to the keel, the 

 broad sides nerveless. 



River Murray ; Flinders Range. Summer. 



6. C. gracilis, R. Br. Small perennial, with filiform leaves ; spikelets 4-6 mm. long 

 3-4 mm. broad, 6-12-flowered, few together, with 3 filiform very long involucral bracts; 

 glumes with a short spreading point and 3-4 nerves on each side ; nut thick, trigonous, 

 nearly as long as glume. 



Far North. Spring. 



7. C. squarrosus, L. Small annual ; leaves narrow or rather broad ; spikelets flat, 

 linear, 4-10 mm. long, 10-20-flowered, numerous in dense heads or umbellate, with 2-4 

 involucral bracts ; glumes 5-7-nerved, tapering into a long, recurved point ; nut about 

 £ as long as glume. 



Far North. Spring. 



8. C. vaginatus, R. Br. Variable perennial, leafless except for brown sheaths at base 

 of the rigid cylindrical stems ; spikelets very flat, reddish -brown, lanceolate or linear, 

 5-14 mm. long, 2-3 mm. broad, 8-40-flowered, either in a dense compound cluster with 

 3-5 short rigid involucral bracts and striate stems (var. densiflorus, Benth.), or clustered 

 on the rays of a simple umbel with 6, rarely 7-9 broad involucral bracts 2-25 cm. long, 

 almost equal ; glumes 2-3 mm. long, acute, with broad brown nerveless sides, closely 

 imbricate ; nut about £ as long as the glume, trigonous. 



Throughout the State. Summer. 



9. C. difformis, L. Leaves flat, long ; spikelets dark-red, linear, 2-4 mm. long, scarcely 

 1 mm. broad, 8-18-flowered, in dense globular heads, sessile or on the slender rays of an 

 umbel ; involucral bracts 1-3, leafy ; nut trigonous, ovoid, nearly as long as the small, 

 broad glume. 



Murray country and Far North. Spring and summer. 



10. C. fulvus, R. Br. Stems trigonous ; leaves rather narrow, long, rather scabrous ; 

 spikelets 6-12 in clusters on a simple umbel of 4-6 rays ; 2 involucral bracts much longer 

 than inflorescence, and 1 or 2 shorter ; spikelets golden or reddish -brown, 8-16-flowered ; 

 glumes loosely imbricate, 3-4 mm. long, with 2-3 prominent nerves on each side of keel ; 

 nut trigonous, more than h as long as glume. 



Everard and Musgrave Ranges. Spring. 



11. C. Gilesii, Benth. Resembles the preceding in the spikelets and loose glumes, of 

 a golden color, but the spikelets are longer (8-20 mm.), 20-40-flowered, usually arranged 

 in a sessile cluster, and the glumes are finely pointed, the lower ones deciduous ; involucral 

 bracts about 3, 2 longer than the inflorescence ; stems trigonous ; nut more than \ as long 

 as glume. 



Far North. Spring. 



12. C. Iria, L. Stem triquetrous ; leaves flaccid ; spikelets 5-15 mm. long, flat, golden- 

 brown, 6 -20 -flowered, spicate on the umbel-rays ; involucral bracts 2-4 ; glumes obtuse, 

 5-nerved on keel, the lower ones deciduous, nut trigonous, a little shorter than glume. 



Far North. Spring. 



13. C. alterniflorus, R. Br. Stem triquetrous ; leaves 

 long, with scabrous edges ; spikelets spreading, golden or 

 reddish-brown, 10-30 mm. long, 12-34-fiowered, spicate 

 on few rays of a simple or compound umbel ; involu- 

 cral bracts about 4, 1 or 2 very long, scabrous ; glumes 

 4 mm. long, loosely imbricate, with 3 nerves on each side 

 of keel ; nut triquetrous, oblong, more than \ as long as 

 glume. 



River Murray ; Flinders Range and Far North. Spring. 



14. C. rotundus, L. Nat-grass. Rootstock tuberous; 

 leaves tapering, shorter or longer than the triquetrous 

 stem ; spikelets from pale-yellow to dark-brown, flat, 

 acute, 10-15 mm. long, about 16-flowered, in short spikes 

 on the 4-8 unequal rays of an umbel, or almost contracted 

 into a cluster ; involucral bracts 2-4 ; glumes with 4 

 nerves on each side of the keel, closely imbricate ; nut 

 triquetrous, scarcely h the length of the glume. 



Far North ; in the South it is a bad weed in gardens 

 and parks, and probably introduced. Summer. — Almost 

 cosmopolitan. 



15. C. SUbulatus, R. Br. Differs from the preceding 

 by a rootstock without tubers. 



Recorded bv Bentham for Lake Fvre. 



Fig 23. — Cyperus rotundas. 



