[54 



CONTRIBUTIONS FROM I HI. NATIONAL HERBARIUM 



as slightly incurved; rachilla of the spikelets wingless style 3-fid; urn broadlj 



ellipsoid, tapering to each end, hall the Length of the glume, Kabro i ■ 1 1 \ at 



apex, \sitli small elevated points Leaves nearly .1 meter \<>wj. ;i- much as 2 cm. 



wide. Umbel subgl • m in diameter. Spikelets 12 mm. long, :'• nun. wide. 



I doubt whether thi< be not really the Cypt Preal 



.\ Ki« ln Minn noNfi Llanos de Santa Clara, altitude 200 meters, DonneU 

 Smitl Puis, altitude 000 meters, T&nd t8186, L1301. 



5. TORULINIUM I N 



Spikelets terete or nearly bo, maturing i to L6 nuts; rachilla breaking into joints; 

 nut partly inclosed by the wings of the rachilla and deciduous with its node; other- 

 wise like Mariscus. 



Species 8, of which 7 are endemic in America, chiefly tropical; the other distributed 

 t<> the wanner parts of both hemispheres. 

 1. Torulinium confertuni " Bamilt. Prod, [nd. Occ. I">. L825. 



Cyperus odoratui L. Sp. PI. 1: i*;. 1753, in part. 



Co, I I . Rich. Act. Soc. Bist. Nat. Paris 1: L06. l: 1 .'--'. 



Cypenu jubaejlorus Rudge, PI. Guian. 17. pi. 11. l vi 



{fori* m pohlianus Neee in Man. PI. Bras. 2 : 50. L842. 



Dididium/i o Schrad.; Nees in Man. Fl. Bras. 2': 54. L842. 



\ia it< i /"■ a < B. dark.- in Book. f. Fl. Brit. [nd. 6: 624. \A 



Cypenu laetus obtusiflorus Boeckl. Allgem. Bot. Zeitschr. 2: 2. L896. 



Distribution: Occurs in all warm countries, more sparingly in the <>id World, 

 very common in 1 1 1 • - New and in Oceania. 



I 8TA Rican collections: Rio Coto de Osa, Pittier 9987; La Florida, Pittier 

 L1291; Talamanca, altitude to 200 meters, Tondiu 8746, 9506; Tocorf, Toruha 7712; 

 San Rafael. l } i(ti>r, 2585; Puerto Viejo, BioUey 7457. 



6. ELEOCHARIS R. Br. 



Glumes rather many, or very numerous, in from 3 to many spirals; the lowest 

 obtuse, usually vacant, little or not at all longer than the others; lowest flower bisex- 

 ual, maturing a nut: hypogynous bristles 3 i<> 8, usually of about the Length of the 

 nut. retrorsely scabrous, sometimes wanting; Btamene :'. to 1. anterior; style glabrous, 

 it- branches '■'> or 2. linear: style base enlarged, pyramidal or bulb-like or conical. 

 easily distinguished from the summit of the nut: nut trigonous, or plano-convex, 

 sessile, narrowly or broadly obovoid; style persistent on the nut. — Stems glabrous, 

 leafless, bearing a single spike 



Species L20, dispersed throughout the world ; abundant in America. 



KEY TO Til K 8PE< tEB. 



Stoloniferous; stems robust; spikes rather long-cylindric; glumes firm, plano-con- 

 cave, hardly keeled, deep Btraw-color. (Subgenus Lim\<>. hloa. 



Stems at apex triquetrous or acutely triangular I. E. mutata. 



Stems at apex terete or obscurely triangular 2. /-,'. variegata. 



Stems small, or of middle size: glumes membranaceous. 1 to :'.- 

 nerved on the keel: style bifid. (Subgenus Bleogeni - 

 Sheath delicately scarious at summit, rugose, easily worn off. 



Stem- slender or capillary :'». E. ockreata. 



Stems rather rigid '• E. olivaeea. 



Sheath herbaceous at summit, or at least firm. 



Annual, tufted 5. E.capitata. 



Rootstock horizontal, stout 6. E. nodulosa, 



o The specific nam older and unoccupied.— Editor. 



