560 
CXII. CYPERACEJE 
Leaves narrow. Umbels sometimes reduced to a single head 
or even spikelet, usually simple or compound up to the third 
degree ; rays unequal, one or two of the central rays occasionally 
suppressed so that the point of forking is occupied by a sessile 
cluster of spikelets. Bracts usually short, often erect. Spikelets 
few or many, in F. monostachya and frequently in F. schoenoides 
there is only one, in pairs or in clusters. Glumes many, ovate, 
imbricate all round the axis, falling off successively from below ; 
the lowest 1 or 2 empty, the others containing a 2 -sexual flower, 
but the uppermost soon withering. Stamens 3, sometimes 2 or 1. 
Style long, frequently hairy, 2- or 3 -branched, swollen towards 
the base but abruptly constricted just above the nut, at which 
point it ultimately falls off. Nut obtuse, narrowed towards the 
base. 
Style 2-branched. Nut flattened. 
Stems terminating in 1-3 spikelets 
Stems terminating in more than three spikelets. 
Style fringed at the base .... 
Style-base not fringed. 
Nut longitudinally striped. 
Spikelets angular. Stems 2-10 in. 
Spikelets cylindric. Stems 6-24 in. 
Nut not striped. Spikelets globose 
Style 3-branched. Nut 3-sided. 
Stems terminating in more than one spikelet. 
Spikelets nearly all solitary, not clustered. 
Spikelets 5-20. Stems stoloniferous 
Spikelets numerous. Stems without stolons 
Stems 4—5-angled at the top 
Stems flattened at the top 
Spjkelets in clusters of 2-5 . 
Stems terminating in a single spikelet . 
1. F. schcenoides. 
2. F, squarrosa. 
3. F. dickotoma. 
4. F. diphylla. 
5. F. rigidula. 
6. F. Pierotii. 
7. F. quinquangularis. 
8. F. complanata. 
9. F. junciformis. 
10. F. monostachya. 
1. Fimbristylis schcenoides, Vahl ; FI. Br. Ind. vi. 634. 
Glabrous ; rhizome none or very short ; stems tufted, 4-12 in., 
slender, grooved, base often thickened. Leaves about three quar- 
ters the length of the stem. Spikelets J-f in., ovoid, rusty-brown, 
1-3 in a single head. Glumes obtuse. Style hairy nearly to the 
base, 2-branched. Nut one third to half the length of the glume, 
flattened, smooth. 
Throughout India, ascending to 6500 ft. — China, Australia. 
2. Fimbristylis squarrosa, Vahl ; FI. Br. Ind. vi. 635. Annual ; 
stems tufted, 2-8 in., slender, grooved. Leaves half to three quar- 
ters the length of the stem, usually pubescent. Umbels compound, 
often 2-4 in. diam. Spikelets many, in., narrowly oblong, 
red-brown. Mid-rib of glumes running out at the top in a tail-like 
point nearly as long as the glume itself. Style minutely hairy, 
2-branched, fringed at the base with 10-18 white hairs. Nut one 
third the length of the glume, flattened, smooth. 
Common in rice-fields throughout India, ascending to 3000 ft. — All warm 
regions. 
