164 
CLXII. CYPERACEiE. 
[Rhynchospora. 
11 . RHYNCHOSPORA, Vahl. 
Herbs usually tall and leafy throughout. Leaves narrow. 
Spikelets usually numerous, small, ovoid, brown, capitate, corymbose 
or panicled. Glumes spirally imbricate, 3 or 4, lowest empty, 
I or 2 bisexual, uppermost empty. Bristles o or 6 scabrid. Style 
bifid, slender, base broad conic, persistent. Nut ovoid, biconvex, 
beaked by style base. Species upwards of 200, all regions. 
(1) 
(2) 
R. Wallichiana 
R. Wightiana 
(3) R. malasica 
(4) R. aurea 
(5) R. glauca 
Clarke m Hook. 
Culm leafy at base only; spikelets capitate. 
Nut obovoid ...... 
Nut linear elliptic ..... 
Culm leafy throughout. 
Spikelets in globose heads in a spike 
Spikelets in axillary and terminal corymbs. 
Corymbs large; style and stigma short 
Corymbs small; stigmas long . 
(1) R, Wallichiana Kunth. Emm. ii. 289; 
fit. F.B.l. vi. 668; Ridl. Mat. iii. 82. 
Leaves tufted at base only, 3 to 24 in. long, narrow, numerous. 
Culm triquetrous, 8 to 24 in. tall. Spikelets in a terminal compact 
head, -5 in. across, glabrous, light reddish. Glumes, basal two short, 
upper ones lanceolate smooth acute, 6 or 7, only one fertile. Bristles 
6, short, red. Nut obovoid biconvex, a quarter of the length of the 
glume, stalked, a small conic boss on the top, black above, bristly. 
Hab. Common in dry open country among bracken. Singapore, 
Jurong, Selitar. Malacca (Griffith); Bukit Bruang; Alor Gajah. 
Pahang, Kwala Pahang (Ridley). Distrib. Tropics of Old World. 
(2) R. Wightiana Steud. Cyp. 148; Clarke in Hook. fil. F.B.L 
vi. 66g. 
Culms tufted, 4 to 24 in. long, slender or rather stout. Leaves 
one-fourth to three-fourths of length of stem, -i in. or less across. 
Spikelets numerous in a dense head as in R. Wallichii, about -3 in. 
wide. Bracts 2 to 6 in. long, bases ciliate. Glumes red. Bristles 
as long as nut, scabrid, 6. Style shortly bifid. Nut linear-oblong, 
black, half as long as nut, pale. Hab. Rare in open sandy spots 
in the north, Tringganu (Yapp). Setul Heath (Ridley). Nangchik, 
Road to Bukit Besar (Gwynne-Vaughan). Distrib. Cochinchina, 
India. 
(3) R. malasica C. B. Clarke in Hook. fil. F.B.L vi. 670; Ridl. 
Mat. iii. 83. 
Culms leafy, stout, 1-5 to 2 ft. tall. Leaves flaccid, i ft. long, 
■25 in. wide, Spikelets pale brown, in a spike of about 5 heads, 
•5 in. across. Style branches short. Bristles twice as long as nut. 
Nut obovoid, dark brown, biconve.x, transversely barred, beak short, 
conic. Hab. Grassy swamps, local, Singapore, Bedoh; Bukit 
Mandai. Johor, Kota Tinggi. Malacca (Griffith); Ayer Keroh. 
Distrib. Borneo. 
(4) R. aurea Vahl. Enum. ii. 229; Clarke in Hook. fil. F.B.L 
vi. 670; Ridl. Mat. iii. 83. 
