—— so a 2. (940.4 
214 CYPERACEAE. [Kyllinga. 
1. KYLLINGA Rottb. \ 77%. 
Stems slender, simple, erect, leafy at the base. Spikelets small, numer- 
ous, compressed, 1—3-flowered, densely crowded in 1-3 ovoid or cylindric 
terminal heads or spikes subtended by 2-6 unequal linear leaf-like bracts. 
Glumes 4-7, distichous ; the two lowest small, empty; the next, or rarely 
the two next, hermaphrodite and fruit-bearmg ; the upper ones male or the 
uppermost smaller and empty; in fruit the rhachilla falls away above the 
two lowest glumes. Hypogynous scales wanting. Stamens 1-3. Style 
continuous with the ovary, not thickened at the base; branches 2, filiform. 
Nut laterally compressed, smooth. 
A genus of about 50 species, widely spread through the warmer regions of both 
hemispheres, but not found in Europe. 
&p- -1. K. brevifolia Rottb. Desc. et Ic. (1773) t. 4, f. 3—Rhizome creeping, 
elongate. Stems numerous from the rhizome, slender, 4-12in. high or 
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many, distichous; the two lowest empty; four at least and generally 
many of the succeeding ones hermaphrodite and fruit-bearing, falling away 
from the rhachilla one by one, commencing with the lowest ; the uppermost 
1-3 sterile or empty. Stamens 2-3, rarely 1. Style continuous with the 
ovary, not thickened at the base; branches 3, filiform. Nut triquetrous 
or plano-convex, the flat face against the rhachilla, surface smooth. 
A large genus of over 375 species, most abundant in the tropical and subtropical 
districts of both hemispheres, comparatively rare in temperate regions. The two New 
Zealand species are widely distributed; one of them is certainly a recent introduction, 
and possibly the other as well. 
Small, 1-3 in. high. Inflorescence of a single head; spikelets 1-3 1. C. tenellus. 
Tall, 1-2 ft. high. Inflorescence in a compound umbel ; spikelets 
very numerous .. ms +. e ‘ 2. C. vegetus. 
The tropical C. rotundus Linn., easily recognized by the black ovoid tubers on the | 
creeping stolons, and hence frequently known by the name of “ nut-grass,”” has become 
naturalized in the vicinity of Auckland. It is a most pernicious weed. 
