1175

 Fuirena ciliaris (L.)Roxb.

Synonyms	:	Scirpus ciliaris L
Family	:	Cyperaceae
Flowering and fruiting period	:	January-March
Distribution	:	Pantropical
Distribution in kerala	:	Kottayam, Alappuzha, Kasaragode, Kollam, Pathanamthitta,
Habitat	:	Marshy areas in grasslands and paddy fields
Uses	:	Not Known
Key Botanical Characters: Erect, tufted, non-rhizomatous annual herbs; culms 10-34 cm tall, slender, obtusely angular, 2-4-noded, pubescent. Leaves 2.5 - 9 x 0.3-0.6 cm, linear or linear-lanceolate, base rounded, apex acute, wholly pubescent, 3-5-nerved, basal leaves reduced to bladless sheaths; sheaths to 2.5 cm long; ligules 1-2 mm long, hairy. Inflorescence with 1 to 3 glomerulous clusters of spikelets; clusters 1-2 cm across, bearing 4-10 spikelets; bracts leaf-like. Spikelets 5-10 x 2.5 - 3.5 mm, ovate or oblong-elliptic, squarrose, pubescent. Glumes spiral, 1.5-2 x 1 mm, oblong-obovate, pubescent, 3-nerved; awn c. 1 mm long, recurved. Hypogynous bristles 3, scabrid. Hypogynous scales 3, c. 1 x 0.5 mm, longitudinally rectangular with 3-denticulate apex, base long-stipitate. Stamens 3. Stigmas 3, papillose. Nuts c. 1 x 0.5 mm, obovate to elliptic, triquetrous.