Scleria psilorrhiza
Content
Description
Perennial, with creeping stolons.
Leaves rather gradually narrowed to the slender acute tip, or (when broad) premorse (see notes), glabrous, retrorsely scabrid on the margins, (6-)10-25 mm wide;
Inflorescence dense, narrow, consisting of a terminal panicle up to 10 cm long, and often 1-2 smaller lateral ones;
Distribution
Asia-Tropical: Cambodia (Cambodia present); India present; New Guinea present; Philippines (Philippines present); Thailand (Thailand present), Cheribon present, For. Distr. Indramaju present, Laguna present, Luzon present, N. Australia present, Papua present, Rizal Prov present, W. Java present
Very local and scattered, India through Thailand, Cambodia to N. Australia; in Malesia: W. Java (Cheribon: For. Distr. Indramaju), Philippines (Luzon: Laguna and Rizal Prov.), New Guinea (Papua).
Notes
Close to S. junghuhnii, but readily recog- nizable by the presence of stolons, the stems not spongy at the base, the broadly winged sheaths, the narrow, spike-like, dense panicles, the long, seta- ceous ultimate bracts, the disk not surrounded by an elevation of the pericarp, the non-tubercled scar of the cupula, and the obtuse nut not, or hardly, overtopping the glumes.
This is the only Asian species sometime clearly showing the curious character of ‘premorse’ leaves. In such leaves (occurring in several African and American species) the lower part is broadened by a continuation of the wings of the leaf-sheath and shows 5 principal nerves. Towards the apex there is a sudden narrowing (usually at not quite opposite points of the margin). The distal part of the leaf is therefore much narrower than the proximal part, and has only 3 principal nerves. On the morphology and anatomy of this interesting type of leaves see .
This is the only Asian species sometime clearly showing the curious character of ‘premorse’ leaves. In such leaves (occurring in several African and American species) the lower part is broadened by a continuation of the wings of the leaf-sheath and shows 5 principal nerves. Towards the apex there is a sudden narrowing (usually at not quite opposite points of the margin). The distal part of the leaf is therefore much narrower than the proximal part, and has only 3 principal nerves. On the morphology and anatomy of this interesting type of leaves see .