Fimbristylis salbundia (Nees) Kunth, Enum. Pl. 2: 230. 1837.

Bhandari, Prabin, Chaudhary, Satyam, Neupane, Ajay, Zhou, Shi-Liang & Zhang, Shu-Ren, 2021, Taxonomic notes on Cyperaceae of Nepal: new records of a genus, six species and other noteworthy species, PhytoKeys 180, pp. 141-156 : 141

Fimbristylis salbundia (Nees) Kunth, Enum. Pl. 2: 230. 1837.

Trichelostylis salbundia Nees, Contr. Bot. India 105. 1834.

Type.

India, Silhet, N. Wallich 3526 [lectotype, designated by Halder and Dey 2016, pg. 357, 359: K (K000974061 image!)] .

Description.

Plant rhizomatous, not tufted. Culm up to 130 cm, 5-angled. Leaf reduced to the bladeless sheath, up to 18 cm, tubular. Involucral bracts setaceous to 1 cm long. Inflorescence a compound anthela. Spikelet ovoid, 3.5-4 × 1.5-2 mm, with spirally arranged glumes. Glumes elliptic-ovoid, 1.8-2 × 1 mm, middle part chestnut brown, margin membranous, 3-veined, apex obtuse to acute, not mucronate. Style 1 mm, trigonal, basally inflated, not ciliate. Stigmas 3, as long as style, plumose. Stamens 3, 2 mm long. Achene obovoid, trigonal, 0.5-0.7 × 0.5 mm, sparsely verruculose with transversely oblong epidermal cells in more than 9 vertical rows on each face. (Fig. 2E ).

Distribution.

Nepal, India, China, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and New Guinea.

Ecology.

Grows in marshy areas; 760-835 m elev.

Phenology.

Flowering in July-September; fruiting in October-December.

Specimens examined.

Nepal, Dang: Tulsipur, near Damargau, Angare , 835 m elev., 17 Dec 2020, B. Subedi 20121704 (KATH) ; Kaski: Pokhara Valley, Gunde Lake , 28°11'30.29"N, 84°2'21.58"E, 760 m elev., 30 Dec 2020, P. Bhandari & N.L. Bhandari 20123005 (KATH, TUCH) .

Note.

The protologue of Fimbristylis salbundia [≡ Trichelostylis salbundia ] was based on two collections of Wallich, i.e. Wallich 3499 and 3526 from ‘Nepalia’ and ‘Silhet’, respectively ( Wallich 1828; Nees 1834). All collections representing 3499 were later annotated as F. quinquangularis (Vahl) Kunth., except 3499c at B, which was F. salbundia (Nees) Kunth ( Clarke 1907). The collection 3499c at B was destroyed in 1943, during the Second World War ( Halder and Dey 2016). Subsequently, the occurrence of F. salbundia was not reported in the published works ( Koyama 1978; Press et al. 2000; Rajbhandari and Rai 2017; Shrestha et al. 2018; POWO 2019; Govaerts et al. 2021). The rediscovery of F. salbundia after 200 years confirms the occurrence of this taxon in Nepal.

Fimbristylis salbundia is very similar to F. quinquangularis , but can be distinguished, based on the nature of its leaf sheaths and achene character. Fimbristylis salbundia is characterised by the presence of bladeless sheaths and sparsely verruculose achene, surface pitted with more than nine vertical rows of transversely oblong epidermal cells. However, Fimbristylis quinquangularis has leaf sheaths with blades and densely verruculose achene with up to six vertical rows of transversely linear-oblong epidermal cells.

Figures

Figure 2. Achene A Eleocharis ochrostachys B Fimbristylis acuminata C F. ferruginea D F. nutans E F. salbundia F F. thomsonii G Fuirena umbellata H Machaerina rubiginosa I Scleria rugosa.