Compilation
Lipocarpha sphacelata

19 Images see all

Previous
Next

Name

Identification
Lipocarpha sphacelata (Vahl) Kunth [family CYPERACEAE ] Verified by Paul Goetghebeur, Lipocarpha sphacelata (Vahl) Kunth [family CYPERACEAE ] (stored under name); Verified by Clarke, C.B., Hypaelyptum sphacelatum Vahl [family CYPERACEAE ]
Related name
  • Tunga triceps
  • Lipocarpha filiformis
  • Hypaelyptum sphacelatum
  • Lipocarpha sphacelata
  • Hypaelyptum filiforme
  • Kyllinga indet.

Flora

Entry for LIPOCARPHA triceps Nees [family CYPERACEAE]
Herbarium
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K)
Collection
Flora of Tropical Africa
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of Tropical Africa, Vol 8, page 264, (1902) Author: (By C. B. Clarke.)
Names
LIPOCARPHA triceps Nees [family CYPERACEAE], in Wight, Contrib. 92.
LIPOCARPHA sphacelata Kunth [family CYPERACEAE], Enum. ii. 267; Benth. in Hook. Niger Fl. 555; Boeck. in Flora, 1860, 37, in Linnæa, xxxvii. 116; Ridley in Trans. Linn. Soc. ser. 2, Bot. ii. 162; C. B. Clarke in Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. vi. 667, and in Durand & Schinz,Conspect. Fl. Afr. v. 650, incl. var. β Barteri; Rendle in Cat. Afr. Pl. Welw. ii. 129.
Hypælyptum sphacelatum Vahl [family ], Enum. ii. 283.
Tunga triceps Roxb. [family ], Fl. Ind. i. 183.
Kyllinga triceps Lam. [family CYPERACEAE], Ill. i. 148, t. 38, fig. 2.
Information
Glabrous. Stems annual, tufted, 4–16 in. long, trigonous, striated, smooth. Leaves 1/4 to 1/2 the length of the stem, linear. Spikelets 3–18 in the head, 1/3 by 1/8 in., cylindric, very dense, obtuse, smooth, usually purple or dark reddish, sometimes paler; bracts 3–7, spreading, up to 1–4 in. long. Glumes obovate, with a triangular tip erect or incurved in fruit. Hyaline scales a little shorter than the glumes, lower narrowly elliptic, upper oblong. Nut broadly-oblong, round-trigonous, nearly as long as the hyaline scale, black-brown, smooth. Style 0 or hardly any; branches 3, linear, shortly exserted.
Range
Tropical America.
Distribution
Senegal Upper Guinea Schotte!Congo Lower Guinea Stanley Pool, Luja, 65!Congo South Central Kasai River, Luja, 225!Liberia Upper Guinea Cape Palmas, Ansell!Niger Upper Guinea Nupe, Barter, 344! 786!Angola Lower Guinea Pungo Andongo; near Mopopo, on the River Cuanza, Welwitsch, 6776!
Distribution (external)
India
Notes
This species was sorted from L. argentea (the white-headed) by its deep purple-spotted (sphacelate) heads; but the character is not a safe one any more than the number of spikelets (triceps). The length of the style draws a strong line between the two; L. triceps differs little from L. filiformis except in being more robust.

Related Materials