3108

11: Auxiliary plants

Fimbristylis dichotoma (L.) Vahl

CYPERACEAE

Fimbristylis annua auct., non (All.) Roem. & Schultes, Fimbristylis diphylla (Retz.) Vahl, Fimbristylis ramosii Kük.

Indonesia: jukut mata munding (Sundanese), suket kodokan (Javanese), cikukok (Aceh). Malaysia: rumput purun batu, rumput parah, rumput kepala lalat (Peninsular). Papua New Guinea: balimbuli. Philippines: tabtabin (general), baliotas (Bagobo), bubaging (Subanun). Laos: kh'ôm pa:w no:yz (Savannakhet). Thailand: ya-niunu (Chiang Mai). Vietnam: c[or] qu[aw]m nh[aa]n d[oo]i.

Pantropical.

Ploughed in as a green manure in rice fields. It is useful as a soil binder in erosion control. The leaves are used as a fodder. It is also used for matting but not preferred for that purpose.

Annual or perennial herb with short rhizomes, forming large tussocks, up to 75(—100) cm tall. Leaves abruptly acuminate, 1.5—5 mm wide. Inflorescence simple to compound, up to 20 cm long; spikelets ovoid to oblong-ovoid, 5—10(—20) mm x 2.5—3(—5) mm; glumes arranged spirally, glabrous or sometimes minutely ciliate apically, with a green keel and darker coloured sides; style with a dilated base, ciliate, stigmas 2. Fruit a usually smooth nut. Fimbristylis dichotoma is extremely variable. Annual forms have been accommodated in subsp. depauperata (R. Br.) Kern. It is a common weed of open locations, roadsides, tea and teak plantations, and dry rice fields, up to 1500(—2500) m altitude. It is sometimes troublesome and difficult to eradicate.

[27]Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. 2nd Edition. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2444 pp.
[25]Brown, W.H., 1951–1957. Useful plants of the Philippines. Reprint of the 1941–1943 edition. 3 volumes. Technical Bulletin No 10. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Bureau of Printing, Manila, the Philippines. 590, 513, 507 pp.
[51]Flora Malesiana (various editors), 1950–. Series 1. Volume 1, 4–. Kluwer, Dordrecht & Flora Malesiana Foundation, Leiden, the Netherlands.
[70]Heyne, K., 1950. De nuttige planten van Indonesië [The useful plants of Indonesia]. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. W. van Hoeve, the Hague, the Netherlands/Bandung, Indonesia. 261, 1450 pp.
[149]Smitinand, T., Larsen, K. & Hanssen, B. (Editors), 1970–. Flora of Thailand. Volume 2–. Danida, TISTR Press, Bangkok, Thailand.
[150]Soerjani, M., Kostermans, A.J.G.H. & Tjitrosoepomo, G., 1987. Weeds of rice in Indonesia. Balai Pustaka, Jakarta, Indonesia. 716 pp.
[171]Vidal, J., 1962. Noms vernaculaires de plantes en usage au Laos [Vernacular names of plants used in Laos]. Extrait du Bulletin de l'Ecole Française d'Extrême-Orient 49, fasc. 2. 197 pp.

M.S.M. Sosef & L.J.G. van der Maesen

Sosef, M.S.M. & van der Maesen, L.J.G., 1997. Fimbristylis dichotoma (L.) Vahl. In: Faridah Hanum, I & van der Maesen, L.J.G. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 11: Auxiliary plants. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea