Holcus 



GRAMINEAE Eleusine 



2. Holcus mollis Linn. (Hitch.305). Culms 50-100 cm. high. Introduced from Europe; 

 locally in Ki. Damp ground. 



Tribe IV. Chlorideae jjtm^lfc (Hu Wei Ts'ao Ts'u) 

 Spikelets several-1-fld., subsessile, in 2 rows on one side of a continuous rachis: 

 rachilla disarticulating above the glumes (except in Beckmannia) and prolonged behind 

 the palea; glumes 2, equaling or shorter than the first floret; lemmas 5-3-1-nerved; 

 awns, when present, straight or divergent, arising from between the teeth of a bifid 

 apex; infl. of many to few secund spike-like racemes, in panicles, racemes, or digitate 

 along the common axis. 



Key to the Genera 



A. Spikelets with several to 2 perfect florets. 



Spikes numerous, slender, racemose on an elongated axis 26. Leptochloa 



Spikes several to few, stout, digitate on a shortened axis 27. Eleusine 



AA. Spikelets with 1 (rarely 2) perfect floret. 



Spikelets disarticulating above the glumes. 



Lemmas distinctly awned 28. Chloris 



Lemmas awnless 29. Cynodon 



Spikelets disarticulating below the glumes 30. Beckmannia 



26. Leptochloa Beauv. H^M (Pan Mao Shu; Field-margin-grass Genus) 

 Tufted annuals (ours) with numerous slender spikes or spike- like racemes forming 

 an elongate simple panicle: spikelets 2-several-fld., subsessile in 2 rows along one side 

 of a slender rachis: lemmas 1-3-nerved, obtuse or acute. About 30 species, in warm 

 regions; 3 in China. (Greek: leptos, slender, and chloa, grass, alluding to the slender 

 spikes.) 



Key to the Species 



Sheaths glabrous: spikelets 3-7-fld., 2.2-4.0 mm. long 1. L. tenerrima 



Sheaths papillose-pilose: spikelets 2-4-fld., 1.0-2.2 mm. long 2. L. chinensis 



1. Leptochloa tenerrima (Hornem.) Roem. & Schult. (R. & S.2:581). Culms 30- 

 90cm. high; fls. IX; fr. X. Warm regions of the Old World; locally in Che., 

 Ki., Ku. Moist fields and ditches. 



2. Leptochloa chinensis (L.) Nees (M.F.105). Culms 30-60 cm. high; fls. VII; fr. 

 IX. Tropical and subtropical regions; locally in Ku. Fields, gardens. 



27. Eleusine Gaertn. Yard Grass MMMM (Hsi So Ts'ao Shu; 



Cricket-grass Genus) 



Tufted annuals with compressed culms and 2-many stout digitate or approximate 

 spikes: spikelets sessile, closely imbricate, in 2 rows along one side of a continuous 

 rachis: lemmas acute, awnless, 3-5-nerved; the intermediate nerves, when present, 

 close to the middle one and forming the keel: pericarp loosely enclosing the seed; seed 

 marked with comb like lines. About 10 species, mostly Indian and African; 2 in 

 China. (Greek: Eleusin, the town where Ceres, the goddess of harvests, was wor- 

 shipped.) 



Key to the Species 

 Culms stout or slender: spikes rather thin, straight: seeds oblong 1. E. indica 



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