Eleusine GRAMINEAE Beckmannia 



Culms rather robust: spikes very thick and finally incurved: seeds 



globose 2. E. coracana 



1. Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn. Goosegrass ^f&f: (Niu Chin Ts'ao Cow-sinew 

 Grass) (Hitch. 499). Culms 15-90 cm. high; fls. VII; fr. X. Tropical and temperate 

 zones; locally in An., Che., Ku. Roadsides, waste ground. Fig. 415. 



2. Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn. Finger Millet (Hitch. 501). Culms 60-120cm. 

 high; fls. VIII; fr. IX. Tropical regions; locally in An., Che., Ki. Cultivated. 



28. Chloris Sw. Fingergrass fcM^-M (Hu Wei Ts'ao Shu; 



Tiger-tail-grass Genus) 



Tufted annuals (ours) with few to several digitate spikes: spikelets with one perfect 

 floret, sessile, imbricate, in 2 rows along one side of a slender rachis, disarticulating 

 above the glumes: lemmas 1-3-nerved, the mid-nerve or keel extending into a slender 

 straight awn, the marginal nerves long-ciliate. About 50 species, chiefly American; 

 3 in China. (Named for Chloris, the Greek goddess of flowers.) 



1. Chloris virgata Svv. Feather Fingergrass (Hitch. 527). Culms 15-60 cm. high; fls. 

 VIII; fr. IX; spikelets 2-awned. Temperate and tropical zones; locally in Ku. 

 Open grassland. Fig. 416. 



29. Cynodon Rich. fijWMM (Kou Ya Ken Shu) 

 Stoloniferous perennials with few to several digitate spikes: spikelets 1-2-fld., 

 sessile, imbricate in 2 rows along one side of a slender rachis, spikelets disarticulating 

 above the glumes: lemmas strongly compressed, with pubescent keel, 3-nerved, awnless: 

 the lateral nerves submarginal. About 10 species, mostly tropical; 2 in China. 

 (Greek: kuon, a dog and odous, a tooth, alluding to the sharp hard scales of the 

 rhizome.) 



1. Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. Bermuda Grass ^j5f^ (Kou Ya Ken; Dog-tooth 

 Root) (Hitch. 503). Culms 10-30 cm. high; fls. and fr. V-X. Eurasia; locally in 

 Ku. Meadows and roadsides. Fig. 417. 



30. Beckmannia Host Sloughgrass 7k$M (Shui Pai Shu) 

 Erect annuals with flat blades and numerous short spikes in a narrow more or 

 less interrupted panicle: spikelets 1-2-fld., nearly sessile and closely imbricate along 

 one side of a slender rachis, disarticulating below the glumes: glumes inflated, cymbi- 

 form, 3-nerved, enclosing a lanceolate 5-nerved lemma. Two species in the north 

 temperate zone. (After Johann Beckmann, 1739-1811, professor of botany at Goet- 

 tingen.) 



1. Beckmannia syzigachne (Steud. Fernald (B. erucaeformis (L.) Host. var. uni flora 

 Scribn.) (Hitch. 508, 826). Culms 30-100 cm. tall; fls. IV; fr. IV; spikelets 1-fld. 

 Asia and North America; locally in Che., Ku. Marshy places. Fig. 418. 



Tribe V. Hordeae Barley Tribe ±&M (Ta Mai Ts'u) 

 Spikelets several-1-fld., sessile, 1-2 or more at each node on opposite sides of the 

 rachis: rachilla disarticulating above the glumes and prolonged behind the upper palea 

 into a naked or glumiferous bristle; glumes 2 (reduced or obsolete in Hystrix), opposite 



451 



