Paspalum GRAMINEAE Se'aria 



floret less indurate 1 . P. distichum 



aa. Plants not stoloniferous: first glume typically wanting; fertile floret 

 strongly indurate. 

 Spikelets more or less puferulent; the fertile floret pale green at 



maturity 2 . P. thunbergii 



Spikelets glabrous; the fertile floret dark brown at maturity. 



Racemes 2-7, alternate, 1-4 cm. distant 3. P. orbiculare 



Racemes 2, binate, oi with a third below, 3-10 mm. distant 4. P. hirsutum 



1. Paspalum distichum Linn. Knotgrass (Hitch. 603). Culms 10-60 cm. high; fls. 

 VI; fr. VIII. Tropical and temperate zones; locally in Ku. Ditches and wet 

 places. 



2. Paspalum thunbergii Kunth MW (Ch'io Pai; Bird Seed) (Mak.F.833). Culms 

 30-60 cm. high. Eastern Asia; locally in An., Che., Ki., Ku. Roadsides and 

 fields. Fig. 438. 



3. Paspalum orbiculare G. Forst. (L.SJ.7:216). Culms 20-100 cm. high; fls. VI; 

 fr. VII. Old World Tropics; locally in Che. Moist places and grassy hillsides. 



4. Paspalum hirsutum Retz. (Retz.0.2:7). Culms 20-50 cm. high; fls. VI; fr. VII. 

 Tropical and subtropical Asia and Africa; locally in Che. Ditches, prairies and 

 open fields. 



64. Eriochloa HBK Cupgrass mWM (Yeh Shu Shu) 



Annuals (ours) with a terminal panicle of 2 to many spike-like racemes: spikelets 

 solitary, awnless, imbricate in two rows along one side of a narrow rachis: rachilla 

 jointed below the second glume, thickened into a ring or bead-like callus; first glume 

 reduced to a minute sheath about the callus and adnate to it; second glume and 

 sterile lemma subequal, membranaceous; fertile floret cartilaginous, with the convex 

 back of the lemma turned away from the rachis. About 25 species, in tropical and 

 temperate zones; 2 in China. (Greek: erion, wool, and chloa, grass, alluding to the 

 pubescent spikelets and pedicels.) 



1. Eriochloa villosa (Thunb.) Kunth M'M (Yeh Shu; Wild Millet) (Hitch.592). Culms 

 30-90 cm. high; fls. VI; fr. VII. China, Indo-China and Japan; locally in An., 

 Che., Ki., Ku. Hill slopes, ravines and wet places. 



65. Setaria Beauv. ffiMMM (Kou Wei Ts'ao Shu) 

 Perennials or annuals with narrow usually spiciform rarely open panicles: spikelets 

 awnless, some or all subtended by 1 to several bristles (sterile brts.), and falling free 

 from them: first glume 1/4 to 1/2 as long as the spikelet, 3-5-nerved or nerveless; 

 second glume equaling the sterile lemma or shorter, several nerved; fertile lemma 

 coriaceous-indurate, smooth or transversely rugose. About 100 species, in tropical 

 and temperate regions, mostly African; 9 in China. (Latin: seta, a bristle, alluding 

 to the numerous bristles of the inflorescence.) 



Key to the Species 



a. Perennial: panicle broad to narrowly pyramidal: bristles single below 

 a part or rarely below all of the spikelets. 

 Blades lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, conspicuously plaited; the 

 lower ones nan owed at the base into petioles. 



First glume ovate, acute; fertile lemma obscurely rugose.. 1. S. pahnifolia 



472 



