Pennisetum GRAMINEAE Arundinella 



67. Pennisetum L. Rich. ^M^-M (Lang Wei Ts'ao Shu) 



Perennials (ours) with spike-like cylindric panicles: spikelets 1-3 in each involucre 



of filiform bristles (sterile brts.); the involucre subsessile or shortly peduncled, falling 



from the main axis entire, with the spikelets enclosed. About 80 species, mostly 



African; 4 in China. (Latin: penna, feather, and seta, bristle, alluding to the plumose 



bristles of some species.) 



1. Pennisetum alopecuroides (L.) Spreng. $ K MM (Lang Wei Ts'ao; Wolf-tail Grass) 



(Hitch.730). Culms 30-100 cm. high; fls. VIII; fr. IX. Temperate Asia to 



Australia; locally in An., Che., Ki., Ku. Waste roadsides and grassland. Fig. 440. 



Tribe XII. Arundinelleae mSMfe (Yeh Ku Ts'ao Ts'u) 

 The structure of the spikelets as in Paniceae from which it differs mainly in the 

 disarticulation above the glumes: glumes 2, membranaceous or firmer, subequal or 

 the first smaller; sterile lemmas more or less similar to the glumes; fertile lemma 

 membranaceous or chartaceous at maturity, awned or awnless: infl. an open or 

 contracted panicle. 



A single genus in our flora 68 . Arundinella 



68. Arundinella Raddi mti^-U (Yeh Ku Ts'ao Shu) 

 Perennials with open or contracted panicles: spikelets (ours) binate, with pedicels 

 of unequal length, arranged unilaterally on a slender continuous rachis: glumes 

 persistent, equal or the first shorter, 3-5-nerved; lower floret staminate or neuter; 

 fertile floret readily deciduous; the lemma chartaceous with pubescent callus. About 

 40 species, in tropical and temperate regions, mostly Asiatic; 10 in China. (Latin: 

 a diminutive of Arundo, a reed.) 



Key to the Species 



Fertile lemma awnless or minutely awned 1 . A. anomala 



Fertile lemma geniculately awned from the summit 2. A. setosa 



1. Arundinella anomala Steud. !?•£#: (Yeh Ku Ts'ao; Wild Ancient-grass) (Mak. 

 F.832). Culms 30-120 cm. high; fls. VIII; fr. IX. Eastern Asia; locally in An., 

 Che., Ki., Ku. Grassy slopes or shady woods. 



2. Arundinella setosa Trin. (H.F.7: 70). Culms 30-120 cm. high; fls. VII; fr. IX; 

 fertile lemma geniculately awned and with 2 slender lateral bristles. Tropical 

 and subtropical Asia to New Guinea; locally in An., Che., Ku. Open ground or 

 grassy slopes. Fig. 441. 



Tribe XIII. Andropogoneae HkWUlk (Kao Liang Ts'u) 

 Spikelets 2-fld. or 1-fld. with a sterile lemma below, usually arranged in pairs 

 at each node of a jointed or rarely continuous rachis: glumes 2, indurated, the first 

 often larger than the second; sterile lemma membranaceous or hyaline, awnless; 

 fertile lemma hyaline, usually awned or reduced to an awn: infl. various; the paired 

 spikelets being both perfect in primitive forms, then modified to heterogamous pairs 

 with the sessile spikelets of the pair perfect and the pedicelled sterile; at length the 

 spikelets on the lower part of the rachis advanced to homagamous pairs, i.e. both 

 spikelets of the pair being sterile. 



Key to the Genera 

 A. Spikelets laterally compressed, solitary at each node of the rachis.. 69. Dimeria 



475 



