Dimeria GRAMINEAE Miscanthus 



J. Fertile spikelets dorsally compressed; the first glume usually 

 inflexed above. 



Racemes solitary; homogamus pairs wanting 87. Schizachyrium 



Racemes binate; homogamous pairs present 88. Cymbopogon 



JJ. Fertile spikelets terete; the first glume involute. 



Homogamous pairs one to many, imbricate at the base of the 



several-many- jointed racemes 89. Heteropogon 



Homogamous pairs 2, approximate at the base of the 1-3- 



jointed racemes 90. Themeda 



69. Dimeria R. Br. BW^M (Yen Ku Mao Shu) 

 Slender annuals with binate spike-like racemes (ours) : spikelets laterally compressed, 

 solitary at each node, unilaterally arranged on a slender continuous rachis : first glume 

 keeled; fertile lemma awned. About 20 species, in tropical Asia and Australia; 3 in 

 China. (Greek: dis, two, and meros, a share, alluding to the dimerous racemes of 

 some species.) 



1. Dimeria ornithopoda Trin. M-Wt% (Yen Ku Mao; Wild-goose-feather-Grass) 

 (M.F.75). Culms 15-45 cm. high; fls. X; fr. XI. India to eastern Asia and 

 Australia; locally in Che., Ki., Ku. Waste roadsides and meadows. Fig. 442. 



70. Miscanthus Anderss. $cg| (Ti Shu) 

 Tall perennials with broad panicles of several to many racemes: spikelets all 

 perfect, binate, unequally pedicelled along a continuous rachis: glumes subequal, with 

 villous callus; fertile lemma bifid or acute, with a long awn or awnless. About 10 

 species, mostly Asiatic and Polynesian; 8 in China. (Greek: mischos, pedicel, and 

 anthos, flower, both spikelets of the pair being pedicelled.) 



Key to the Species 



Spikelets awnless; or the upper lemma with a very short included 



awn 3 . M. sacchariflorus 



Spikelets awned; the awn long-exserted. 



Panicle brs. slender, radiate: spikelets 3-5 mm. long, the pedicels 



finally recurved 1 . M. floridulus 



Panicle brs. stout, fastigiate: spikelets 5-7 mm. long, the pedicels 



more or less straight 2. M. sinensis 



1. Miscanthus floridulus (Labill.) Warb. ex Schum. & Laut. (M. japonicus of Asia- 

 tic authors, non Anderss.) (Mak. F. 825). Culms 2-4 m. high; fls. VI; fr. VII. 

 China to Japan and Polynesia; locally in An., Che., Ki., Ku. Grassy hills or 

 roadside hedges. 



" Miscanthus japonicus Anderss. (Of. Svensk. Vet. Akad. Forh. 12: 166.1856) is not based 

 on Saccharum japonicum. Thunb. as commonly assumed. Andersson cites Eulalia japonica 

 Trin. and Saccharum polydactylon Thunb. These names are synonyms of M. sinensis Anderss. 

 Andersson also cites Zollinger 28 from Japan, which is apparently M. floridulus. The descrip- 

 tion and plate in Labillardiere clearly identify his species, and his name (1824) is much earlier 

 than that of Andersson (1856)." — Agnes Chase. 



2. Miscanthus sinensis Anderss. Eulalia £ (Mang; Awn) (Hitch.740). Culms 1-2 

 m. high; fls. VIII; fr. IX. India to eastern Asia; locally in An., Che., Ki., Ku. 



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