344 TUiANDRiA DiGYNiA. Eleiisine. 



Ponas'^a, or early Soloo, is the Telinga name of the grain, and 

 Sodee the name of the plant. 



j5t'/;o'. iNiurooa. 



Rnggee of the Coast Mahomedans. 



This species is ciiitivated during the rains. I never saw it wild. 



Culms erect, generally several from "the same gram of seed ; from 

 two to four feet high, a little compressed, smooth. — Leases bifarioiis, 

 large, smooth; mouths of the sheaths hc'Mdt'd.— Spikes, from four to 

 six, digitate, incurvate, secund, from one to three inches long, com- 

 posed of two rows of sessile, from three to six-flowered spikelets. Ra- 

 chis compressed, a little waved.— Calj/x from three to six-flowered, 

 exterior glumes twice as long as the niterior^ both are keeled, ob- 

 tuse, and membranaceous-margined. — Corol, valves nearly equal. — 

 Seed globular, dark brown, a little wrinkled, covered with a thin, pel- 

 li\cid, membranaceous aril. 



2. E. strkla. R. 



Culms erect, from two to five feet high, compressed. Leaveshi- 

 farious. Spikes digitate, straight. Calj/ces fiom three to six-flovv- 

 cred. Seed round. 



Teliiig. Pedda, viz. great Soloo. 



Hind. Raggee. 



This is still more cultivated than the last, and diff'ers from it on- 

 ly in having the sj)ikes straight, being generally of a larger size, and 

 more productive, the great weight of the seed, when full grown bends 

 the spikes down into a liorizontal direction. 



There is a variety of this straight-spiked sort, which the Telinga 

 farmers called maddee rooha soloo ; it grows to still a larger size,.. 

 with a greater number of straight spikes. 



They all require a light rich soil, on which the water does not , 

 remain after heavy rains. The first or early sort does not requirejB 

 so rich a soil as the other two, it is sown earlier by which means™ 

 the same ground yields two crops. From July to January inclu- 

 sive they reckon on an increase of about one hundred and twenty 

 fold if the soil and season are favoii.able. 



