22 Paniceae 



Tribe 2. PA NIC EA E. Millet Tribe. 



Spikelets hermaphrodite, terete or flattened on the 

 hark. Glumes 3- 1. rarely '2, when 4 the third usually 

 includes a Btaminate flower in its axil ; flowering glume 

 firmer in texture than the outer ones. Axis of the in- 

 florescence noi articulated, the rachilla being articulated 

 below the empty glumes and the spikelets falling off 

 singly from the pedicels. 



Spikelets not surrounded by a bristly or spiny involucre. 



Glumes 3; spikelets sessile or on short pedicels in unilateral spikes or 



racemes. 3. Paspalom. 



Glumes 4, the first usually short, rarely wanting. 



Spikes digitate. 4. Synthkiusma. 



Spikes not digitate. 5. Panicom. 



Spikelets surrounded by a bristly or spiny involucre. 

 Bristles slender, not falling with the spikelets. 



6. Chaetochloa. 

 Bristles thickened below, spine-like, falling with the spikelets. 



7. Cenchrus. 



3. PASPAL.TJM L. Ditch-grass. 



Perennial grasses of various habit, with generally flat 

 have- and 1-llowered spikelets borne in 2—4 rows on 1- 

 sided spikes, which are single, in pairs or panicled. 

 Spikelets oblong to orbicular, flat on the inner surface, 

 convex on the outer. Glumes •">. rarely 2 by the absence 

 of the outermost, the outer ones membranous, the Inner 

 one indurated and subtending a palea and perfect flower. 

 Stamens 3. Styles distinct; Minimis plumose. Ovary 

 oblong or ovoid, -month. 



1. P. distichum L. Culms erect, L5-85 cm. high, creeping at 

 the base; sheaths smooth, sometimes filiate on the margins or 

 sparsely pubescent; leaves Bat, 4-10 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide, 

 smooth; Bpikee 25-60 nun. long, in pairs, or occasionally with a 



third, exserted; rachis Bat, L-2 nun. wide, sn th; spikelets 



mm. long, elliptic, Bomewhal pubescenl or glabrous, acute, 



