82 A FLORA OF MANILA 
2. Sessile spikelets all alike. 
3. Rachis-joints and pedicels with a median, translucent, longitudinal 
line; spikes peduncled, paniculate.......................... 5. A. intermedius 
8. Rachis-joints and pedicels without median translucent lines. 
4. Spikes with only 3 spikelets, the tips of the branches bearded; a 
slender27rassaisis.. 228 ees ee 6. A. aciculatus 
4. Spikes with many spikelets, the tips of the branches not bearded; © 
coarse grasses. . 
5. First glume muricate; internodes of the rachis laterally com- 
promepd.(a.w0Leledion. sine eee 7. A. zizanioides 
5. First glume not muricate; internodes of the rachis terete or 
subterete. 
6. Leaves about 1 cm wide or less. 
7. Flowering-glume long-awned.....................--.------ 8. A. serratus 
7. Flowering-glume awnless...................2.....-:22200-+++- 9. A. nitidus 
6. Leaves mostly 2 to 5 ecm wide. 
7. Rachis tenacious; spikelets awned or awnless; panicles 
dense; an annual grass, cultivated only.... 10. A. sorghum 
7. Rachis fragile; panicles lax; spikelets awnless; perennial. 
11. A. halepensis 
*1. A. ciTRATUS DC. (§ Cymbopogon.) Tanglad (Tag.); Paja de meca 
(Sp.) ; Lemon Grass. 
A tufted perennial grass, the leaves up to 1 m in length, 1 to 1.4 cm 
wide, when crushed with a strong lemon-like odor, scabrous, flat, long- 
acuminate, glabrous. Panicles 30 to 80 cm long, interrupted below, the 
branches and branchlets somewhat nodding. Perfect spikelets linear-lan- 
ceolate, pointed, not awned, about 6 mm long. 
Frequently cultivated for its fragrant leaves which are used for flavoring 
food, the source of ‘Lemon grass oil” of commerce; widely but not exten- 
sively cultivated in the Philippines, but not spontaneous, very rarely 
flowering. Certainly not a native of the Archipelago, but probably of 
prehistoric introduction. Origin uncertain, but probably India or Malaya, 
now cultivated in most tropical countries. 
2. A. fragilis R. Br. (§ Schizachyrium.) ; 
A slender annual, the erect or ascending, simple or slightly branched 
stems 15 to 40 cm high, glabrous, leafy throughout, usually more or less 
decumbent at the base. Leaves linear or linear-oblong, blunt or acute, 3 
to 7 em long, 2 to 4 mm wide. Spikes solitary, fragile, the peduncle en- 
closed in a narrow, spathe-like leaf-sheath. Spikelets 4 to 5 mm long, 
the slender awn of the sessile spikelet somewhat geniculate, about 1.5 cm in 
length. 
In thin, poor soil, open, dry grass lands, San Pedro Macati, etc., fi. 
Nov.—Feb.; of local occurrence in the Philippines. Queensland and New 
South Wales. 
3. A. sericeus R. Br. (§ Dichanthium.) 
A slender, erect, annual grass, 0.4 to 1 m high, the nodes bearded, the 
leaves linear-lanceolate, 5 to 12 cm long, 2 to 4 mm wide. Spikes 2 to 4, 
sessile, digitately arranged at the ends of the stems, 3 to 6 cm long, densely 
villous with long white hairs. Spikelets crowded, 4 to 5 mm long, the 
awns geniculate, 2 to 2.5 cm long. 
