84 ' A FLORA OF MANILA 
8. A. serratus Thunb. (§ Sorghum.) 
A somewhat slender or rather stout erect grass 0.8 to 1.5 m high, the 
stems usually unbranched, nodes pubescent. Leaves 20 to 40 cm long, - 
10 mm wide or less, acuminate. Panicles rather lax, erect, brownish-red, 
10 to 15 cm long, the branches slender, whorled, the lower ones 9 cm long 
or less. Spikes solitary, scattered on the branches, each with from 2 to 
6 joints, the joints, pedicels, and callus short-villous. Sessile spikelets 
about 5 mm long, oblong-ovoid or ovoid-lanceolate, the first glume some- 
what villous, dark-brown or nearly black, shining, the fourth glume small, 
with a slender geniculate and twisted awn 2 to 2.5 cm long, the pedicelled 
spikelets very much narrower than the sessile ones. 
In open places near streams, Masambong, fl. Dec._Feb.; widely dis- 
tributed in the Philippines. Tropical Asia through Malaya to Australia. 
9. A. nitidus (Vahl) Kunth. 
A slender, simple, erect grass 0.6 to 1.2 m high, the nodes prominently 
bearded. Leaves linear-lanceolate, up to 25 cm long, about 5 mm wide. 
Panicles long-peduncled, 10 to 20 cm long, lax, the branches slender, 
whorled, the lower ones, up to 8 cm long, the upper one gradually shorter. 
Spikelets brown, shining, about 4 mm long, ovoid to oblong-ovoid, brown- 
hirsute. Flowering glume awnless. 
In open grass lands near Santa Mesa, fl. May—July; widely distributed in 
the Philippines. India to Formosa and Malaya. Very similar to the 
preceding, differing chiefly in its awnless flowering glumes. 
*10. A. SORGHUM (L.) Brot. Batad (Tag.); Sorghum. 
A stout, erect, annual grass usually about 2 m high, the stem often 1 
cm or more in diameter, solid. Leaves 20 to 50 cm long, 2 to 5 em wide, 
acuminate. Panicles dense, 15 to 30 cm long, compound, erect. Spikelets 
ovoid, more or less pubescent, about 5 mm long, pale, purplish, or nearly 
black, the first glume hard and shining, the fourth awnless or sometimes 
awned. 
Cultivated sparingly in our area; widely distributed in the Philippines 
in cultivation, several forms being found in the Archipelago, not spontaneous 
and certainly not a native of the Archipelago, although of prehistoric 
introduction. Probably a native of Africa or Asia, now cultivated in all 
warm and tropical countries. 
11. A; halepensis (L.) Brot., var. propinquus (Kunth) Merr. Batad- 
batadan (Tag.). 
A tall, coarse, erect, unbranched perennial grass 1.5 to 3 m high. 
Leaves up to 1 m in length, 1.5 to 4.5 em wide, long-acuminate. Panicles 
erect, lax, 20 to 40 cm long, the branches few, distant, spreading or droop- 
ing. Spikelets numerous, oblong-ovoid, pubescent, greenish or purplish, 
awness, about 4mm long. (FI. Filip. pl. 436, Sorghum saccharatum.) 
In thickets and open damp places, occasional in our area, fl. most of the 
year; widely distributed in the Philippines. Ceylon to the Moluccas, the 
species in most tropical and some temperate regions. 
17. ZOISIA Willdenow 
A low, much-branched, rigid, erect, gregarious grass. Leaves subulate, 
sharply pointed. Spikelets small, ovoid, 1-flowered, somewhat crowded in 
erect, narrow spikes, jointed on and appressed to a stiff, notched, unjointed 
rachis, sessile or shortly pedicelled. Glumes 2, the first empty, laterally 
