GRAMINEAE 93 
12. P. psilopodium Trin. 
A tufted, erect or ascending, more or less branched, glabrous, annual 
grass 15 to 30 cm high. Stems rather slender, base more or less decumbent. 
Leaves narrowly lanceolate, acuminate, 5 to 9 cm long, 3 to 56 mm wide, 
the sheaths rather loose, mostly longer than the internodes, glabrous. 
Panicles diffuse, 7 to 10 cm long, the branches solitary, spreading or 
ascending, alternate, glabrous. Spikelets narrowly ovate, acute, glabrous, 
3 mm long, green or slightly purplish, the pedicels long, scabrid. 
Novaliches road, San Juan del Monte, etc., on banks and in open places, 
not common, fl. July—Nov.; apparently rare in the Philippines, or at least 
local. India and Ceylon to Burma and the Malay Peninsula. 
* 13. P. MAXIMUM Jacq. Guinea Grass. 
An erect, rather coarse, perennial grass 2 to 3 m high, the stems often 
nearly 1 cm in diameter near the base, the nodes bearded. Leaves linear- 
lanceolate, acuminate, numerous, 20 to 30 cm long, 1 to 1.5 em wide. 
Panicles diffuse, 20 to 30 cm long, the branches whorled, slender, the 
lower ones 15 to 20 em long. Spikelets numerous, green, pedicellate, 
3 mm long, elliptic-oblong, acute or obtuse, glabrous. 
Of recent introduction and considerably cultivated as a forage grass, 
but not spontaneous, fl. all the year. A native of Africa, now cultivated 
in many tropical countries. 
14, P. paludosum Roxb. 
* An aquatic perennial grass, the flowering stems erect or ascending, 
often nearly 1 m tall, the basal parts floating or rooting in the mud, soft, 
often 1 cm in diameter. Leaves 15 to 25 em long, 1.5 cm wide or less, 
acuminate, scabrid, thin. Panicles only slightly exserted from the upper- 
most sheath, at first contracted, ultimately very diffuse, usually about 20 cm 
long, often as wide as long, the branches alternate or somewhat whorled, 
branched from the base. Spikelets very numerous, lanceolate, acuminate, 
green, 3.5 to 4 mm long, the pedicels solitary, scabrid, thickened upward. 
In marshy borders of the Pasig River, esteros etc., not very common, 
fl. all the year; widely distributed in the Philippines at low and medium 
altitudes. India to southern China and Malaya. 
15. P. repens L. 
An erect, rather wiry, perennial grass 0.4 to 1 m high, the rootstocks 
stout, the whole plant somewhat glaucous, the stems below somewhat 
prostrate or creeping. Leaves linear-lanceolate, 8 to 15 cm long, 5 to 8 
mm wide, acuminate, scabrid. Panicles exserted, 7 to 18 cm long, somewhat 
diffuse, the branches slender, erect or ascending, sometimes nodding, elon- 
gated, scattered, 1 to 3 at each node. Spikelets oblong-ovate, acute or 
slightly acuminate, 3 mm long. 
Very common in low open grass lands, fl. all the year; widely distributed 
in the Philippines at low altitudes. Tropics generally, and some subtrop- 
ical and subtemperate countries. 
16. P. warburgii Mez. 
A weak, prostrate grass, the stems slender, rooting at the nodes and 
sending up short, panicle-bearing branches 5 to 15 cm in length. Leaves 
narrowly lanceolate, acuminate, 1.5 to 5 cm long, 2 to 5 mm wide. Pani- 
cles slightly exserted, diffuse, 1.5 to 5 cm long, the branches few, spreading, 
usually branched from the base. Spikelets few, green or purplish, long- 
pedicelled, obovoid, somewhat laterally compressed, 1.5 mm long. 
