98 A FLORA OF MANILA 
Cultivated throughout the Philippines but nowhere wild, and of pre- 
historic introduction; exceedingly variable, scores of varieties being 
recognized by the natives. Cultivated in most tropical and some subtem- 
perate countries, a native of tropical Asia. 
2. O. manilensis Merr. 
A slender, weak, erect or ascending annual grass 0.5 to 1.5 high. Leaves 
7 to 20 cm long, 5 to 7 mm wide, acuminate, scabrid. Panicles exserted, 
slender, 6 to 12 cm long, the few branches appressed or ascending. Spike- 
lets green, about 4 mm long, the first glumes small, thin, about 1 mm 
long, the flowering glume and palea hispid, the awn to the flowering glume 
slender, straight, scabrid, 10 to 12 mm long. 
Along small streams, Balintauac, opposite Fort McKinley, etc., fi. July— 
Dec. Known only from Luzon and of. local occurrence. 
31. LEERSIA Swartz 
Tall slender grasses with flat leaves and rather small panicles. Spike- 
lets 1-flowered, oblong, laterally compressed, awnless, the empty glumes 
wanting. Flowering glume, strongly nerved, ciliate on the keel, awnless. 
Palea as long as the glume. Stamens 6 or fewer. (In honor of J. D. 
Leers, a German pharmacist and botanist.) 
Species about 8, chiefly American, one in the Philippines. 
1. L. hexandra Sw. Barit (Tag.); Zacate (Sp.-Fil.). 
A weak, ascending or suberect, slender grass about 0.5 m high, the 
stems below somewhat prostrate and rooting at the nodes. Leaves linear- 
lanceolate, acuminate, 5 to 20 cm long, 3 to 7 mm wide. Panicles exserted, 
ovoid or oblong, 5 to 12 cm long, the branches slender, suberect or 
spreading. Spikelets oblong, 3 to 3.5 mm long, one-sided, pale-green, 
the keels of the flowering glume and palea ciliate. 
The commonly cultivated grass usually known as “zacate”’ and the 
chief source of green forage in Manila. Common in low, wet lands, fi. 
all the year; widely distributed in the Philippines. Tropics generally. 
32. SPOROBOLUS R. Brown 
Perennial or annual, slender or rather coarse, usually tufted grasses. 
Leaves flat or, when dry, convolute. Spikelets small, usually 1-flowered, 
in open or close, sometimes spiciform panicles, awnless. Glumes 3, thin, 
usually nerveless, the first and second unequal, the third longer or shorter 
than the first two. Grain loose within the glume and palea, the pericarp 
or its epidermis usually loose. (Greek “seed” and “to cast forth.”) 
Species about 80, tropical and temperate regions, about 4 in the Phil- 
ippines. 
Empty glumes both much shorter than the flowering glume.. 1. S. indicus 
Empty glumes nearly or quite as long as the flowering glume. 
2. S. virginicus 
1. S. indicus (L.) R. Br. 
A usually rather densely tufted, perennial, slender, wiry grass, the 
stems erect, unbranched, 1 m high or less. Leaves flat, or, when dry, 
convolute, 10 to 20 em long. Panicles slender, erect or somewhat nodding, 
green, lax or somewhat spiciform, 10 to 35 em long, the branches scat- 
tered, fascicled, 5 to 7 em long, spreading or ascending. Spikelets about 
