CXLYII. GRAMINE^. 917 



subsessile ; outer bristles slender, short, not ciliate ; inner bristles about 

 f in. long (1 bristle conspicuously longer and stouter than the others, 

 reaching ^ in. long or more), dilated and connate into a ring at the 

 base. kSpikelets 1—4- in. long, oblong-lanceolate, 3-1 in each involucel. 

 Glumes 4 ; lower invol. -glume ^ in. long, ovate-lanceolate, acute, 

 faintly 1-nerved, hyaline;, upper invol. -glume g in. long, ovate, 

 acuminate, 1-nerved, hyaline ; lower floral glume ^— I in. long, ovate- 

 lanceolate, cuspidately acuminate, 3-5-nerved, paleate, usually male, the 

 palea narrowly lanceolate,, as long as the glume ; upper floral glume as 

 long as the lower one, lanceolate, 3-5-nerved ; palea lanceolate, as long 

 as the glume. Fl. B. I. v. 7, p. 88 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. JSTat. v. 13 

 (1901) p. 435; Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 6, part 1, p. 127.— Flowers : 

 Dec. 



Deccan : Lishoa. Gujarat : Lisboa ; Rajkot (Xathiawar), Woodrow. Sind ; 

 Jemadar ka Landa, near Karachi, Stocks ! — Distrib. India (Kashmir, Upper Gangetio 

 plain, W. Peninsula) ; Sicily, Tropical Africa, and the Canaries. 



Penniselum Typlioideihm, Eich. in Pers. Syn. v. 1 (1805) p. 72. An 

 annual plant widely cultivated in India, probably a native of Africa, 

 growing to a height of 5 or 6 ft. with racemes sometimes reaching a 

 foot long. 



In the Bombay Presidency more than four millions of acres are 

 annually grown, and in many parts it forms the staple food of the 

 people. It is so well known by its native name Bajri that description 

 is unnecessary. PI. B. I. v. 7, p. 82 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. 

 v„ 13 (1901) p. 435 ; Prain, Beng. PI. p. 1169 ; Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. 

 V. 6, part 1, p. 127. Holcus spicatus, Linn. Syst. ed. 10, p. 1305 ; 

 Grab. Cat. p. 238 ; Dalz. & Gibs. Suppl. p. 99. 



3. CENCHRUS, Linn. 



Characters of Penyiisetum, but involucels composed of subulate hard 

 spines without filiform tips, connate below into a short coriaceous cup 

 which is surrounded by erect or squarrose bristles. — Disteib, Species 

 few, tropical and subtropical. 



Base of involucel rounded ; inner bristles up to I in. long, 



erect, not ciliate .., 1. C. biflorus. 



Base of involucel turbinate ; inner bristles up to f in. long, 



usually squarrosely spreading, ciliate at the base 2. C. catharticus. 



1. Cenchrus biflorus, Roxh. Fl. Ind. v. 1 (1832) p. 233. Annual ? ; 

 stem 6-24 in. long, simple. Leaves 3-10 by g-f in., linear-lanceolate, 

 finely acuminate, glabrous or hairy ; sheaths glabrous or nearly so, 

 ciliate near the mouth ; ligule a pubescent ring. Racemes 2-4 in. long, 

 solitary, cylindric ; rhaehis angular, smooth ; involucel usually 2-flowered, 

 rounded at the base ; bristles thick, lanceolate-subulate, erect, dorsally 

 flattened, the outer very short, about xV~iV ^^' ^^'^Z-' glabrous, the 

 inner \ in. long, glabrous or puberulous. Spikelets \ in. long, sub- 

 globose. Glumes 4 ; lower invol.-glume -^-^ in. long, ovate, acuminate, 

 very thin, hyaline, 1 (rarely 3)-nerved ; upper invol.-glume ]t in, long, 

 ovate, apiculate, 5-nerved, hyaline ; lower floral glume scarcely shorter 

 than the upper invol.-glume, ovate, acute, 5-7-nerved, paleate, the 



