040 CXLYII. GRAMlNKiH. 



11. DIGIT ARIA, Eich. 



Annual or perennial grasses. Leaves linear or lanceolate. Spikelets 

 usually 2-3-nate, in digiiate or racemose spikes, jointed on the pedicel 

 but not thickened at the base ; lower floret barren, reduced to the floral 

 glume and a very minute palea ; upper floret hermaphi-odite. Glumes 

 very dissimilar, normally 4; the lower invol. -glume usually hyaline, 

 sometimes absent or present in the same species ; the upper invol. - 

 glume membranous, 1-5-nerved or nerveless ; floral glumes equal or sub- 

 equal, the lower like the upper invol. -glume, usually 7-9-nerved, the 

 nerves close, parallel, straight, prominent; upper floral glume chartaceous 

 or subc'hartaceous, usually c5-nerved. Pa]ea of upper floret subequal to 

 the glume, and of same texture, 2-nerved. Lodicules 2, minute, broadly 

 cuneate. Stamens 3. Styles distinct ; stigmas plumose, laterally 

 exserted near the apex of the floret. Grain oblong, slightly dorsaliy 

 compressed, free, but tightly enclosed between the hardened glume and 

 the palea. — Distrib. Species about 50, mostly in warm parts of the Old 

 World ; 1 species widely spread as a weed all over the globe except the 

 arctic regions. 



Spikelets yV in. long or longer. 



Spikelets with clavate hairs 1. D. ternata. 



Hairs on the spikelets not clavate. 



Spikelets bearded ; spikes few 2. B. sanguinalis 



var. ciliaris. 



Spikelets subsilky ; spikes many 3. B.pejinata. 



Spikelets less than yV i"- lo"g- 



Rhachis capillary, trigonous 4. D. pedicellaris. 



Khachis narrowly winged. 



Spikelets subsilky with slender (not clavellate) hairs 5. D. longijlora. 



Spikelets with clavellate hairs 6. D. Boyhana. 



1. Digitaria ternata, &tapf, in Dyer, Fl. Capen. v. 7 (1898; p. 376. 

 Annual; stems tufted, erect from a geniculate base, slender, 6-18 in. 

 long, glabrous or nearly so. Leaves 2-6 by \ in., linear-lanceolate, 

 acute, glabrous ; sheaths glabrous, striate, the mouth ciliate ; ligules 

 short, truncate, membranous. Spikes 2-3 (or more), subdigitate, erect 

 or spreading, silvery-white ; rhachis narrowly winged. Spikelets 2-3- 

 nate, g in. long, elliptic, subacute, closely appressed to the rhachis, 

 pale ; pedicels unequal, up to -^ in. long, shortly hairy towards the tips. 

 Lower invol.-glume usually obsolete ; upper invol. -glume tender, 3- 

 nerved, the sides villous with clavate hairs ; floral glunv^s subequal, the 

 lower prominently 5-nerved, densely and appressedly sdky-villous with 

 clavate hairs, the upper chartaceous, ovate-oblong, subacute, dark brown 

 (nearly black). Paspalum ternatmn, Hook. f. Fl. B. I. v. 7 (1896) p. 17 ; 

 Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 13 (1901) p. 433. 



S. M. CouNTRv: Bclgauin, EUcJne I — Distrib. India (Khasia Hills) ; Abyssinia. 



2. Digitaria sanguinalis. Scop. Fl. Cam. ed. 2, v. 1 (1772) p. o2. 

 Vab. ciliaris, Praia, Beiuj. PL p. 1181. Annual ; stems tall, reaching 

 3 ft. long or more, slender, ascending from a geniculate or prostrate 

 branched base, glabrous. Leaves 2-6 by |-t| in., linear or linear- 

 lanceohite, acute, flat, with scabrous margins, glabrous or more or less 

 si)arsely hairy; shealhs long, loose, glabrous, or rarely hairy except 

 near the mouth. S[)ikes few (3-8), 3-6 in. long; rhachis slender, 



