CX]>TII. OnAMlKE.E, 943 



1. Paspalum scrobiculatum, Linn. Mantiss. (1767) p. 29. 

 Annual ; stems 2-3 ft. long, tufted on a very short rhizome, erect 

 (rarely ascending), leafy from the base upwards, glabrous. Leaves 

 bifarious, erect or suberect, 6-18 by ^V-j in., finely acuminate, glabrous 

 or sometimes softly hairy ; sheaths 4-8 in. long, compressed, loose, the 

 mouth hairy, with very short membi-anous ligules. Spikes 2-Q, sessile, 

 usually distant and spreading, 1-6 in. long ; rhachis herbaceous, -^-^ 

 in. broad with ciliate margins. Spikelets usually 2-ranked, 3V-7 in. in 

 diam., sessile or shortly pedicellate, broadly elliptic or suborbicular, 

 imbricate. Grlumes 3 ; lower invol. -glume ; the upper convex, 3-7- 

 nerved, membranous; lower floral glume flat, membranous, like the 

 upper invol. -glume; upper floral glume thickly coriaceous, brownish, 

 shining, striolate ; palea orbicular, tumid, thickly coriaceous like the 

 upper floral glume, dorsally convex, ventrally strongly inflexed below 

 the middle and forming 2 broad membranous auricles that embrace the 

 grain. Fl. B. I. v. 7, p. 10 ; Grab. Cat. p. 234 ; Dalz. & Gibs. «uppl. 

 p. 97 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 13 (1901) p. 433 ; Prain, Beng. 

 PI. p. 1182; Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 6, part 1, p. 111. Paspalum 

 Kora, Willd. Sp. PI. v. 1 (1797) p. 332 ; Grab. Cat. p. 234.— Flowers : 

 Oct. Verx. Harik. 



Throughout the Presidency, cultivated. — Distrib. Tropics of the Old World. 



The grain is eaten by the poorer natives, but its use requires care and considerable 

 preparation, as in some cases the grain is poisonous and produces unconsciousness or 

 delirium with violent tremors of the voluntary muscles. See Watt, Diet. Econ. 

 Prod. 1. c. 



2. Paspalum compactum, Roth, Nov. PI. Sp. (1821) p. 36. Plant 

 6-12 in. high ; roots stiff, wiry ; stems terete, decumbent and branched 

 below, leafy, hairy. Leaves 1-3 by \-h in., elhptic-lanceolate, acute, 

 sparsely hairy on both sides, ciliate ; sheaths densely hairy with fine 

 bulboLis-based hairs ; ligide very short. Spikes numerous, shorter 

 upwards, spreading (often nearly horizontally), glabrous or nearly so, 

 forming a pyramidal raceme 2-4 in. long ; rhachis slender, triquetrous. 

 Spikeiels ^ff-jV i"- i^^ diaui., hemispheric, rather turgid, close-set but not 

 imbricate, pendulous by short filiform pedicels. Lower invol. -glume ; 

 upper invol. -glume broadly elliptic or suborbicular ; lower floral 

 glume narrower ; upper floral glume subcoriaceous, concave, orbicular, 

 rounded at the tip, white ; palea not or obscurely auricled. PI, B. I. 

 V.7, p. 12 ; Steud. Syn. Gram. (1855) p. 31 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. 

 Nat. v. 13 (1901) p. 433.— Flowers : Sept. Veen. Kuri. 



KoNKAN : Stocks ! Deccan : Lanoli, Lisboa, Woodrow ; Mahableshwar, Cooke !, 

 Woodrow. Kanaka : Woodrow. — Distrib. India (W. Peninsula). 



3. Paspalum distichum, Linn. Amcen. Acad. v. 5 (1760) p. 391. 

 Perennial; stem many-noded, sheathed throughout, ascending from a 

 creeping, rooting, often very long and branched base. Leaves numerous, 

 distichous, 2-4 by ^^-^ in., linear-lanceolate, acuminate, involute or flat, 

 spreading, membranous, or, in short-leaved states, stiff and pungent, 

 glabrous or nearly so ; sheaths thin, glabrous except the usually bearded 

 mouth ; ligules very short, truncate. Spikes 2-nate, shortly pedunculate 

 and articulate on the top of the stem ; rhachis herbaceous, -^^ in. broad. 

 Spikelets subsessile, solitary or 2-nate, elliptic-oblong, jV'i i^- long, 

 acute, dorsally flattened, imbricate and appressed to the rhachis, 



