I 



CXLVII. QBAMINE^. 9^7 



the base ; lower iuvol.-glume acute, sparsely ciliate, 3-5-nerved ; upper 

 invol.-glume oblong-lauceolate, acumiuate, sparsely ciliate, 3-uerved 

 lower floral glume linear, glabrous, hyaline. Lodicules cuneate, retuse. 

 Authers long, narrow. Pedicellate spihehts on long ciliate pedicels, 

 lanceolate, glabious. Bisexual spilcelds narrowly lanceolate, i in. long, 

 narrowed into a slender stipe, glabrous ; lower invol.-glume chartaceous, 

 2-fid or truncate at the tip, margins scaberulous in the upper third, thin, 

 faiutly 3-5-nerved ; upper invol.-glume lanceolate, acuminate, 1 -nerved, 

 tip scaberulous ; upper floral glume a very slender geniculate awn, 

 5-I in. long, the column equalling the subulate part. Fl. B. I. v. 7, 

 p. 21^ ; Trim. ¥\. Ceyl. v. 5, p. 251 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. 

 V. 13 (19U1) p. 439 ; Prain, Beiig. PI. p. 12US ; Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. 

 V. 4, p. 524. — Flowers : Nov.-Uec. 



Konkan: Lambert \ Deccan : Woodrowl; Poona, Jacqvemonf, 439! S. M. 

 Country: Belgauin, Ritchie, 799! — Distrib. India (Upper Grangetic plain, W. Pen- 

 insula). 



35. COIX, Linn. 



Tall leafy monoecious annual or perennial grasses ; stem branching, 

 spongy within. Leaves long, flat, broad. Racemes many, axillary and 

 terminal ; lower spikelets solitary, female, enclosed in an ultimately 

 hardened, polished, nut-like bract, through the apex of which the male 

 portion of the spike protrudes. Male spikelets 2-3-nate at each node 

 of the rhachis, L sessile and 1 or 2 pedicellate, lanceolate. Grlumes 4; 

 invol. -glumes subequal, empty, rigid or herbaceous ; lower invol.-glume 

 winged along the iuflexed margin ; upper invol.-glume not winged ; 

 floral glumes hyaline, paleate, triandrous or empty. Female spikelets 

 ovoid, acuminate. Glumes 4 ; lower invoi.-glume chartaceous, the 

 other 3 glumes becoming successively thinner ; upper floral glume 

 paleate. Lodicules 0. Staminodes minute. Ovary ovoid ; styles 2, 

 free, slender. Grain orbicular, ventrally furrowed, enclosed in the 

 hardened globose ovoid or cylindric involucre. — Distkib. Species 3 or 4, 

 in the warmer regions of the globe. 



1. Coix Lachryma-Jobi, Linn. Sjy. PL (1753) p. 972. Stem 

 3-5 ft. high or more, stout, rooting at the lower nodes ; internodes 

 smooth, polished. Leaves 4-18 by 1-2 in., narrowed from a broad 

 cordate base to an acuminate tip, smooth on both surfaces, with slender 

 nerves and spinulosely serrate margins ; midrib stout ; sheaths long, 

 smooth ; ligule a very narrow membrane. Racemes 1-2^ in. long, 

 nodding or drooping from long peduncles ; rhachis within the bract 

 slender, above the bract stout, notched at the nodes. Male spikelets 

 |-| in. long, subsecund, imbricating. Lower invol.-glume | in. long, 

 elliptic-lanceolate, acute, conca\e, many-nerved, with iuflexed margins 

 and with a narrow wing arising from a little above the edge of the 

 margin with many branched green veins ; upper invol.-glume similar to 

 the lower but not winged, 5-9-nerved ; lower floral glume oblong- 

 lanceolate, hyaline, paleate, triandrous, faintly 3-5-nerved ; upper 

 floral glume similar, paleate, triandrous or empty. Anthers I in. long, 

 orange. Fruit from broadly ovoid to globose, bluish-grey, j-g in. 

 long, smooth, polished. Fl. B. I. v. 7, p. lOO; Trim. Fl. Ceyl. v. 5, 

 p. 192; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 13 (1901) p. 430; Prain, 



