139. GRAMINE.E. [51. Digitarta. 



I. Rhachis of spikes winged, over -02" broad. Pedicels shorter 

 than the spikelets :— 



A. Spkts. •07-'14" long, lanceolate I. sauauinalis. 



B. Spkts, under '07" long, elliptic-lanceolate :— 



Spkts. glabrous or with fine hairs. Fr. pale or slate- 

 coloured, not shining 2. longifiora, 



Spkts. with short capitate hairs. Fr. shining black . . 'd. Royleuna. 

 II. Rhachis 3-quetrous under •01" broad. Pedicels of some spkts. 



in each cluster longer than the spkt 4. pedicellarh. 



1. D. sanguinalis, Scop. Syn. Paspalum sanguinale. {F.B.I.),; D. 

 marginata and others. Link.* 

 A slender grass 18"-3 ft. high, ascending from a geniculate branched 

 base, with linear to linear-lanceolate leaves, mostly 1-5" long, up to 

 •3" wide. Spikes slender 3-10 digitate or shortly spiked, mostly 

 2-4" long sometimes 6" with the rhachis triquetrous or winged. 

 Spikelets imbricate usually 2-nate, sessile and pedicelled, or rarely 

 3-nate on abbreviated peduncles, lanceolate •07--12" long. Gl. i 

 minute or 0, ii up to two-thirds iii or shorter or also sometimes minute 

 or faihng; iii as long as spkt. ell. -oblong acute or acuminate 3-nerved 

 on the flat back and with 1-2-nerves on the incurved margins; iv 

 coriaceous, lanceolate very acute or sub-acuminate, minutely striate 

 with micro, dots, wrapping round the similar pale and flower. Rhachis 

 of spike and pedicels of spkts. scabrid-hispid on margins, and glumes 

 in some varieties densely ciliate. 



Throughout the province. FL, Fr. Sept. -Nov. A very variable grass of which 

 the following forms occur in our area : — 



a. extensa, J.D.H. Syn. P. sanguinale, var. extensum F.B.I. ; D. 

 pruriens. Herb. Keiv. 



Lower sheaths usually with tubercle-based hairs, sometimes glabrous. L. 2-4". 

 Spkts. more or less ciliate. Gl. i usually absent, ii half iii or minute, ciliate. iii is 

 .scarcely ciliolate in the Monghyr specimens, ii '02- •025" only. 



Santal Parg., Kurz, Kitsker, etc. ! common. Monghyr {Wall. 8181/) ! Fl., Fr. 

 Oct. 



(5. Rottleri, J.D.H. 



Usually dwarf under 1 ft., much branched from the base, glabrous or hairy. 

 Spikes 2-5 only, 1-3" long digitate or nearly so, rhachis with wings 2-3 times 

 broader than the midrib. Spikelets broader. Gl. ii rather shorter and narrower 

 than iv and iii, glabrous or ciliate. Monghyr, Mokim (Jide J.D.H.) ! 



y. commutata, J.D.H. Syn. Panicum commutatum, Xees ; J), mar- 

 ginata var. Linkii, Stwpf. 



Usually tall, often stout with hairj' sheaths, leaves 3-6" and spikes up to 20, 

 3-6" long fastigiate or sub-corymbose, the lower often whorled or fascicled, 

 Rhachis flexuous rather narrowly winged. Spkts. •12-"14" by •03-^04" broad, 

 rather crowded, shortly pedicelled. Gl. i minute ; ii lanceolate rather shorter and 

 narrower than iv ; iii with lateral nerves glabrous or pubescent; iv lanceolate 

 acuminate. 



Chota Nagpur, Wood ! 



* Note. — As far as I can gather from the arrangement in the Kew Herbarium 

 and from Br. Stapf's notes in the Fl. Trap. Africa none of tlie India^^ material is 

 now considered to be true D. sfanffiiitmlis. Scop. Much of it is placed under 

 D. marginata. Link. He calls the var. commutatum {F.B.I.) var. Linkii; var. 

 ciliaris \Ar._fimbriata. I note that Link described his marginata from a Brasilian 

 plant but the species is cosmopolitan in the tropics. D. sanguinalis occurs in 

 Southern Europe. My descriptions and arrangement maintain the whole jilexus 

 under sanguinalis. 



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