GRASS TRIBE oo 
at the base, and smooth; the leaves rigid, tapering, and downy beneath, 
those on the stem mostly folded; and it bears its cluster of spreading, 
slender, purplish-green spikes, with their numerous spikelets, in July and 
August. 
This grass, though so rare in this country, is abundant in some others. 
It is remarkable for its power of resisting drought, and flourishes on the driest 
sands of Egypt. Backhouse found it in great plenty in Van Diemen’s Land, 
and remarks of it at Paramatta: ‘‘The grass lands are green from the 
abundance of Cynodon ddctylon, which not only abounds in pastures in this 
country, but takes the place occupied by Poa annua in England at the bases 
of walls, by the sides of footpaths, etc.” We have too little of this plant in 
this country to regard it as of any use, nor is it considered nutritious when 
compared with the many valuable grasses grouped on our pasture-lands. 
In Hindostan, however, where there is little herbage for cattle, and where 
every pasture-grass becomes important, this is highly prized. Dr. Jacob, 
remarking in his Flora of Cornwall that this grass has been clearly ascer- 
tained to be the Dirvd or Dub grass of the Hindoos, quotes the observation 
of Sir William Jones: “Its flowers in their perfect state are among the 
loveliest objects of the vegetable world, and appear through a lens like 
minute emeralds and rubies in constant motion from the least breath of air. 
It is the sweetest and most nutritious grass for cattle, and its usefulness, 
added to its beauty, induced the Hindoos in their earliest ages to believe 
that it was the mansion of « beautiful nymph; even the Veda celebrates it, 
as in the following texts of the 4 ? harvana: ‘May Durva which rose from 
the waters of Life, which has a hundred roots and a hundred stems, efface a 
hundred of my sins, and prolong my existence on earth a thousand years.’ ” 
Another form of its name in India is Darbha, and Sir Wm. Jones shows that 
the plant is frequently referred to in Sanscrit law books as well as poetry as 
a sacred plant. Here is a quotation from an incantation to it contained in 
the fourth Veda :— 
“Thee, O Darbha, the learned proclaim a Divinity not subject to age or 
death ; thee they call the armour of India, the preserver of regions, the 
destroyer of enemies, a gem that gives increase to the fields; at the time 
when the ocean resounded, when the clouds murmured and the lightnings 
flashed, then was Darbha produced, pure as a drop of fine gold.” 
44, (1) FINGER-GRASS (Digitaria). 
1. Hairy Finger-grass, or Cock’s-foot Finger-grass (D. sanguindlis). 
—Stem creeping at the base ; spikes from three to five fingered ; spikelets in 
two rows, lower glume very small; annual. This is a rare and not truly a 
British grass, formerly found growing in fields at Battersea. Its stem is from 
six to twelve inches long, prostrate and rooting at the base, smooth and 
marked with fine lines. The leaves are hairy, their sheaths rough, with 
small tubercles. The grass is of no agricultural use; but Mr. Sinclair 
remarks of it, that in some parts of Germany it is cultivated for its seeds, 
which are boiled with milk, and form a palatable dish resembling sago. 
Mr. Loudon states that it is applied to a similar purpose in Poland, and 
13—2 
