166 



SOUTH INDIAN GRASSES 



Apocopis Wightii, Nees ex Steud. 



This is a low and densely tufted or tall erect annual grass. 

 Stems are leafy, branching freely, 3 to 8 inches long. 



The leaj-sheath is loose, usually hairy, rarely also glabrous and 

 hairy at the mouth. The ligule is a small lacerate membrane. 



The leaf-blade is linear-lanceolate, acuminate, hairy on both 

 sides and with tubercle-based hairs, rarely glabrous, Y\ to 3 inches 

 by l/l2 to ii inch. 



The inflorescence consists of two racemes, closely appressed 

 together on a very slender peduncle ; the joints are shorter than 

 the spikelets and with long brown hairs. 



The spikelets are oblong, M to 15 inch long, the callus is short, 

 hairy with long brown hairs. The first glum: is cuneately obovate 

 or obcordate, yellowish with red brown tips or dark brown with 

 yellow tips, chartaceous below, membranous, hyaline and ciliate at 

 the truncate, emarginate or retuse apex, 7- to 9-nerved, the nerves 

 abruptly ceasing towards the apex. The second glume is as long as 

 the first, broadly oblong, sides sharply folded inwards, 3-nerved, 

 rarely nerveless, with long hairs at the back towards the base and 

 with short cilia at the apex. The third glume is as long as the 



first, hyaline, thin, 

 linear-oblong, 

 nerveless, ciliate at 

 the apex, paleate, 

 usually with two 

 stamens or empty ; 

 palea as long as the 

 glume, hyaline and 

 nerveless. The 



fourth glume is 

 slightly longer 

 than the other 

 glumes or equal, 

 very narrowly 



oblong or linear, 

 membranous, 

 awned and pale- 

 ate ; awn is 2 to 6 

 times the length of 

 the glume, V% to 

 1% inch long ; 

 palea is hyaline, 

 thin, nerveless, 

 convolute, broadly oblong to almost quadrate oblong, apex with very 

 short cilia. Grain is minute and oblong. 



This grass varies very much in its spikelets. In one form they 

 are smaller and hairy and in the other they are larger and glabrous 

 except for a few stray hairs here and there. The former one is 

 more widely distributed and the latter seems to be confined to 

 certain localities in the south of the Presidency. 



Distribution. — Throughout the Deccan Peninsula, Behar. Central 

 India, Burma and Ceylon. 



Fig. 140.— Apocopi3 Wightii. 



I. Spike ; 2. a spikelet ; 3, 4, 5 and 7. the first, second, third 

 and the fourth glume, respectively ; 6 and 8 palea of the 

 third and the fourth glume ; 9. ovary. 



