DESCRIPTIONS OF TRIBES AND GENERA. 



73 



the genus. P. exile Kippist, with digitate spikes, and 

 spikelets 2 mm. long, is found in 

 Sierra Leone, where it is culti- 

 vated (" Fundi" or " Fundungi "), 

 the fruit being used for food ; P 

 scrobiculatuni L. (with racemes in 

 pairs, and roundish spikelets 

 having small pits at their bases) 

 is used in India (" Koda") for 

 food ; the rhizome of P. distichum 

 L. (with racemes in pairs, and 

 oblong, pointed spikelets) is used 

 in India as a medicine for in- 

 flammation of the gums and 

 against conjunctivitis, and in 

 the Argentine Republic for liver 

 complaint ; and P. notation 

 Fliigge for gonorrlnea. The few 

 species with only one empty 

 glume form the sub-section 

 Anachyris (Nees as a genus) ; 

 those with the axis of the spikes 

 leaf-like, form the sub-section 

 Ceresia (Pers. as a genus). 



C D|1 TT (^rthwrn (T.acr a a a Fig. 24. — Paspalum dilatatum 

 £>eC. J_±. lyClOVera {lJ&g. as a Poin (After Trin., Spec. Gram. 



genus). Like Sec. I, but the p l 139 •> 

 spikelets sunken in the notches of the axis. 



Sec. III. Anastrophus (Schlechtend. as a genus). 

 Lower empty glume and flowering glume turned away 

 from the axis. [P. platycaule Poir., a forage plant in 

 the warmer parts of America.] The genus Lappagrostis 

 Steud. belongs here. 



58. (3) Anthaenantia Beauv. {Aulaxantlius Ell., Au- 

 laxia~Nxitt., LeptocoryphiumNees). Spikelets as in Pas- 

 palum ; hairy, arranged in panicles ; flowering glume and 

 palea slightly indurated. 



Species three, in the Southern United States and in 

 South America. 



59. (4) Amphicarpum Kunth. Fertile spikelets cleisto- 

 gamous, upon filiform runners at the base of the culm ; 



