128 



THE TRUE GRASSES. 



ft Spikelets distinctly alternating ; 

 spikes remote. . 193. Leptochloa. 



Note. — Compare WangenJieimia, Festuca, also 

 TricJdoris with three awns. 



B. Plants dioecious, rarely monoecious, the two sexes very 

 unlike. 



a. ? inflorescence capitate, $ spikelets 2-3-flowered. 



194. Buchloe. 



b. ? inflorescence a loose, one-sided spike, 6 spike- 

 lets one-flowered 195. Opizia. 



168. (168) Microchloa Brown. Low, ctespitose, delicate- 

 leaved grasses, with long, frequently curved spikes. 



Species three, two African, the third (31. setacea) dis- 

 tributed throughout tropical zone. 



169. (170) Cynodon Pers. (Capriola Adans., Fibichia 

 Kol., Dactylon Vill. (in part)). Spikelets small ; flower- 

 ing glumes usually longer 

 and broader than the nar- 

 row empty ones, ciliate on 

 the keel ; spikes slender, 

 radially divergent. 



Species four, three in 

 Australia, the fourth (C. 

 Dactylon Pers. (Fig. 67) 

 " Dog's tooth," with long 

 creeping runners and 3-5 

 digitate spikes) cosmopoli- 

 tan. This species covers 

 the ground extensively in 

 sandy soils, and although it 

 has delicate leaves, it with- 

 j stands protracted drouths. 

 In the S. States ("Ber- 

 muda grass"), it is the 



Fig. 67.-Cynodon Dactylon Pers. (After most important graSS for 

 Nees, Gen. Germ., I. 39.) , -i • tt* 



pasturage, and, as in Hin- 

 dostan, it is prized for fodder, both for horses and 

 cows. The Hindoos consider it sacred. In Bengal it 

 is called " Durba," in N. India " Dub," and in the Deccan 

 " Hariali." In Europe it has been little appreciated. 



