45 
Botanical description (B. Fl., vii, 484)— 
Stems from a creeping and rooting base, ascending to 1 or 2 feet, rather stiff, the 
nodes glabrous. 
Leaves narrow, more or less pubescent or hairy, or sometimes quite glabrous, ligula 
short, ciliate. 
Panicle narrow, with a few long branches, erect or at length spreading, the spikelets 
shortly pedicellate, irregularly crowded on short secondary branches, with a 
filiform flexuose rhachis. 
Spikelets 14 lines long, glabrous, or the nerves of the glumes minutely ciliolate. 
Outer glume less than half the length of the spikelet, acute, one-nerved. 
Second and third glumes nearly equal, acute or acuminate, prominently three or five 
nerved ; a male flower in the third. 
Fruiting glume acute, smooth or minutely rugose. 
Value as a fodder.—Duthie quotes Royle and Roxburgh as stating 
that cattle are fond of this grass in India. Not much is known in 
regard to its fodder value in Australia. It will grow well in shady 
situations. 
Other uses.—Lamson-Scribner asserts that it has no agricultural 
value, but that it is a natural sand-binder, stating that upon the sandy 
islands lying off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico it grows abundantly 
upon the outside of the dunes, protecting them from the action of the 
winds and waves. 
Habitat and range.—In the Coast districts of this Colony, extending 
to Queensland and Northern Australia. Found also in Victoria. 
Common in maritime districts in Southern Asia, the Mediterranean 
region, apparently in Brazil, also in the Pacific Islands. 
41, Panicum pygmeum, R.Br. 
Botanical name.—Pygmxum—Latin, small or dwarfish. It is a 
small grass. 
Vernacular name.—The “ Pigmy Panic-grass.”’ 
Where figured.— Agricultural Gazette. 
Botanical description (B. F1., vii, 484).—A small species, creeping 
and rooting at the nodes, ascending to about 6 inches. 
Leaves rarely above 1 inch long, linear or lanceolate, ciliate, and usually but not 
always sprinkled with long hairs. 
Panicle short and spreading with a few capillary flexuose simple or slightly divided 
branches. 
Spikelets few and distant, scarcely 1 line long, obtuse, glabrous. 
Outer glume very short, broad, truncate, nerveless. 
Second and third glumes equal, three or five nerved, both empty. 
Fruiting glume smooth and shining. 
Value as a fodder—Probably small ; it is a dainty little grass which 
forms a dense, short turf even under the shade of trees, and hence 
valuable for such situations. 
Habitat and range.—Coast district and Dividing Range from Port 
Jackson northwards through Queensland. 
Reference to Plate—a, Portion of a panicle; B, Spikelet, showing relative size of 
outer glume, which is very short, broad, and truncate; c, Spikelet dissected, showing 
small outer glume, the 2nd and 8rd glumes, which are equal in size, and 3 and 5 nerved ; 
also the fruiting glume. 
