GRAMINEiE. (GRASS FAMILY.) 847 



S. Ovary glabrous. Styles S, terminal, long, more or less connate, 

 stigmas feathery, «xserted. Caryopsis oblong, flattened at back, with 

 a dot-like hilum at base of ventral surface, enclosed in pales but free — 

 Herbs, with 1-3 spikelets in a cluster, in simple spikes. 



1. P. dicliotomum. Forsk. 71 Badah. Fig. 371. 

 Mourrdt-Ghazdl. Retam, .3 to .6; culms rws/i- 



HTce, the loimr j^ari proliferous at nodes, much- 

 branched, forming a bush with aspect of Pani- 

 cum turgidum. Sheaths of culms leafless, open, 

 scarious, lanceolate, persistent; leaves of bran- 

 ches from a somewhat dilated sheath, rigid, 

 convolute, the uj^permost often forming an 

 involucre to the spike. Spike cylindrical, .07 

 to .1 long, .015 to .02 in diameter, rachis sca- 

 brous ; bristles of involucre of spikelets numer- 

 ous, unequal, wMte, once and a half as long as 

 spikelet; spikelets solitary (rarely twin), lan- 

 ceolate; lower glume oblong-lanceolate, acute, ^^-^^^^^^ ^^ Pennisetum 

 3-nerved, two-thirds as long as the upper; up- dichotomum with invoiuci-e 

 per glume and lower pale of staminate floweret magnified 3 diameters, 

 as long as perfect floweret, concave, 5-7-nerved, oblong-lanceolate, 

 acute ; upper pale of staminate floweret somewhat narrower and shorter ; 

 lower pale of perfect floweret mucronate-aristate — Spring — Sandy 

 places ; Arabia Petraea ; 'Arabah. 



2. P. elatum, Hochst. If Glabrous, glaucescent; culms tall, 

 indurated teloio, forked, beset with few, lanceolate, leafless sheaths. 

 Leaves few, remote, sheath long, narrow, lamina short, convolute. 

 Spike slender, cylindrical ; racliis bristly ; bristles of involucre reddish, 

 numerous, unequal, once and a half as long as spikelet; spikelets 

 solitary; lower glume ovate, acute, half as long as upper; upper glume 

 somewhat longer, 3-nerved, somewhat shorter than lower pale of the 

 lanceolate, staminate floweret — Spring — Near jSTaqb (Sinai). 



3. P. eiliare, L. 2f .4; tufted; culms herbaceous, decumbent- 

 geniculate or ascending, leafy. Leaves narrowly-linear, acuminate, 

 glabrous or hairy. Spikes cylindrical, dense, .06 to .08 long, .01 in 

 diameter; YdiOhi^ rough ; bristles of sessile involucre numerous, ^wr^ZM 

 to lohite, unequal, the inner thicker, connate at base, plumose, once and 

 a half to twice as long as spikelet ; spikelets twin or solitary ; glumes 

 nearly equal, two-thirds as long as floweret, ovate-oblong, acute, 1- 

 nerved; lower pale of staminate floweret similar to lower pale of fertile 

 floweret, ovate-oblong, acute; upper pale of staminate floweret shorter, 

 sometimes obsolete — April — Sandy places; Hebron; el-Gfhor and 

 around Dead Sea, and southward to Sinai. 



4. P. Orientate, Pdch. 1i .3 to .6; culms erect or ascending, 

 branching from base. Leaves rigid, ascending, narrowly linear, acumi- 

 nate, somewhat convolute, sparingly hairy, minutely scabrous to gla- 

 brous; mouth of sheath ciliate. Spikes loose or dense, .08 to .1 long, 

 .015 to .02 broad; rachis liairy ; pedicels short, hispid ; involucre of 

 many unequal, flexuous, reddish-violet bristles, once and a half to twice 

 as long as spikelets, the inner scarcely thicker, plumose ; lower glume 

 ovate, 1-nerved, one-third as long as perfect floweret ; upper glume 

 ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, 3-nerved, scarcely shorter than perfect 



