Sphicrocaryum.'] CLXXIII. GRA.MINEJ:. (J. D. Hooker.) 247 



SILHKT and the KHASIA HILLS, in marshes, Wallich, &c. MEEGUI, Griffith. 

 SINGAPORE, Ridiey. CEJLON, Macrae, &c. DISTRIB. China. 



Stem 6-12 in., as thick as a sparrow's quill, prostrate and rooting helovv, then 

 erect, rarely branched, nodes bearded. Leaves all alike in size and form, - in. 

 long, acute or acuminate, ciliate-serrulate, snbcoriaceous, ecostate, nerves very close- 

 set ; sheaths much shorter than the internodes, glabrous or hirsute ; ligule of close- 

 set white hairs. Panicle 1-1 in., solitary aud terminal, with very rarely 1-2 

 lower on the stem ; peduncle very short ; concealed in the leaf-sheath ; rachis rather 

 stout ; branches very many, opposite and alternate, capillary, spreading. Spikelets 

 *V"3.'o in. This is undoubtedly Roth's Isachne pulchella. The habit is that of 

 Panicum ovalifolium, Poir, with the leaf-nervation of an Isachne. It differs from 

 Agroatis in habit, and in the spikelets jointed on the pedicels (as in PanicecB) ; and 

 from Sporobolus in habit, foliage, and the adnate pericarp of the grain. 



71. SPOHOBOLUS, Br. 



Perennial, rarely annual grasses. Leaves flat or convolute. Spilce- 

 lets small or minute, 1-rarely 2-fld., in effuse or close or spiciform pani- 

 cles, jointed on their pedicels, awnless ; rachilla very short, jointed at 

 the base, not produced beyond the tig. gl. Glumes 3, nerveless or 1-3- 

 nerved, membranous ; I and II unequal, persistent or singly caducous ; 

 III longer or shorter than I or II, 1-nerved; palea often s-plitting 

 between the 2 very close nerves. Lodicules very minute or 0. Stamens 

 2-3, anthers short. Styles short, free. Grain loose within the gl. and 

 palea, pericarp or its epidermis loose, deciduous, rarely adherent. Species 

 about 80, chietiy tropical. 



* Glumes I and II both much shorter than III. 



1. S. diander, Beauv. Agrost. 25; panicle narrowly pyramidal, branches 

 capillary in scattered fascicles, spikelets ^"Ts i n -> gt I an d H hyaline 

 truncate nerveless, grain oblong or obovoid-oblong. Jac^. Eclog. Gram. 

 t. 28 ; Link Enum. Hort. Reg. Berol. i. 87 ; Kunth Enum. PL i. 213 ; Wall. 

 Cat. n. 3705 ; Griff. Notul. iii. 46, Ic. PI. A&iat. t. 139, f. 85 ; Dalz. & Gibs. 

 Bomb. Fl. 296; Thw. Enum. PI. Zeyl. 370; Trim. Cat. Ce-t/l. PI. 108; 

 Aitchis. Cat. Panjab PI. 165 ; Dutkie Grass. N. W. Ind. 20, Fodd. Grass. 

 N. Ind. 40, t. 63 ; Miguel Fl. Ind. Bat. iii. 375 ; Benih. Fl. Austral, vii. 

 622. Vilfa, diandra, Wight Gat. n. 1744 (non Trin.). V. erosa, Trin. in 

 Mem. Acad. Petersl. Ser. vi. Sc. Nat. v. II. (1840) 86 ; Steud. I. c. 159. 

 V. Retxii, Steud. Norn. Ed. II. ii. 768,. Syn. Gram. 162. Agrostis con- 

 tracta, Herb. Heyne ex Wall. Gat. n. 3766 A. A. diandra, Retz. 0&s. v. 

 19 ; Eoxh. Fl. Ind. i. 317. Panioum secundum, Herb. Heyne ex, Wall. I.e. 

 Sporubolus, Wall. Cat. 3766, 3768. Sporobolus, Griff. I.e. 44, Ic. t.149, 

 f. 2. 



Throughout INDIA and BURMA, ascend'ng the Himalaya to 5500 ft. CEYLON. 

 DISTRIB. Asia aud Austral, trop. 



Stems 1-3 ft., slender. Leaves densely tufted, 3-10 in., very narrow, flat or 

 convolute, margins entire ; ligule a few hairs. Panicle 4-10 iu. x rachis very slender, 

 sometimes capillary, strict; branches -1 in., sometimes flowerless at the base. 

 Spikelets sessile or very shortly pedicelled; gl. I and H not half as long as III, 

 broadly truncate and usually erose ; III obtuse or suhacute, obscurely 1-nerved,. 

 Stamens 2-3. Grain subtruncate, pericarp rather adherent, 



2. S. indicus, Br. Prodr. 170; stem stout, panicle very narrow 

 branches short appressed covered to the base with crowded spikelets -jV-T 1 ? 



