Lejjtochlua.] CLXXIII. GBAMINEJB. (J. D. Hooker.) 299 



Amongst other grasses referred to filformis, but which from want of materials or 

 descriptions or both I refrain from citing, is L. tenerrima, R. & S., which is described 

 as having a 2-lobed tip of gl. Ill, a character which is approached only in L. obtusi- 

 flora, but which is easily produced in the very concave glume by a slight force in 

 analyzing that organ. Bentham Fl. Hongk. and Fl. Austral, refers it to I/, chinensis, 

 to which its few (2-3-) fid. spikelets is opposed. It is probably a weak state of 

 L. filiformis. With regard to Aira filiformis, Koen., in Roxb. Fl. Ind., Mr. Reiidle 

 informs me that there are in the British Museum a specimen so named by Koenig 

 himself, and another authenticated by Roxburgh, and that both are the Indian 

 L. filiformis. Roxburgh's characters of " leaves ensiform " and " calyx large" are 

 therefore erroneous. 



4. IM. chinensis, Nees in Syti. Ratisb. i. (1824) 4, Agrost. Bras. 432; 

 stem tall stout, spikes 2-4 in.; spikelets 4-6- fld., gl. iii. obtuse and apiculate; 

 Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. iii. 389 (escl. Syn. Burm.). Steud. Syn. Gram. 209 ; 

 Berth. Fl. Hongk. 430, Fl. Austral, vii. 617; Thw. Enum. PI. Zet/l. 371; 

 Trim. Cat. Ceyl. PL 109; Wall. Cat. n. 8896; Wight Cat. n. 1755 ; Duthie 

 Grass. N.W. 'ind. 35 (excl. syn.}, _Fodd. Grass. N. Ind. 59, t. 71; Lisboa 

 in Journ. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Sc. vii. (1893) 372 (excl. Syn. tenerrima). 

 E. decipiens & imbecilla, Steud. L c. 279. Cynodon virgatus, Nees in 

 Wight Cat. n. 1751. Poa as henes, Roem. # Sch. Sy*t. ii. 574. P. 

 decipiens, Br. Prodr. 181. P. chinensis, Linn. Sp. PL 69 (excl. Syn. 

 Burm.}-, Roxh. Fl. Ind. i. 332. P. malabarica, Retz. Obs. v. 19. P, 

 secundaria, Heyne in Herb. Rottl. 



Throughout INDIA and BURMA, in moist places. CEYLON, Atakalam Code, 

 Thwaites. DISTRIB. China, Japan, Mulaya, Australia. 



Stem <rect, or geniculately ascending, 2-4 ft., often as thick as a goose-qnilh 

 Leaves 6-18 in., flat or convolute, acaberulous ; sheaths loose; ligule short, lacerate. 

 Panicle 6-18 in. ; branches opposite or alternate, suberect or spreading. Spikelets 

 about T a n in. ; nerves of gl. Ill and keels of palea pilose. Grain loose, obtusely 

 trigonous, subrugose. A much more robust species than L. filiformis, but some of 

 its forms are quite as slender as is that plant. 



5. IM. obtusiflora, Ho'-hst. in Flora, xxxviii. (1835) 203; stem stout 

 tall, panicle branches few erect, spikelets | in. 6-fld., gl III oblong-ovate 

 tip truncately rounded or retuse erose, grain obovoid triquetrous. Steud. 

 Syn. Gram. 209. Poa maysorensis, Rattier mss. 



SOUTHERN INDIA ; Cochin, at Ayacotta, Rottler. (June 10th, 1808). DISTRIB. 

 Afr. trop. 



Stem 2 ft. and upwards, erect, branched, leafy. Leaves narrow. Panicle of 

 9-12 simple erect branches 2-3 in. long. Spikelets alternate, sessile, as in L. 

 chinensis, but larger with fl. glumes ^ in. long, more oblong, with broad more 

 or less truncate toothed tips, sometimes emarginate or retu*e with an apiculus ; 

 keels of palea quite smooth. Grain larger than in chinensis, triquetrous, ventrally 

 depressed. Bottler's specimen is imperfect; he has labelled it " Poae species mala- 

 ^aricae proxima, P. maysorensis, nob," and added the above description of the. 

 stem leaves and panicle, which exactly accord with African ones. It is very near 

 L. chinensis, but of the great many plants of that species which I have examined 

 none have the large spikelets and glumes of this. The habitat is an old fortified 

 town near Cochin, that had great trade with Africa, whence the plant was probably 

 introduced with merchandise. 



DOUBTFUL INDIAN SPECIES. 



L. CTNOSUROIDES, Roem. 8," Scli Sust. ii. 579 ; KunthEnum. PL i. 270; Steud. 

 St/n. Gram. 208. L. filiformis, Beauv. Agrost. 71. Cyuosurus filiformis, Vahl 

 Symb. ii. 20. Chloris fiiiformis, Poir. EncycL Suppl. ii. 238. Pollinia. filiformis, 



