408 GRAMINE^. [Jlopecuriis. 



packed, nor so much flattened as in other species, about 3 lines long, usually 

 quite glabrous, the 2 outer glumes united to about the middle, the hair-like 

 awn of the flowering one projecting 2 or 3 lines beyond them. 



Hongkong, Harlancl, probably introduced among European seeds. It is a common weed 

 in Europe and temperate Asia, but ahnost unknown in tropical regions. 



2. A. geniculatus, Linn.; KuntJi, Enum. i. 24. A perennial or some- 

 times annual only, glabrous except the spike. Stem usually procumbent at 

 the base, bending upv/ards at the lower nodes, sometimes only 3 or 4 in., 

 often a foot high or more. Spike 1 to 2 in. long, closely imbricate but slen- 

 der. Outer glumes haiiy on the keel, scarcely pointed, and usually but little 

 more than 1 line long, the hair-like a^ras of the flowering glumes, not pro- 

 jecting above a line beyond them. 



In rice-fields, Seemann, Wright, Wilford. Common in the temperate and colder regions 

 of the northern hemisphere, and naturalized as a weed in many parts mthin the tropics, or 

 in the southern hemisphere. 



2. PASPALUM, Linn. 



Spikelets 1 -flowered, not a^\Tied, not callous at the base, solitary or in pairs 

 along one side of slender spikes, either forming the branches of a simple pa- 

 nicle, or rarely solitary. Outer glumes 2, both empty. Flowering glume 

 concave, of a firmer texture. Palea like the flowering glume, but smaller and 

 usually 2-nerved. Grain enclosed in the hardened palea and flowering glume. 



A large genus, chiefly tropical or North American. 



Spikelets orbicular, obtuse 1. P. scrohiculatufn. 



Spikelets ovoid-oblong, acute 2. P. brevifolium, 



1. P. scrobiculatum, Linn.; Kunth, Enum. i. 53. An erect or ascend- 

 ing grass, 1 to 2 ft. high, usually glabrous, except a few^ long hairs at the base 

 of the leaf-blade. Spikes usually 2 or 3, alternate, shortly stalked, 1 to 2 in. 

 long, vaih. a broad flat rhachis. Spikelets sessile or nearly so, in 2 rows, or- 

 bicular, obtuse, more or less flattened, 1 to 1| lines long. Outer glumes thin, 

 glabrous, 3 -nerved. 



Common on roadsides, Wright, Seemann, Wilford. Frequent in tropical and subtropical 

 Asia, Africa, and Australia. 



2, P. brevifolium, Flilgge ; Kuntli, Enum. i. 48. Stems decumbent or 

 creeping and rooting at the lower nodes, slender, and ascending to a foot or 

 more. Leaves usually short, seldom 2 in. long, glabrous. Spikes 2 to 5, 

 very near together, slender, 1^ to 2 in. long, the rhachis slightly dilated. 

 Spikelets in 2 rows, but not crowded, ovoid-oblong, acute, about f line long. 

 Outer glumes thin, but prominently nerved, pubescent or ciliate on the edges. 

 — P. chinense, Nees in Steud. Syn. Gram. 41. 



Hongkong, Seemann, Wright ; on the racecourse in the Happy Valley, Wilford. Widely 

 spread over India. 



3. ERIOCHLOA, Humb. and Kunth. 



Spikelets 1 -flowered, often shortly pointed, but not awned, with a small 

 callous base, articidate on short pedicels along the branches of a panicle. 

 Glumes, palea, and grain of Paspalimi. 



A small genus, chiefly tropical or subtropical, common to both the New and the Old 

 World. 



