426 GRAMINE.E. {Iscliamim. 



hairy. Sessile spikelets 3 lines long, the outer glume pointed and marked at 

 the base with a few transverse wrinkles, the twisted awn of the upper flower- 

 ing-ghime protruding to about \ in. Pedicellate spikelet not much smaller, 

 male, on a veiy short flat pedicel. — MeoscJiium lodiculare, Nees, PL Meyen. 

 195, and M. Meyenianum, Nees, I.e. 197. 



Common in the island, Hinds, Champion, and others. Also in the Indian Archipelago. 



29. SPODIOPOGOIT, Trin. 



Spikelets in pairs, 1 sessile, the other pedicellate, in simple, branched, 

 or paniculate spikes, both 2-flowered, the lower flower male ; the rhachis an- 

 gular and articulate, at least at the top. Outer glumes stift', the lowest con- 

 vex, the second keeled. Flowering glumes and palea very thin and transpa- 

 rent, the glume of the fertile flower with a twisted awn. 



A small cenus dispersed over the tropical and subtropical regions both of the New and the 

 Old World.'' 



1. S. obliquivalvis, Nees, PI. Meyen. 185. Stems tufted or creeping 

 and rooting at the base, ascending or erect, 1 to 2 ft. high, w^tli tufts of hairs 

 at the nodes. Leaves acute, more or less haiiy. Spikes 1 to 1^ in. long, 

 divided into 2 erect branches, the rhachis and pedicels more or less ciliate. 

 Spikelets about 2 lines long, the outer glume wrinkled on the back, the awn 

 of the fertile flower slender, 4 to 6 lines long. Pedicel of the upper spikelet 

 and rhachis, both angular, separated by an obtuse sinus giving the appear- 

 ance of a little circular perforation. — Andropogon malacophyllus, Steud. Syn, 

 Gram. 372. 



Hongkong, Hance. Common in India, from Ceylon and the Peninsula to the Archipelago, 

 and northward to Amoy. 



Var. villosus. Sheaths of the leaves A\-ith long spreading hairs. — Androjtogon patentivillo- 

 sus, Steud. Syn. Gram. 373. 



Hongkong, Wright. Also on the continent of S. China. 



30. SPOROBOLUS, Br. 



Spikelets small, 1 -flowered, awnless, in a loose spreading or rarely spike- 

 like panicle. Outer glumes 2, keeled, one or both usually shorter and never 

 longer than the acute flowering glume. Palea nearly as long, usually 2 -nerved. 

 Grain free, short, deciduous, the seed separating from the thin pericarp. 



A considerable tropical and subtropical genus, both in the New and the Old World, dif- 

 fering bnt little from Vilfa and Acjrostis. 



1. S. indicus, Br.; Kunth, Enwn. i. 211. Stems tufted at the base, 

 erect, simple, 1 to 2 ft. high. Leaves narrow, pointed, convolute when dry. 

 Panicle contracted, linear, 6 to 8 in. long, interrupted at the base, the short 

 more or less compound branches all erect. Spikelets nearly 1 line long, 

 pointed, shining. Outer glumes usually unequal, obtuse or the second acute, 

 about half as long as the flowering glume. Seed brown, obovate-truncate. 



Common on roadsides, Hance and others. Widely diffused over the warmer regions of 

 the globe. 



31. POLYPOGOIf, Desf. 



Spikelets smaU, 1-flowered, in a dense spike-like or slightly spreading pani- 

 cle. Outer glumes 2, narrow, keeled, ending in a fine straight awn, some- 



