188 On Guinea Grass > 



edge, which is rugged, and at the base, which is rough 

 haired. Panicle erect, a foot long and more ; the low- 

 er branches in whorls, the upper in pairs. Florets nu- 

 merous, alternate, ovate, sharpish, pressed to the ra- 

 ceme, on short, subflexuose pedicels. Spikelets poly- 

 gamous. Outer valve of the calyx very small, inner 

 oblong, sharpish, pale. Instead of the hermaphrodite, 

 there is often a female floret, with a male at the side 

 of it, or a female alone, without the hermaphrodite and 

 male. Seed oblong, shining. In Jamaica it flowers in 

 October. 



Directions for the culture of Guinea grass will be 

 found in Dr. Martyn's edition of Miller's Gardener's 

 Dictionary, under the article Holcus pertusus. 



Besides the account of Guinea grass in Edwards, 

 and the Domestic Encyclopedia, additional informa- 

 tion may be obtained by referring to the Letters and 

 Papers of the Bath and West of England Society, vol, 

 5, and Young's Annals of Agriculture, vols. 9 and 13. 

 All agree in the extraordinary fattening properties of 

 this plant, and to our southern States it cannot fail of 

 being of incalculable benefit, J, M, 



