44. Panicum marginatum, U.Br. 



Botanical name. Marginatum Latin, margined, referring to the 

 leaves, which are prominently margined (showing a pale edge or 

 margin) . 



Vernacular names. I know of none; but, in order to distinguish it 

 from the large number of other Panic-grasses, the half-botanical, half- 

 vernacular name of t( The Marginal-leaved Panic-grass " is suggested. 



Where figured. Trinius (type, also variety strictum), Agricultural 

 Gazette. 



Botanical description (B. FL, vii, 485). A rather slender but often 

 rigid grass, decumbent, branching and often rooting at the base, 

 ascending to 1 foot or more, glabrous except the cilia at the orifice of 

 the sheaths, and the rhachis of the inflorescence often slightly 

 pubescent. 



Leaves flat, usually narrow, but exceedingly variable in size. 



Panicle narrow, in the typical form 1 to 3 inches long, of few erect or scarcely 



spreading simple or slightly divided branches. 

 Spikelets irregularly crowded along the branches, or sometimes almost in a single 



row, ovoid, obtuse, or scarcely acute, about 1| lines long. 

 Outer glume very thin, not one-third the length of the spikelet, one-nerved, or 



faintly three-nerved. 

 Second and third glume nearly equal and similar, both empty, membranous, three or 



five nerved, glabrous. 

 Fruiting glume rather short, slightly hardened, and densely silky-pubescent or 



villous, as well as the exposed part of the palea. 



Botanical notes. There is also a variety strictum, described by 

 Bentham in the following words : " Stems slender, rigid, much 

 branched, with very short narrow leaves, the panicle narrow, very 

 little branched, and sometimes reduced to a simple uninterrupted 

 spike." 



Bentham states, subsequently : " Some specimens seem to show 

 that the var. strictum is rather an after-growth from plants that have 

 been cut down than a distinct variety." 



Whether extended observations should confirm that the cause is 

 cutting down by man or herbivorous animals, I would add that I 

 have specimens which show various stages between the normal species 

 and the so-called variety. At the same time, I think it would be con- 

 venient to retain the name for the variety, as extreme forms of the 

 species are very dissimilar in appearance. 



As Bentham emphasises, the species is really known by the dense 

 pubescence of the fruiting glume, which has not been observed in 

 any other Panicum. Neglect of observation of this characteristic 

 may cause the student to stumble, as some other grasses resemble this 

 one a good deal in general appearance. 



Bentham describes a coarse-growing variety of this species (majus) 

 which is found in Queensland, and might be looked for in the northern 

 parts of this Colony: " The stems are tall, with broad leaves 6 inches 

 long, the lower branches of the panicle 3 or 4 inches, and the spikelets 

 above 1J line long." 



Value as fodder. Though not a grass of the first rank as a fodder- 

 plant, I believe its value has sometimes been understated. I have 



