176 



Gramineae 



longer than the glumes, scarcely keeled, hyaline, glabrous, awnless, nearly nerveless; callus and rachilla glabrous; palea as long 

 as the lemma, with 2 faint keels; loosely involute; stamens 2 or 3; caryopsis lustrous, slightly dorsiventrally flattened, glabrous, 

 the hilum minute. Two or three species, in e. and s. Asia, Australia, and Africa. 



1. Coelachne japonica Hack. C. pulchella sensu auct. 



Japon., non R. Br. Hinazasa. Annual; culms 5-20 cm. 



long, smooth, from a decumbent or ascending base, branching 

 below, with puberulent nodes; inflorescence scarcely exserted 

 from the sheaths of the upper nodes; leaf-blades flat, soft-her- 

 baceous, spreading, lanceolate, 1-3 cm. long, 2-6 mm. wide, 

 short-acuminate, glabrous, nearly rounded at base, the nerves 

 prominent on upper surface; sheaths short, sparsely short- 

 pubescent near the apex; ligules wanting; panicles short-ex- 

 serted, open, loose, ovate, 15-30 mm. long, 1-2 cm. wide, the 



branches few, spreading; spikelets 1 to 3 on the branches, usu- 

 ally pale green, about 2.5 mm. long; glumes rather persistent, 

 membranous, glabrous, not keeled, the first ovate, with a 

 nearly rounded summit, about 0.7 mm. long, obsoletely 1- 

 nerved, the second obsoletely 3-nerved, with few short brisdes 

 on upper part of the nerves; lemmas about 2.5 mm. long; 

 stamens 2, the anthers about 0.25 mm. long, elliptic; caryopsis 

 thick-lenticular, ovate, glabrous, lustrous, the hilum indistinct. 

 Aug.-Oct. Wet places; Honshu, Kyushu; rather rare. 



64. SPOROBOLUS R. Br. Nezumi-no-o Zoku 



Annuals or perennials; leaf -blades often involute, long-linear to short-linear; panicles sometimes effuse, usually contracted; 

 spikelets 1-flowered, nearly terete, bisexual; glumes thinly chartaceous to membranous, 1-nerved, sometimes faintly so, lustrous, 

 the first usually somewhat shorter than the floret; lemmas usually glabrous, loosely involute, awnless, 1-nerved; rachilla not 

 produced; palea with 2 faint keels; stamens 2 or 3; caryopsis with the pericarp early deciduous, exposing the seed, falling free 

 at maturity. Many species in warm-temperate and tropical regions. 



lA. Low aimual 5-20 cm. high; leaves chiefly cauline; leaf-blades narrowly lanceolate, long-ciliate, the cilia callose at base; spikelets brown. 



1. S. japonicus 

 IB. Tall perennial 20—80 cm. high; leaves chiefly basal; leaf-blades linear, elongate, glabrous or sparsely hairy above; spikelets lead-gfay to 



purple-tinged, 

 2A. Plant tufted, without creeping rhizomes; panicles 15-40 cm. long; first glume about Yz, the second 54 to 5^ as long as the lemma. 



2. 5. elongatus 

 2B. Plant with extensive creeping rhizomes; panicles 4-8 cm. long; glumes and lemmas about equal in length 3. 5. virginicus 



1. Sporobolus japonicus (Steud.) Maxim. Agrostis 

 japonica Steud.; S. ciliatus sensu auct. Japon., non Presl; S. 

 ciliatus var. japonicus (Steud.) Hack.; S. piliferus sensu auct. 

 Japon., non Kunth Hige-shiba. Small erect tufted an- 

 nual; culms 5-30 cm. long, simple or branching at base, genic- 

 ulate and ascending at base, glabrous; leaf-blades flat or with 

 loosely involute margins, narrowly lanceolate, 4-10 cm. long, 

 2-5 mm. wide, spreading, papillose-pilose toward the base, 

 long-ciliate, the cilia callose at base; ligules a series of dense, 

 short hairs; panicles erect, linear, 3-7 cm. long, about 5 mm. 

 wide, the branches erect, short, glabrous, rather thick; spike- 

 lets 2-2.2 mm. long, at first broadly lanceolate, becoming 

 ovoid in maturity, lustrous, deep-brown; first glume about 1.5 

 mm. long, acute, involute, the second slightly shorter than the 

 floret, narrowly ovate; lemma ovate to narrowly so, obwse; 

 stamens 3, the anthers elliptic, about 0.3 mm. long; caryopsis 



ovoid, 2/3-3/4 as long as the lemma. Aug.-Oct. Wet 



places; Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu; rather common. China. 



2. Sporobolus elongatus R. Br. S. indicus sensu auct. 

 Japon., non R. Br.; Cinna japonica Steud.; Agrostis jertilis 



Steud. Nezumi-no-o. Tufted perennial; culms erect, 30- 



80 cm. long, firm, glabrous; leaves chiefly radical, the blades 

 firm, linear, 20-60 cm. long, 1.5-5 mm. wide, loosely involute 

 or with involute margins, gradually acuminate, glabrous or 

 with short hairs above; sheaths white-hairy near the summit; 

 ligule a ring of short hairs; panicles narrow and rather spike- 

 like, rarely slightly interrupted, erect, 15-40 cm. long, 5-10 

 mm. wide, the branches numerous, appressed, densely spicu- 



lose; spikelets 2-2.5 mm. long, at first lanceolate, obovate when 

 mature, lustrous, pale lead-green; glumes unequal, the first 

 ovate, obtuse, 1/4-1/3 as long as the spikelet, the second 

 broadly lanceolate, rather obtuse, 1-1.5 mm. long, 1/2-2/3 as 

 long as the spikelet; lemma narrowly ovate, 2-2.2 mm. long, 

 the nerve faint, smooth, obtuse; stamens 3; anthers 0.5-0.7 mm. 



long, pale yellow. Sept.-Nov. Waste grounds, riverbanks, 



and sunny places in lowlands; Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu; 

 very common. Warmer parts of Asia and Australia. 



Var. purpureosuffusus Ohwi. S. indicus var. purpureo- 



suffusus (Ohwi) T. Koyama Murasaki-nezumi-no-o. 



Plant larger with an elongate inflorescence and pale reddish 

 purple spikelet. Grows with the typical phase. 



3. Sporobolus virginicus (L.) Kunth. Agrostis virgi- 



nica L.; Vilfa virginica (L.) Beauv. Sonare-shiba. 



Rather firm, glabrous perennial with much-branched creeping 

 rhizomes; culms 10-40 cm. long, erect from ascending base, 

 many-noded; leaf-sheaths short, usually 3-5 cm. long, over- 

 lapping, slightly pilose on the mouth, blades loosely involute, 

 nearly smooth, 3-5 cm. long, 1-3 mm. wide or somewhat more 

 than 10 cm. long in the innovation shoots, gradually narrowed 

 to a fine point, ligule a hairy rim; panicle linear, spikelike, 

 erect, pale, 4-8 cm. long, spikelets broadly lanceolate, about 

 2.5 mm. long, barely acute, glumes lanceolate, the first a little 

 shorter than the second, lemma acute, palea as long as the 



lemma. Oct. On seashores; Kyushu (Mageshima near 



Tanegashima) ; rare. Pantropic. 



65. MUHLENBERGIA Schreb. 



Nezumigaya Zoku 



Annuals or perennials; culms usually slender; leaf-blades linear, usually flat; panicles narrow or sometimes open; spikelets 

 1-flowered, bisexual, somewhat laterally flattened, articulate below the floret; glumes 2, rather equal, membranous, shorter than 



