184 



Gramineae 



IB. Spikclets broadly elliptic to rather orbicular, slightly longer than broad. 

 3A. Spikelets with hairs 1-2 mm. long on margins. 



4A. Racemes 3-7, spreading; spikelets 3-3.5 mm. long; culms usually geniculate at base 3. P. dilatatum 



4B. Racemes 10-20, ascending; spikelets 2-3 mm. long; culms erect 4. P. urvillei 



3B. Spikelets glabrous or minutely pubescent. 



5A. Leaf -blades with spreading hairs; spikelets rather loosely arranged on the rachis; fertile lemma pale when mature. 5. P. thunbergii 

 5B. Leaf -blades usually glabrous, if pubescent, spikelets closely arranged on the rachis. 



6A. Spikelets glabrous or nearly so; racemes 2-10; florets brown at maturity 6. P. orbiculare 



6B. Spikelets puberulent; racemes 7-20; florets pale at maturity 7. P. longifolium 



1. Paspalum distichum L. Kishu-suzume-no-hie. long, 3-15 mm. wide, flat, pilose at base; ligules 3-5 mm. long; 

 Culms 20-40 cm. long, glabrous, from a long-creeping base; inflorescence 10-40 cm. long; racemes 10-20, rather crowded, 

 leaf-blades soft, linear, 5-10 cm. long, 3-7 mm. wide, glabrous, ascending, to 15 cm. long; spikelets 2-3 mm. long, broadly 

 pale green; ligules hyaline, truncate, minutely lacerate on mar- ovate, abruptly acute, pale green or slightly purplish; upper 



gin, 2-3 mm. long, glabrous; sheaths smooth, long-ciliate; glume and lower lemma fringed with long silky hairs. 



racemes 2, geminate, ascending, at length spreading, 3-6 cm. Naturalized in Kyushu (Kokura City) ; rare. S. America, 



long; rachis 1.5-2 mm. wide, flat; spikelets nearly sessile, pale S. Africa, Australia, and warmer parts of Asia; naturalized in 



green, obovate-oblong, acute, about 3 mm. long, loosely N. America. 



puberulent; first glume wanting, the second as long as the 5. Paspalum thunbergii Kunth. P. mollipilum Steud. 



spikelet, 4 (-6) -nerved, membranous; sterile lemma simulating Suzume-no-hie. Tufted, hirsute perennial; culms 40-90 



the glumes, 3(-5)-nerved, acute, the fertile lemma nearly as cm. long, erect, with pilose nodes; leaf-blades flat, linear, 10-30 



long, rather coriaceous, pale, acute and with few minute hairs cm. long, 5-8 mm. wide, pilose; ligules membranous, trun- 



at apex. July-Sept. Wet places near seashores; Honshu cate, 1-2 mm. long; sheaths rather elongate, pilose, the radical 



(Kinki Distr. and westw.), Shikoku, Kyushu. ^Tropical re- slighdy folded; racemes 3-5, 5-10 cm. long, with a tuft of 



gions of Asia and America. long hairs in the axils; spikelets short-pedicelled, broadly 



2. Paspalum vaginatum Sw. Sawa-sikume-no-hie. ellipdc or nearly orbicular, 2.5-2.7 nun. long, rounded and 

 Perennial, glabrous except for white hairs at mouth of sheaths; short-mucronate at apex, glabrous or with minute, spreading 

 culms erect from an ascending base, rather thick, smooth; hairs near margins; second glume and sterile lemma alike, 

 leaf-blades soft, linear, almost filiform, 6-15 cm. long, strongly 3-nerved, thinly membranous, pale green; fertile lemma orbicu- 

 involute, smooth, 2-3 mm. wide when flat, nerves not promi- lar-elliptic, coriaceous, slightly lustrous, rounded to very obtuse, 

 nent; ligules truncate, 0.5-1 mm. long, hyaline, entire; sheaths pale. Aug.-Oct. Waste places and cultivated fields in low- 

 slightly folded, smooth; racemes 2 or 3, erect; rachis 1.5-2 mm. lands; Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu; common. Ryukyus, 



wide; spikelets very short-pedicelled, appressed, ovate-oblong, China, and Korea. 



3.5-4.5 mm. long, acute, pale yellow, slighdy lustrous, gla- 6. Paspalum orbiculare Forst. P. scrobiculatum var. 



brous; second glume thinly membranous, acute, as long as the orbiculare (Forst.) Hack.; P. thunbergii var. minor Makino 



spikelet, with a pair of weak nerves close to the margins; — — ^Suzume-no-koeie. Rather tufted perennial; culms usu- 



sterile lemma similar, with a distinct midnerve; fertile lemma ally erect, 30-80 cm. long; leaf-blades flat, linear, 15-30 cm. 



slighdy shorter than the spikelet, slighdy flattened, pale, acute, long, 5-10 mm. wide; ligules truncate, 0.5-1.5 mm. long, 



with few fine hairs at apex. June-Sept. Kyushu (Yaku- glabrous; sheaths slightly folded or nearly terete, usually with 



shima). Ryukyus, Formosa, and in tropical regions gen- a few long hairs on the mouth; racemes 2-10, 3-10 cm. long, 



grally_ densely flowered, ascending, with a few long hairs in the axils; 



3. Paspalum dilatatum Poir. Shima-suzume-no-hie. spikelets pale green, elliptic to broadly so, or obovate-ellipric. 

 Culms 80-100 cm. long, tufted, erect, glabrous; leaf-blades 2-2.5 mm. long, glabrous or spreading-puberulent on the mar- 

 linear, 20-40 cm. long, flat, slighdy scabrous and with long gins, rounded to very obtuse; second glume and sterile lemma 

 hairs near the mouth, gradually narrowed to both ends, thinly membranous, 3-nerved; fertile lemma as long as the 



glaucous; ligules 2-4 irun. long, glabrous, truncate; sheaths sterile one, coriaceous, lustrous, brown when mature. 



glabrous; racemes 5-10, spreading, 5-10 cm. long, with a tuft Aug.-Oct. Lowlands; Honshu (Tokaido and westw.), Shi- 



of long hairs in the axils; rachis rather slender; spikelets short- koku, Kyushu. Ryukyus, Formosa, China, and in tropical 



pedicelled, ovate-orbicular, 3-3.5 mm. long, acute, pale green, regions generally. 



sometimes slighdy dull reddish, rounded at base, widi ascend- 7. Paspalum longifolium Roxb. NACABA-strauME-NO- 



ing to appressed white hairs on margin; second glume mem- hie. Rather glabrous, tufted perennial; culms erect, 80-130 



branous, resembling the sterile lemma; fertile lemma orbicular, cm. long, ascending and branching at base; leaf-blades 10-20 



rounded at apex, about 2 mm. long. ^Naturalized; Honshu. cm. long, 5-8 mm. wide; racemes 7-20, loosely arranged, 



N. America. spreading to ascending, 5-8 cm. long; spikelets geminate, in 



4. Paspalum urvillei Steud. Tachi-suzume-no-hie. 2 rows on one side of the rachis, obovate, 2-2.5 mm. long. 



Culms densely tufted, 75-100 cm. long, erect, glabrous; leaf- pale green, with spreading, minute hairs. ^Naturalized; 



sheaths usually coarsely hirsute, the blades linear, 15-40 cm. Honshu. India, s. China, Philippines, and Malaysia. 



76. ERIOCHLOA HBK. Narukobie Zoku 



Usually villous or pubescent perennials or annuals, with linear, flat to involute leaf-blades and a racemose inflorescence; 

 spikelets short-pedicelled or sessile, in 2 rows on one side of the raceme, solitary or rarely geminate, slightly dorsally compressed, 

 ovate-elliptic or ovate, soft-pubescent; first glume reduced to a ring with the pedicel, adaxial; second and the sterile lemma 



alike, membranous, the latter usually paleate, sometimes staminate; fertile lemma coriaceous, often short-pointed at apex. 



About 20 species, in warm-temperate and tropical regions. 



