BOMBAY GRASSES. 363 



The usar grass does not appear to be able to bold its own on 

 ground which is capable of supporting these other grasses ; it will, 

 therefore, gradually disappear as the reclamation of the reh-infected 

 tracts proceeds." — Duthie' 



POLTPOGON, Desf. 



P. montfeliensis , Desf., Kunth. Enum., I,, 232; Steud, Syn. Fl. 

 Glum.y I., 184; Beauv. Agrost., XVI., fig. 8. 



Ver. Chitra, Malhar. Culm procumbent at the base, then 

 erect or ascending, simple or sometimes branched, 1-2 feet high, 

 glabrous. Sheath glabrous, striated. Ligula rather large, 2-3 

 lines, obtuse. Leaves flat, glabrous, or scabred, 5-8 inches long 

 2-3 lines broad. Panicle spike-like linear, cylindrical, dense, 1-5 

 inches long, of a yellowish-green, or whitish colour. Spikelets 

 not longer than a line. Outer glumes nearly equal, scarcely 

 one line long, pubescent or ciliate, with minute murication on the 

 midrib, obtuse or notched, ending in a fine, straight awn, 3 or 4 

 times as long as the glume. Flowering glume broad, hyaline 

 truncate, 4-toothed or jagged, the awn usually very short or 

 wanting. Is common in Europe, Asia and Africa, also in Ceylon 

 and Australia and in some parts of America, where it is supposed 

 to be introduced. Mr. Duthie states that it is common in cul- 

 tivated ground. It is an ornamental grass, but of little value for 

 fodder. I have received specimens from Sind. 



AvENACE^, Kunth. 

 CcBlacline, E. Br. 



C.pulchella, R.Br.; Beutb. Fl. Austr. VII. 625 Thiv. Enum. 

 PI. Zeyl. 373 ; Panicum simpliciusculum, Steud. Syn. PI. Gram. 

 I., 96. 



A small glabrous grass, flowering almost from the base. Culm 

 filiform (in the specimens seen), decumbent, 5 inches long. Sheath 

 half-an-inch long, glabrous, striated. Leaves ovate, lanceolate, 

 about one inch long, marked with strong lines, especially at the upper 

 surface. Panicle 2-3 inches long, loose, narrow, the rachis and 

 branches filiform. The latter short, erect or divergent, alternate. 

 Spikelets numerous, almost imbricate; shortly pedicelled, often in 



