BOMBAY GRASSES. 



375 



Culm creeping and rooting at the lower nodes, then ascending to 

 about a foot or more, slightly compressed. Sheath sparingly hairy. 

 Ligula very short, ciliate. Leaves flat, flaccid, tapering to long points, 

 hairy from minute tubercules. Spikes 3-5 digitate, secund, varying 

 from ^-1 inch. Spikelets numerous, 3-5 flowered, closely imbricate 

 on the underside of, and at, right angles to, a prominent angular 

 rachis. Outer glume acute, about 1 line long; the 2nd broader, 

 obtuse or emarginate, its keel produced into a short awn. Flower- 

 ing glume broad, acuminate or tapering into short points. Seed 

 oval, somewhat 3-sided, rugose, enclosed in a thin loose pericarp. 



It is common everywhere in Bombay and over India, in Ceylon, 

 Australia, Africa, and even in Europe. In poor hard soils it assumes 

 a creeping habit, and yields short spikes. It is reckoned to be a 

 good nutritious fodder, especially when young cattle are fond of it. 

 The seed is occasionally collected in some parts of India, and in 

 times of scarcity eaten, but it is a poor unpalatable food. 



This grass has a close afiinity to the last described species 

 of Eleusine. In fact E. corocana is supposed, as already stated, to 

 be the result o£ the cultivation of E. cegyptica. 



E. indica, Goertn. Carp., I., 8; Kunth, Enum. I., 272; Trin., Sp. 

 Gram., X., 71 ; Roxb., Fl. hid., I., 345; Dalz. and Gibs. Bomb. Flor. 



Ver. Mendla or Medha, Guder, Khurd, Khurd-mendi, Mal-anJcur, 

 Euror {Roxh.); Mandw a, TJiingri {Rojle) ; Mahraila, Gadha-charwa, 

 Gadha-mandiui, Gurchaiva, Mandanya, Kakaria, Mandial Jari, 

 Gurra-gadi (Duthie). 



A coarse tufted grass. Culm erect, compressed, smooth, 1-2 ft. 

 high. Sheaths flattened, distichous, sparsely hairy, chiefly at 

 the mouth. Ligula short, hairy ; leaves glabrous, flat, linear 

 rather obtuse; spikes 5-7, 2-3 inches long; secund, erect, 

 digitate, often one, occasionally two, inserted at some distance below 

 the others. Rachis prominent on the inner side. Spikelets 1 \ — 2 

 lines long, loosely imbricate on the opposite side, 3 — 5 flowered. 

 The two lower glumes obtuse, one-nerved, empty. Flowering 

 glume usually 3-nerved. Seed oblong, obscurely three-sided. 

 Pericarp rugose, loose. It is a common grass all over the Presidency 

 and in Bengal, North-West Provinces, and in Ceylon. Grows all 

 over tropical and subtropical countries, Australia, America, Africa, 

 49 



