-Panicum.] Graminece. 159 



Iialf as long as III, II and III puberulous above the middle, 

 II shorter than IV, galeate, III as long as IV, empty, 

 paleate, palea very small, narrow, acute, IV very gibbous 

 -dorsally, contracted below into a stipes, laterally much com- 

 pressed, coriaceous, smooth, polished, pale brown, tip pro- 

 minent, with a dorsal tuft of brown hairs, palea narrow, 

 coriaceous, sides involute. 



Central Province, in the Forest region. Spikelets pale brown. 



Bengal and S. India, Burma, Malaya, Madagascar. 



Differs from P. trigonum, with which Thwaites united it as a sylvan 

 form, in the much larger stouter habit, nearly glabrous spikelets, and 

 more gibbous pale brown glume IV. P. trigonum is, however, quite a 

 small plant, with slender stem, 6-18 in. high, 1. \- 3 by \-\ in., and a 

 few-fid. panicle with pubescent glumes. 



40. P. patens, Linn. Sp. PI. 58 (1753). 



P. trigonum (in part), Thw. Enum. 359. P. radicans, Retz. Obs. iv. 18. 

 P. obliquum, Roth, Nov. Gen. and Sp. 51. C. P. 886 (in part), 887. 



Fl. B. Ind. vi. 56. Burm. Fl. Ind. t. 10, f. 2. Trin. Sp. Gram. Ic. t. 88 

 {P. accrescens). 



Stem, 1-2 ft., very slender, branching creeping and rooting 

 below, leafy, internodes very variable, nodes glabrous, lower 

 •emitting very long solitary wiry roots; 1. 2-6 by \-\ in., ovate 

 to linear-lanceolate, finely acuminate, glabrous or ciliate at 

 the base with sometimes tubercle-based hairs, margins and 

 mouth of sheath ciliated, ligule rounded ; panicle 2-5 in., 

 usually inclined, effuse or contracted, branches long, distant, 

 naked below, glabrous or puberulous, branchlets and long 

 pedicels capillary; spikelets T V in. long, glabrous, glumes with 

 ciliate tips; otherwise as in P. pilipes. 



Central region, Peradeniya, &c. Fl. Feb. Oct. 



Hilly districts of Eastern Asia, the Malayan and the Pacific Islands. 

 C. P. n. 886 is a dwarf form from Nuwara Eliya with 1. only |-i in. 

 long, and small panicle. 



41. P. sparsicomum, Nees ex Steud. Syn. Gram. 83 (1854). 

 Fl. B. Ind. vii. 58. 



Stem 6-18 in., filiform, flaccid, diffusely branched, branches 

 •decumbent and ascending, leafy, internodes 1-2 in., nodes 

 glabrous or pubescent, lower emitting solitary wiry roots; 

 1. \-2.\ in., narrowly lanceolate, finely acuminate, thin, flat, 

 ■softly pubescent on both surfaces, 7-veined, base unequal, 

 rounded or subcordate, sheath pubescent, margins ciliate, 

 ligule a ridge of short hairs; panicle long-peduncled, laxly 

 •effuse, 4-6 in. long and broad, ped. and filiform rhachis smooth, 

 branches and branchlets alt., distant, widely spreading, 

 •capillary ; spikelets few, distant, ^f^t in - l or) g> on l° n g 

 capillary spreading pedicels, glabrous; glumes I— II I mem- 



