Oplismenus^ Graminecz '. 1 69 



glabrous, spikes distant, 5-2 in., spikelets small, rather distant, glabrous,, 

 longest awns \ in. 



e. Habit and infl. of 4, but 1. smaller, spikelets smaller, ^ in. (without 

 the awns), glumes I— 1 1 1 silkily pubescent. — O. compositus, form 6, a,. 

 Fl. B. Ind. vii. 68. Panicum Burmanni, Thw. Enum. 358 (non Retz.). 

 C. P. 3963. 



f. Stem slender, glabrous ; 1. 2-3 in. narrowly lanceolate, sparsely hairy 

 above, glabrous beneath; spikelets few, binate, in a simple terminal long- 

 peduncled spike, or a few lowest on a very short lateral branch or spike, 

 glabrous, longest awn -g- in. C. P. 3683. 



Throughout the Island. First collected in Ceylon by Hermann, 

 1660-1667. a. Hantane and Ambagamuwa. b. Ambagamuwa (Gardner). 

 c. Hantane, Ambagamuwa. d. Dambulla. e. Nalanda. f. Nalanda,. 

 Trincomalie (Glenie). 



All warm countries except Australia. 



The widely distributed O. iindulatifolius (a native of Europe) is a 

 form of this, with a simple terminal spike of sessile spikelets. 



2. O. Burmannii, Beauv. Agrost. 54 (18 12). 



Trim, in Journ. Bot. xxvii. 168. Panicum Bu7~manni, Retz.; Roxb. 

 Fl. Ind. i. 298. P. liirtelhtm, Burm. Fl. Ind. 24 (non L ). 



Fl. B. Ind. vii. 68. Burm. 1. c. t. 13, f. 1. Trin. Sp. Gram. Ic. t. 193. 



A very slender, diffusely branched, leafy grass, 6-18 in. 

 high, internodes glabrous, lower short, upper elongate, nodes 

 glabrous; 1. \-\\ in., ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate,, 

 glabrous or sparsely pilose with long hairs, sheath glabrous, 

 margins white; panicle 1-2 in., usually long peduncled, ped. 

 and grooved flexuous rhachis filiform, glabrous; spikes few, 

 \-\ in., sessile, few-fld., rhachis trigonous, clothed with erect 

 white bristles as long as the spikelets ; spikelets T V in. (excl. 

 the awns), on very short setose pedicels, secund, solitary or 

 binate, imbricating; glumes I — 1 1 1 hyaline, ciliate, and silkily 

 hairy, I broadly ovate, half as long as III, 3-5 -veined, awn 

 \ in., capillary, scaberulous, II about half as long as IV, 

 broadly ovate, 5 -veined, awn shorter than that of I, III as 

 long as IV, broadly oblong, obtuse, 9-veined, empty, awn 

 shorter than the glume, palea o or very narrow, keels ciliate, 

 IV elliptic-lanceolate, acute. 



Low hot region. Trincomalie {Ferguson). Mannar Isld. (Trimen). 

 Spikelets very pale green. 



India, Malaya, China, Japan, Trop. Africa. 



I have described this species from Ceylon specimens in Herb. Peraden. 



3. O. Thwaitesii, Hook. f. 

 C P. 3964- 



Fl. B. Ind. vii. 68 (O. coinpositus, form 6, c, Fl. B. Ind. vii. 68). 



Very slender, diffusely branched, 6-10 in. high, leafy, 

 glabrous, lower internodes short, upper long, nodes glabrous; 

 1. 1-2 in., lanceolate, acuminate, glabrous, sheath glabrous, 

 margins ciliate; panicle 2-3 in., ped. and trigonous flexuous 

 rhachis filiform, glabrous; spikes very few, distant, erect, lower 



