282 Graminece. [Lefitochloa* 



the upper, articulate at the base; glumes membranous, I and 

 II oblong or lanceolate, 1 -veined, keeled, II longest, flg. 

 glumes 1-6, all perfect or upper neuter, ovate, subacute or 

 obtuse, 3-veined, not awned, veins often ciliate, lateral sub- 

 marginal, palea nearly as long as the glume, 2-keeled ; 

 lodicules 2, cuneate ; stam. 2-3 ; styles free to the base,, 

 stigmas short, plumose, laterally exserted; grain loose or 

 cohering with the palea, oblong-fusiform, compressed or 

 trigonous, pericarp loose or adnate to the seed. — Sp. uncer- 

 tain ; 5 in Fl. B. Ind. 



Spikelets i-fld. 



Empty glumes linear-lanceolate . . . . 1. L. uniflora. 



Empty glumes oblong 2. L. polystachya.. 



Spikelets 2-6-fld. 



Spikelets 2-3-fld 3. L. FILIFORMIS. 



Spikelets 4-6-fld 4. L. chinensis. 



1. £■■ uniflora, Hochst. ex A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss, ii. 409 (1847-51). 

 Trim. Cat. Ceyl. PI. 109. Cynodon gracilis, Nees; Thw. Enum. 371. 



C. P. 2948. 



Fl. B. Ind. vii. 297. (?) Burm. Fl. Ind. t. xi. f. 1 (Poa c/iinensis). 

 Stem 1-2 ft., very slender, simple or branched, ascending,. 

 often geniculately, from a shortly decumbent base, lower inter- 

 nodes short, upper long; 1. 1-3 by J-§ in., oblong-lanceolate, 

 acuminate, membranous, flaccid, translucent, smooth on both 

 surfaces, midrib and 2-3 pairs of veins very slender, base 

 very narrow, margins scaberulous, sheaths smooth, mouth not 

 luricled, ligule short, membranous ; panicle 6-8 in., rhachis 

 filiform, smooth, branches 2-3 in., rather distant, spreading, 

 capillary, flexuous ; spikelets i-fld., rather distant, ^ iV .i n - l° n g* 

 sessile; empty glumes narrowly lanceolate, subaristately acu- 

 minate, keel scaberulous flg. glume shorter than the empty, 

 hyaline, ^vate, acute, lateral veins marginal, margin and keel 

 and keels of palea ciliate with long hairs ; anth. 2, large, 

 oblong ; grain fusiform, obtusely trigonous, acute, rugulose, 

 as long as the palea and adherent to it. 



Drier parts of the Island; common. Fl. all seasons. 



Also in Tinnevelly, Afr. Trop. 



This differs from its congeners in the long narrow empty glumes. 



2. L. polystachya, Benth. Fl. Austral, vii. 617 (1878). 



L. Neesii, Benth.; Trim. Cat. Ceyl. PI. 109. Cynodon Neesii, Thw. 

 Enum. 371. C. P. 3749. 

 Fl. B. Ind. vii. 298. 



Stem 2-3 ft., rather stout, erect from a short creeping 

 rootstock with stout root-fibres, nodes glabrous or sparsely 

 bearded, internodes polished; 1. 12-18 by £- £ in., narrowly 



