859 



hay, Transvaal (Burtt-Davy, Transv. Agric. Journ. iii. Jan. 



1905, p. 290). 



An annual weed in old lands (I.e.) commonly found on old 

 maize lands, Transvaal (Burtt-Davy, Transvaal Agric. Journ. 

 1905-06, t. 9); abundant in bush, Katagum (Dalziel, Herb. 

 Kew) ; invades cultivated fields and sometimes becomes a 

 common weed, especially in " alfalfa " {Medicago saliva, see 

 p. 186) fields, South Western United States (Hitchcock, I.e. 



p. 189). 



Ctenium, Panz. 



Ctenimn elegans, Kunth; Fl. Trop. Afr. ined. 



Vernac. names. — Shinaka, ^yutsiar or Wutsiyar Kusa (Sokoto, 



Hausa, Dalziel). 



Lagos, Abbeokuta, Katagum, Sokoto, Borgu etc. in Nigeria; 



also in Sierra Leone and other parts of Tropical Africa. 



Used for thatching, Sokoto (Dalziel, Hausa Bot. Voc. p. 88); 

 pulp suitable for j)aper-making (Bull. Imp. List. 1921, p. 281). 



A perennial, about 6 ft. high in open plains, Borgu (Barter, 

 Herb. Kew), about 2 ft. high, Sokoto ; a roadside weed, Katagum 

 (Dalziel, Hausa Bot. Voc. p. 88; Herb. Kew); a very elegant 

 widely caespitose grass, culms 2-3 ft. or higher, plentiful in 

 rather damp meadows on the banks of the river Cuanza, Pungo 

 Andongo, Angola (Hiern, Cat. Welw. Afr. PI. ii. p. 221). 



Eleusine, Gaertn. 



Eleusine coracana, Gaertn. ; Fl. Trop. Afr. ined. 



ZW.— Trinius, Sp. Gram. Ic. i. t. 70; Lam. Encycl. t. 48, 

 f . 1 ; Duthie, Field Crops, t. 28 ; Church, Food Grains, India, 

 p. 88 ; Symonds, Indian Grasses, t. 5 ; Lisboa, Bombay Grasses, 

 p. 109; Wood, Natal PI. t. 5; Barber, Inter.. Sugar Journ. 



Dec. 1920, p. 684. 



Vernac. names. — Tamba (Katagum, Dalziel) ; Uimbe (Zanzi- 

 bar, Bull, Imp. Inst. 1914, p. 340); Dokhn (Hadramaut, Lunt); 

 Talban (Abyssinia, Col. Rep. Msc. No. 71, 1910, p. 212); 

 Marumbi (Zambesi, Scott); Telebun (Africa, Junker); Dagussa 

 (Eritrea, Baldrati); Mitchinin (Zambesi, Kirk); Tomba (N. 

 Nigeria, Dudgeon); Lucu or Luco (Golungo Alto, Welivitsch); 

 Ragi (India, Watt); Bolu (Unyoro, Daive); Upoko (Natal, 

 Wood); Ooleyzei (Nile, Spehe & Grant); Nagli (Bombay, 

 FZe^c/ier).— Tamba Millet (N. Nigeria), Ginger Millet. 



Nigeria, also in Rhodesia, Arabia, Natal, India, etc. 



Grain an important food, but sometimes only regarded as 

 a famine food in India, where the straw is also used for fodder ; 

 cultivated as food for cattle, Hadramaut (Lunt, Herb. Kew); 

 Ragee flour is used in Malaya for food — increased use recom- 

 mended to meet the growing shortage of rice (Journ. Roy. Soc. 

 Arts, Oct. 1st, 1910, p. 733) ; cultivated everywhere for making 

 an African beer (Garapa) from the seeds, Golungo Alto (Hiern, 



