THE NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF PENNISETUM. 



215 



Fig. 64. — Pennisetum orientate triflorum. 

 From A mer. Gr. Nat. Herb. 613, Jamaica. 



appressed-pubescent, leaves numerous, the sheaths loose, mostly overlapping, ciliate 



on the margin, otherwise glabrous; ligule lacerate- 



ciliate, scarcely 1 mm. long; blades flat, lax, 5 to 10 



mm. wide, elongate, sparsely hispid on the upper 



surface, scabrous beneath and sometimes with a 



few scattered hairs; panicles 12 to 20 cm. long, 



about 15 to 20 mm. thick, purplish, rather loose at 



least toward the base, nodding, the axis angled, 



densely pubescent; fascicles peduncled, spreading 



or reflexed; bristles slender, flexuous, unequal, 



the outer short, scabrous only, the inner mostly 1 



to 1.5 cm. long, plumose below, the innermost one 



a little stronger and 2 to 2.5 cm. long; spikelets 



1 to several in a fascicle, pedicellate, 5 to 7 mm. 



long, about 1.5 mm. wide, glabrous or scabrous; 



glumes acuminate-pointed, 1 to 3 -nerved, the first 



one-fourth to one-third and the second about 



three-fourths the length of the spikelet; sterile and 



fertile lemmas subequal, acuminate-pointed, the 



tips usually spreading, 5-nerved, the sterile lemma inclosing a palea of equal length 



and a staminate flower, the fruit but slightly indurate, the tip of the palea free. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Native of India, introduced in the West Indies, where it is called Himalaya grass 

 and is ^aid to be a good forage grass; escaped from cultivation and found along trails 

 and in open grassland (only American specimens are cited below). 

 Jamaica: Cinchona, Amer. Gr. Nat. Herb. 613; Hitchcock 9700; Harris 11300, 11433. 

 Trinidad: Port of Spain, Hitchcock 10169. 



3. Pennisetum ciliare (L.) Link. 



Cenchrus ciliaris L. Mant. PI. 302. 1771. "Habitat ad Cap. b. spei [Cape of Good 

 Hope, Africa] * * % Koenig." The description indicates the 

 dwarfed form found in arid situations. 



Pennisetum ciliare Link, Hort. Berol. 1: 213. 1827. Based on 

 Cenchrus cilia ris~L. The habitat is given as "Caribaeis, Cumana." 



Pennisetum, cenchroides L. Rich, in Pers. Syn. PI. 1: 72. 1805. 

 Based on Cenchrus ciliaris L. 



DESCRIPTION. 





Plants perennial, tufted from a knotted crown; culms geniculate, 

 slender, 10 to 50 cm. tall, sometimes taller, sparingly branching, 

 scabrous at least on the uppermost joint; sheaths minutely scabrous 

 and usually pilose along the margin; ligule ciliate, about 1 mm. 

 long, sometimes minute; blades flat or folded, 2 to 10 cm. long 

 (longer in plants in moist situations), 3 to 5 mm. wide, scabrous on 

 the upper surface and long-pilose toward the base, glabrous or nearly 

 so beneath; panicle 1.5 to 10 cm. long, not dense, purplish, mostly 

 flexuous, the axis slender, angled, scabrous; fascicles subsessile, 

 spreading; bristles united at the very base, flexuous, unequal, the 

 outer short, slender, scabrous only, the inner thicker, flattened, 

 about twice the length of the spikelet, ciliate, the innermost one 

 a little longer than the rest; spikelets 1 to 5 in a fascicle, sessile, 4 to 5.5 mm. 

 long, about 1.5 mm. wide, scaberulous; glumes thin, 1 to 3-nerved, acute or 

 abruptly mucronate, the first one-fourth to more than one-third, the second two- 

 thirds to three-fourths, the length of the spikelet; eterile lemma shorter than the 



Fig. 65.— Pennisetum 

 ciliar e . From 

 Drummond, Pun- 

 jab, India. 



