38 



in the interior will keep it under observation. It certainly belongs to 

 a group which contains a number of fodder-plants known to be very 

 valuable to the pastoralist, and the appearance of this grass leads one 

 to the belief that it yields a fair quantity of tender herbage. Baron 

 von Mueller records that at the Murchison Biver, in Western Australia, 

 it attains a height of 3 feet. 



Habitat and range. — An interior species ; found in all the colonies 

 except Tasmania and Victoria. 



Reference, to Plate. — a, Portion of a spike, enlarged, showing the flattened rhachis, 

 which ends in an awn-like point, and the rigid awn-like bristle under the lowest spikelet ; 

 B, c, Spikelet dissected, showing the outer and second and third glumes ; also the fruiting 

 glume and palea ; d, Spikelet, showing relative size of outer glume ; s, Grain. Note the 

 characteristic way in which the spikes are bent back or reflexed. 



Series IY. — EcmNOCHLOiE. 



Spikelets sessile and crowded in three or four rows, or irregularly 

 along the simple alternate, usually secund spikes or spikelike branches 

 of the panicle. Glumes sometimes awned. 



27. Panicum crus-galli, Linn. 



Botanical name. — Crus-galli (Latin) — crus, the shank, or that part of 

 the leg between the knee and what corresponds to the ankle ; galli 

 11 of a cock." Name given from a fancied resemblance of the crowded 

 spikelets to the foot rather than the leg of a cock. 



Vernacular names. — "Barn-yard Grass" of U.S.A. Other American 

 names are " Cock's-foot" (not to be confused with Dactylis), " Large 

 Crow-foot Grass," " Water Grass." 



Where figured. — Duthie, Vasey, Trinius, Agricultural Gazette. 



Botanical description (B. FL, vii, 479). — A coarse, decumbent annual, 

 ascending to 1 or 2 feet, the leaves rather broad, without any ligula. 



Panicle dense, and usually secund, of simple branches or sessile spikes, the lowest 1 or 

 2 inches long, the upper ones gradually shorter ; the whole panicle in some 

 varieties densely hispid with the long purplish or green awns. 



Spikelets about 1^ lines long, more or less pubescent, acuminate or awned, crowded 

 and clustered along the branches. 



Rhachis usually bearing numerous cilia or capillary bristles amongst or below the 

 spikelets. 



Outer glume very short and broad. 



Second and third glumes nearly equal, and three-nerved, usually ciliate on the margins. 



Second produced into a rather short awn. 



Third in the common Australian form, with an awn varying from \ to 1 inch, and a 

 thin palea, and very rarely a male flower in its axil. 



Fruiting glume smooth and shining, without any or only a very short point. 



Botanical notes. — The species with which this grass is most likely 

 to be confused is P. colonum, a tropical grass, which has been intro- 

 duced also into this Colony. The two grasses can usually be most 

 readily distinguished by the larger size and the longer awns of P. 

 crus-galli. The latter species is, however, exceedingly variable in the 

 matter of awns ( <e bristles ") ; sometimes they are quite short and 

 scarcely observable ; sometimes great variation exists in the same 

 panicle. Some authorities unite them, but it is better to keep them 



