54 



Grain enclosed in the hardened glume and palea, but free from them. 



Awnlike panicle-branches, scabrous, with erect teeth. 



Panicle cylindrical, simple, 1 to 1J inches long, the spikelets solitary 



at the base of the awnlike branches ... ... ... ... 1. S. glauca. 



Panicle dense or interrupted, 3 to 8 inches long, the spikelets 



clustered near the base of the awnlike branches ... 2. S. macrostachya. 



1. Setaria glauca, Beauv.* 



Botanical name. — Setaria, from the Latin seta, a bristle, referring 

 to the awn-like, barren branches of the panicle ; glauca, Latin, grey 

 or blue, or sea-green. In botany, glaucous, i.e., a whitish, waxy- 

 green, like the green of a cabbage-leaf. 



Vernacular names. — " Pigeon-grass," <c Yellow Foxtail," " Bottle- 

 glass Foxtail " of the United States. 



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



Botanical description (B. Fl., vii, 492). — An erect annual of a pale 

 green, 1 to 2 feet high. 



Leaves flat, with scabrous edges, and often ciliate, with a few long hairs. 



Spikelike panicle, simple, cylindrical, 1 to 1| inches long, the spikelets solitary at the 

 base of numerous awn-like branches, many of which are barren, and all scab- 

 rous, with minute teeth directed upwards. 



Spikelets ovoid, about 1£ lines long. 



Outer glume very small, the second not quite so long as the third ; a palea and 

 very rarely stamens in the third. 



Fruiting glume more or less gibbous, marked with prominent transverse wrinkles. 



Value as a fodder — It is a weed of gardens, orchards, &c, in many 

 parts of the Colony, preferring low-lying situations where the ground 

 has been newly broken up and is moist. It is of a spreading habit, 

 green and succulent, and yields a fair quantity of fodder, which stock 

 eat readily enough. It comes up in the summer months and dies 

 down with the cold weather. Vasey says that it is very common in 

 cultivated fields in the United States, especially amongst stubble after 

 the cutting of grain. It is as nutritious as S. italica, but not so pro- 

 ductive. 



Duthie states that it is generally considered to be a fairly good 

 fodder-grass in India, quoting Symonds, who says that it affords a 

 moderately good fodder, but that it is unsuited for making hay. In 

 the central provinces of India it is used as fodder. 



Other uses. — The grain is used as food in the central provinces 

 of India. (Duthie.) 



Habitat and range. — Where truly indigenous, usually met with along 

 river banks, &c, where the soil is rich. Found in all the Colonies 

 except Tasmania. In this Colony it occurs in most districts. It is a 

 cosmopolitan species. 



* Sometimes this author's name is given in the contracted form as Palisot. His full 

 name is A. M. F. J. Palisot de Beauvois, and he is the author of an important work on 

 grasses published at Paris in 1812. 



