164 



79. ISACHNE. 



Spikelets two-flowered, both flowers hermaphrodite or the upper 

 female or the lower male, small in loose panicles, the rhachis of the 

 spikelet articulate above the empty glumes, glabrous and not produced 

 above the flowering ones. 



Glumes unawned, convex, faintly nerved, two outer empty ones 

 nearly equal ; flowering ones of a firmer consistence, closely sessile or 

 the upper one slightly raised. 



Palea as long as the glume. 



Styles distinct. 



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



1. Isachne australis, It. Br. 



Botanical name. — Isachne — Greek, isos, equal ; achne, chaff (glume), 

 the two outer glumes being equal ; australis, Latin, southern (Aus- 

 tralian). 



Synonym. — Panicum atrovirens, Trim 



Vernacular name. — " Swamp Millet." 



Wiere figured. — Buchanan; Agricultural Gazette. 



Botanical description (B. Fl., vii, 625). — 



Stems rather slender, decumbent, creeping, and rooting at the lower nodes, ascending 



to 1 foot or more. 

 Leaves lanceolate, rough, with a minute pubescence. 

 Panicle loose, spreading, ovoid in circumscription, 1^ to 3 inches long, with numerous 



filiform branches. 

 Spikelets all pedicellate, nearly 1 line long. 

 Outer glume quite glabrous. 

 Lower flower usually male, with a glabrous glume, the upper female, shortly stipitate, 



with the glume usually minutely and slightly pubescent, the rhachis slightly 



dilated, and articulate immediately under the upper glume. 



Value as a fodder. — A swamp-loving grass, nutritious, and readily 

 -eaten by stock. It is a tender, green grass, of rapid growth, 

 and bears abundance of seed. Symonds, " Indian Grasses/' p. 33, 

 says that horses and cattle are very fond of it. (Duthie). 



Habitat and range. — Found in Victoria, New South Wales, and 

 Queensland. In New South Wales it extends from the coast to the 

 tableland. Its favourite habitat is swampy land, or by the sides of 

 streams. It also occurs in New Zealand, and in tropical Asia from 

 Ceylon and the Peninsula to the Malayan Archipelago and South China. 



81. EKIACHNE. 



Spikelets two-flowered, usually not very numerous, in a loose or 

 dense panicle, the flowers both hemaphrodite and similar, the rhachis 

 of the spikelet articulate above the outer glumes and hairy round the 

 flowering ones. 



Empty glumes two, persistent, acute or tapering into a point or short 

 awn, many- (usually nine- to eleven-) nerved. 



Flowering glumes with fewer nerves, with long spreading hairs on 

 the back or margins, awnless or tapering into a fine straight or curved 

 awn not twisted. 



