637 Jour., Bom. Nat. Hist. Soc, Vol. XXXII, No 4 [May 31, 1928. 



rarely the latter suppressed. Involucral glumes dissimilar and mostly very 

 unequal in length. Lower involucral glume shortest ; upper resembling and 

 more or less equalling the lower floral glume, 5-7- (rarely 9-) nerved. Lower 

 floral glume 5-, rarely 7-nerved, the lateral nerves placed towards the margins 

 and distant from the middle nerve ; pale usually only slightly shorter than the 

 valve with well-developed inflexed flaps, or the latter vanishing above the middle; 

 upper floral glume oblong to elliptic in outline, emucronate, though sometimes 

 contracted into an apiculus, crustaceous or subcoriaceous with firm involute 

 margins, faintly 5-nerved ; pale almost as long as the glume, 2-keeled, its 

 sides tightly embraced by the valve. Lodicules 2, small, broadly cuneate. 

 Stamens 3. Styles distinct ; stigmas plumose, laterally exserted from the upper 

 part of the spikelet. Grain tightly enclosed by the glume and pale, more or 

 less flattened on both faces ; hilum subbasal, punctiform ; embryo half to over 

 f the length of the grain. 



Species about 80. In the warm parts of the whole world, but chiefly in 

 Africa. 



Cooke mentions 3 species which belong to this genus : Panicum Isachne, 

 P. ramosum and P. muticum. To these we add Brachiaria distachya [Panicum 

 distachyum) . 



A. Spikelets 0'5 mm. long or slightly more ... 1. B. Isachne 



B. Spikelets 2*5-4 mm. long 



I. 90 cm. to l - 8 m. high ... ... 2. B. mutica. 



II. Less than 80 cm. high 



1. Spikes 5-many ... ... ... 3. B. ramosa. 



2. Spikes 2-4 ... ... ... 4. B. distachya. 



1. Brachiaria Isachne, Stapf in Prain Fl. Trop. Afr. ix, 552 ; Haines in Bot. 

 Bihar & Orissa 1004 (habet Roth per errorem).—B. cruciformis, Griseb. in 

 Ledeb. Fl. Ross, iv, 469.— Panicum Isachne, Roth ex Roem. & Schult. Syst. 

 ii, 458 ; Roth Nov. PI. Sp. 54 ; Schult. Mant. ii, 252 ; Steud. Syn. PL Gl. i, 57; 

 Hook. f. in F.B.I, vii, 28; Stapf in Dyer Fl. Cap. vii, 390 ; Cke. ii, 931. — 

 P. eruciforme, Sibth. & Sm. Fl. Graeca i, t. 59; Baker Fl. Maurit. 434; 

 Schweinf. in Bull. Herb. Boiss. ii, App. ii, 19 ; Duthie Grass. N.W. Ind. 3, 

 Indig. Fodd. Grass, t. 43, Fodd. Grass. N. Ind. 6; Boiss. Fl. Or. v, 437.— 

 P. caucasicum, Trin. Sp. Gram. Ic. t. 262.— P. Wightii, Nees Fl. Afr. Austr. 29.— 

 P. pubinode, Hochst. ex. A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss, ii, 363. — Echinochloa cruci- 

 formis, Koch in Linnsea, xxi, 437 ; Reichb. Ic. Fl. Germ, i, t. 29, fig. 1413. 



Description : Cke. ii, 931. 



Locality: Sind : (Herb. Econ. Bot. Poona!). — Gujarat: Surat (Chibber!, 

 Dalzell teste Cooke).— Khandesh : Sungiri (Gammie 16552!); Dhulia Farm 

 (Chibber !) ; Chanseli (McCann A92 !) ; Nimb, Tapti Bank (Blatter & Hall- 

 berg 9571 !) ; Dadgaum (McCann9562 !) ; Tapti, Bhusawal (Blatter & Hall- 

 berg 5156!) ; Umalla village (Blatter & Hallberg 5159 !) ; Bor, Bori River 

 (Blatter & Hallberg 4424 !).— Konkan : Clerk Rd., Bombay, along brackish 

 water (Sabnis 9565 !) ; very common in Bombay and Salsette Islands (McCann !). 

 — Deccan : Yeola (Herb. Econ. Bot. Poona !) ; Mangiri, 8 miles E. of Poona 

 (Gammie!); Sholapur (D'Almeida A91 !) ; Deolali (Blatter 9570!, 9569!); 

 Khandala, common (McCann 9566!) ; Purandhar, N. foot (McCann 9568 !) ; 

 Panchgani, below Sidney Point (Blatter & Hallberg 1271 \).—S. M. Country : 

 Nelogi, elevation 1,800 ft., rainfall 30 inches (Sedgwick 2134 !) ; Haveri (Talbot 

 2150 \).—Kanara : Halyal (Talbot 2150 !). 



Distribution : Throughout the plains of India in damp places, Ceylon, west- 

 wards to Italy and tropical and S. Africa. 



*2. Brachiaria mutica, Stapf in Prain Fl. Trop. Afr. ix, 526.— Panicum 

 muticum, Forsk. Fl. Aegypt.— Arab. 20 ; Link Hort. Berol. I, 206 ; Hook. f. in 

 F. B. I. vii, 34, and in Trim. Fl. Ceyl. V, 140.— P. numidianum, Lam. 111. I, 

 172; Boiss. Fl. Or. v, 438.— P. purpurascens, Raddi ex Opiz in Flora (1822), 

 266.— P. barbinode, Trin. Sp. Gram. Ic. t. 318 ; Duthie List Grass. N. W. Ind. 

 2.— P. sarmentosum, Benth. in Hook. Niger Fl. 561 (non Roxb.). — P. equuium, 

 Steud. Syn. PI. Glum, i, 73.- P. molle, Griseb. Fl. Brit. West Ind. 547 (excl. 

 syn.); Baker Fl. Maurit. 436. 



In adopting Forskal's name ' muticum ' for this species Stapf, according to 

 his own words, has relied on Ascherson's indentification (Asch. & Schweinf. 

 111. Fl. Egypt 160) of the type with the Algerian P. numidianum. 



[16] 



