84 A FLORA OF MANILA 



8. A. serratus Thunb. (§ Sorghum. ) i 

 A somewhat slender or rather stout erect grass 0.8 to 1.5 m high, the 



stems usually unbranched, nodes pubescent. Leaves 20 to 40 cm long, 

 10 mm wide or less, acuminate. Panicles rather lax, erect, brownish-red, 

 10 to 15 cm long, the branches slender, whorled, the lower ones 9 cm long 

 or less. Spikes solitary, scattered on the branches, each with from 2 to 

 6 joints, the joints, pedicels, and ca^us short-villous. Sessile spikelets 

 about 5 mm long, oblong-ovoid or ovoid-lanceolate, the first glume some- 

 what villous, dark-brown or hearly black, shining, the fourth glume small, 

 with a slender geniculate and twisted awn 2 to. 2.5 cm long, the pedicelled 

 spikelets very much narrower thah the sessile ones. 



In open places near streams, Masambong, fl. Dec.-Feb.; v/idely dis- 

 tributed in the Philippines. Tropical Asia through Ma'laya to Australia. 



9. A. nitldus (Vahl) Kunth. 



A slender, simple, erect grass 0.6 to 1.2 m high, the nodes prominently 

 bearded. Leaves linear-lanceolate, up to 25 cm long, about 5 mm wide. 

 Panicles long-peduncled, 10 to 20 cm long, lax, the branches slender, 

 whorled, the lower ones, up to 8 cm long, the upper one gradually shorter. 

 ^Spikelets brown, shining, about 4 mm long, ovoid to oblong-ovoid,' brown- 

 hirsute. Flowering glume awnless. 



In open grass lands near Santa Mesa, fl. May-July; widely distributed in 

 the Philippines. India to Formosa and Malaya. Very similar to the 

 preceding, differing chiefly in its awnless flowering glumes. 



*10. A. SORGHUM (L.) Brot. Batad (Tag.) ; Sorghum. 



A stout, erect, annual grass usually about 2 m high, the stem often 1 

 cm or more in diameter, solid. Leaves 20 to 50 cm long, 2 to 5 cm wide, 

 acuminate. Panicles dense, 15 to 30 cm long, compound, erect. Spikelets 

 ovoid, more or less pubescent, about 5. mm long, pale, purplish, or nearly 

 black, the first glume hard and shining, the fourth awnless or sometimes 

 awned. 



Cultivated sparingly in our area; widely distributed in the Philippines 

 in cultivation, several forms being found in the Archipelago, not spontaneous 

 and certainly not a native" of the Archipelago, although of prehistoric 

 introduction. Probably ?i native of Africa Or Asia, now cultivated in all 

 warni and tropical countries. 



11. A. halepensis (L.) Brot., var. proplnquus. (Kunth) Merr. Batad- 



batadan (Tag.). 



A tall, • coarse, erect, unbranched perennial grass 1.5 to 3 m high. 

 Leaves up to 1 *i in length, 1.5 to 4.5 cm wide, long-acuminate. Panicles 

 erect, lax, 20 to 40 cm long, the branches few, distant, spreading or droop- 

 ing. Spikelets numerous, oblong-ovoid, pubescent, greenish or purpMsh, 

 awness, about 4 mm long. (Fl. Filip. pi. 436, Sorghum aaccharatum.) 



In thickets and open damp places, occasional in our area, fl. most of the 

 year; widely distributed in the Philippines. Ceylon to the Moluccas, the 

 species in most tropical and some temperate regions. 



17. ZOISIA Willdenow 



A low, much-branched, rigid, erect, gregarious grass. Leaves subulate, 

 sharply pointed. Spikelets small, ovoid, 1-flowered, somewhat crowded in 

 erect, narrow spikes, jointed on and appressed to a stiff, notched, unjointed 

 rachis, sessile or shortly pedicelled. Glumes 2, the first empty, laterally 



