GRAMINEAE 93 



12. P. psilopodium Trin. 



A tufted, erect or ascending, more or less branched, glabrous, annual 

 grass 16 to 30 cm high. Stems rather slender, base more or less decumbent. 

 Leaves narrowly lanceolate, acuminate, 5 to 9 cm long, 3 to 5 mm wide, 

 the sheaths rather loose, mostly longer than the internodes, glab^us. 

 Panicles diffuse, 7~ to 10 cm long, the branches solitary, spreading or 

 ascending, alternate, glabrous. Spikelets narrowly ovate, acute, glabrous, 

 3 mm long, green or slightly purplish, the pedicels long, scabrid. 



Novaliches road, San Juan del Monte, etc., on banks and in open places, 

 not common, fl. July-Nov.; apparently rare in the Philippines, or at least 

 local. India and Ceylon to Burma and the Malay Peninsula. 



♦ 13. P. MAXIMUM Jaeq. Guinea Grass. '^ 



An erect, rather coarse, 'perennial grass 2 to 3 m high, the stems often 

 nearly 1 cm in diameter near the base, the nodes bearded. Leavjes linear- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, numerous, 20 to 30 cm long, 1 to 1.5 cm wide. 

 Panicles diffuse, 20 to 30 cm long, the branches whorled, slender, the 

 lower ones 15 to 20 cm long. Spikelets numerous, green, pedicellate, 

 3 mm long, elliptic-oblong, acute or obtuse, glabrous. 



Of recent introduction and considerably cultivated as a forage grass, 

 but not spontaneous, fl. all the year. A native of Africa, now cultivated 

 in many tropical countries. 



14. P. paludosum Roxb. 



An aquatic perennial grass, the flowering stems erect or ascending, 

 often nearly 1 m tall, the" basal parts floating or rooting in the mud, soft, 

 often 1 cm in diameter. Leaves 15 to 25 cm long, 1.5 cm wide or less, 

 • •. acuminate, scabrid, thin. Panicles only slightly exserted from the upper- 

 most sheath, at first contracted, ultimately very diffuse, usually about 20 cm 

 long, often as wide as long, the br'anches alternate or somewhat whorled, 

 branched from the base. Spikelets very numerous, lanceolate, acuminate, 

 green, 3.5 to 4 mm long, the pedicels solitary, scabrid, thickened upward. 



In marshy borders of the Pasig River, esteros etc., not very common, 

 fl. all the year; widely distributed in the Philippines at low and medium 

 altitudes. India to southern China and Malaya. 



15. P. repens L. 



An erect, rather wiry, perennial grass 0.4 to 1 m high, the rootstoQks 

 stout, the whole plant somewhat glaucous, the stems below somewhat 

 prostrate or creeping. Leaves linear-lanceolate, 8 to 15 cm long, 5 to 8 

 mm wide, acuminate, scabrid. Panicles exserted, 7 to 18 cm long, somewhat 

 diffuse, the branches slender, erect or ascending, sometimes nodding, elon- 

 gated, scattered, 1 to 3 at each node. Spikelets oblong-ovate, acute or 

 slightly acuminate, 3 mm long. 



'Very common in low open grass lands, fl. all the year; widely distributed, 

 in the Philippines at low altitudes. Tropics generally, and some subtropr 

 ical and subtemperate countries. 



16. P. warburgil Mez. 



A weak, prostrate grass, the stems slendey, rooting at the nodes and 

 sending up short, panicle-bearing branches 5 to 15 cm in length. Leaves 

 narrowly lanceolate, acuminate, 1.5 to 5 cm long, 2 to 5 mm wide. Pani- 

 cles slightly exserted, diffuse, 1.5 to 5 cm long, the branches few, spreading, 

 usually branched from the base. Spikelets few, green or purplish, long- 

 pedicelled, obovoid, somewhat laterally compressed, 1.5 mm long. 



