Panicum.] ChllL GRAMINEiB. 1827 



7 or d-nerved, 3rd glumo the same length but straighter and neither gibboaa nor 

 ciliate, with a small paloa in its axil ; fruiting glume considerably shorter, — F. v. 

 M. Fragm. viii. 197 ; Trin. Spec. Grami t. 197. 



Hab.: Between Norman and Gilbert Bivers, Gulliver ; Endeavour Biver, Bankg and Solander ; 

 Wide Buy and Brisbane Biver, Leichhardt ; Moreton Bay, C. Stuart. 



Widely dispersed over trdpioil Asia and Africa.. P. phleoidet, B. Br. Prod. 189, is almost 

 exactly th^ typioal form represented in Herb. Linn .small and slender, with a short Apike of 

 ^ to lin. and rather small spikeleta. P. arcuatitm, B. Br. I.e. is the largest perhaps the most 

 common form, with rather larger more curved spikeleta, in a spike of 1 to 2in, The two run 

 very much into each other.-.-BeB(fi, 



28. P. myuruB (like a rat's-tail), Lam. ; Kunth, Emm. i. 86 ; Btnth. Fl. 

 Auitr. vii. 480. A tall grass, the lower part when under water often thiokj more 

 or less flattened and rooting at the nodes, the upper part erect, 2 to 4ft. high, 

 quite . glabrous. Leaves ; flat, the lower ones sometimes ^in. broad. Panicle 

 cylindrical, dense and spikelike, or. lobed and interrupted at the base, Sin to above 

 1ft. long. Spikelets crowded along the short erect branches. Outer glume thin 

 and hyaline, }-nerved, mucronate-acute, under 1 line long, inserted (always ?) at 

 some distance below the others ; 2nd glume 2 lines long, 3-nerved, t^p^ring to a 

 fine point, 8rd still longer with a longer point, 3 or 5-nerved, usually with a 

 small- palea in iihe axil. Flowering glame shorter, thin and hyaHne at the time, 

 of flowering, slightly stiffened but not hardened round the fruit. — Bail. III. Mono. 

 Gr. Q. i, ; Hymenachne myurus, Beauv. Agrost. 49, t. 10, f. 8, and with some 

 other species, Nees Agrostol. Brasil. 273; P. intethijitiim, \N]lldi."'Knnth, 

 Enum. i. 87. 



Hab.: Trinity Bay, Bailey ; Maekay, L. J. Nugent. 

 A rather common tropical grass in the New and the Old World. 



As the water dries up in the swamps in which thid grass grows, the ranning stems are greedily 

 eaten by stock. 



29. P. foliosum (leafy), E.' Br. Prod. 191; Benth. Fl. Aiistr. vii. 481. 

 Stems 1 to 2ft. high, decumbent at the base. Leaves rather broad, usually 

 pubescent; the nerve-like margins often undulate. Panicle loose, with few 

 distant ' simple branches, the rhachis flexuose and slender, the lower branches 

 sometimes 2 to 3in. long. Spikelets few, distant, almost sessile or distinctly 

 pedicellate, and the lower pedicels sometimes bearing 2 spikelets, all abovo,2 lines 

 long in the typical form, ovoid, acute, pubescent or glabrous. Outer glutne about 

 ball as long as the spikelet, very broad, acute, with about 7 nerVes, 2nd and Srd 

 glumes nearly equal, 5 or 7-nerved ; a rather broad palea in the 3rd. Fruiting 

 ghime minutely rugose without the point of P. helnpiis and its allies, but usually 

 with a short callous incurved lip.-^F. v. M. Fragm. viii. 194. 



Hab.; 'BasXaxS.'Bay, Banla and Solander ; Keppel Bay, i?. Bfoipji ; Bockhampton, O'Shanesy, 

 Thor.et ; Moreton Bay; F. v. Mueller, Leichhardt, C. Stuart. 



■ 30, P. adspersum (scattered hairs), Trin. Sped Gram. t. 169; Benth. Fl. 

 Austi:. vii. 481. Stems ascending to 1ft. or rather more, glabrous except the 

 ciliate nodes. Leaves flat,- rather broad and short, the sheaths broader upwards, 

 prominently ciliate, the lamina almost cordate at the base, with a very short 

 ciliate ligula. Panicle narrow, rather dense, 1^ to Sin. long, with several erect 

 or slightly spreading branches, all glabrous without any or with very few small 

 cilia under the spikelets. Spikelets ovoid, rather acute, quite glabrous, 1^ to 

 near 2 lines long, crowded or clustered in the lower part Of the branches, singly 

 sessile towards the end. Outer glume J to ^ as long as the spikelet, rather acute, 

 1 or 8-&6rved ; 2nd and Srd glumes nearly equal, the 2nd broad, usually 

 prominently 7-nerved, the Srd narrower, with about 5 nerves, and enclosing a 

 long palea. Fruiting glume tipped With a minute point- and minutely transversely 

 rngose.— Maid. Gr; N.S,W. 43. 



■ Hah..' Eeeorded' fo* Queensland by F. v.'M. 



