1852 CLIII. GRAMINE^. [tmperata. 



spikelets IJ to near 2 lines long ; outer glume 5 or 7-nerved, the 2nd 3 or 

 5-nerved, the 8rd usually empty. — E. Br. Prod. 204 ; Host, Gram. Austr. iv. t. 

 40 ; Eeichb. Ic. Fl. Germ. t. 55 ; Duthie Ind. Gr. pi. xv ; Turner Austr. Gr. 



Hab.: Common ia all parts where the land is damp. 



Leaves used for making dilly-bags. — Roth. , , 



The 3rd glume is usually empty, but sometimes the 3rd and 4th glumes are nearly similar, 

 each with a hermaphrodite flower in its axil. 



82. POLLINIA, Trin. not of Spreng. 



(After Cyrus Pollini.) 



Spikelets 1 -flowered, in pairs in the alternate notches of the articulate rhachis 

 of simple spikes, one sessile or shortly pedicellate, the other on a longer pedicel, 

 but the two otherwise similar, the spikes sessile and clustered or rarely solitary 

 at the end of the common peduncle. Glumes 4 or 3, outer one the largest, 

 membranous, awnless with a truncate toothed or ciliate tip, 2Qd usually thinner, 

 keeled, acute or produced into a fine straight awn, Brd thin and hyaline or 

 deficient ; terminal or 4th glume a twisted and bent awn, contracted and flexuose 

 or hyaline, dilated and 2-lobed at the base as in Andropor/on. Palea small and 

 hyaline or none. Styles distinct. Grain enclosed in the outer glumes and free 

 from them. — Habit of Andropogon, sect. Gijmnandropoffon, the spikes silky- villous, 

 rufous or silvery- white as in .4. sericeiis and its allies, but the pedicellate spikelets 

 are all except sometimes at the base of the spike fertile, which is never the case 

 in Andropogon. , 



The genus extends over tropical Asia and Africa. 



Third glume very small and hyaline or none. Awn contracted at the base 

 into a narrow flexuose stipes. 

 Spikes several, often numerous. Spikelets both pedicellate, 2nd glume with 

 a fine straight .<iwn. Awn of the terminal glume long. 



Annual. Spikes IJ to 2in. long 1. P. articulata. 



Perennial. Spikes 3 to Sin. long 2. P. irritans. 



Spikes 2 or 3. Spikelet sessile ; 2ad glume not awned. Awn oE the 



terminal glume short and fine .... 3. P. fulva. 



Third glume not much shorter than the 2nd, thin and hyaline. Awn with a 

 narrow hyaline 2-Iobed dilatation at the base. 

 Spikes 3 to 4in., spikelets IJ line, awns scarcely Jin. long. 4. P. argcntea. 



1. P. articulata (articulate), Tiiu. in Mem. Acad. Petersh. s«/-. 6, iii. 90; 

 Benth. Fl. Austr. vii. 525. Closely allied to P. irritans, but smaller and more 

 slender and apparently annual. Gin. to l^^ft. high. Leaves very narrow, fiat or 

 filiform. Spikes usually several, sometimes numerous, slender, IJ to 2in. long, 

 the rhachis articulate but not breaking so readily as in some species. Spikelets 

 exceedingly deciduous, under 1 line long, both pedicellate but one pedicel 

 longer than the other, the rhachis and pedicels shortly ciliate. Outer glume 

 obtuse, rather broad, faintly nerved, ciliate, 2nd glume rather narrow, obtuse but 

 the keel produced into a fine straight awn ; 3rd glume deficient (or very minute ?). 

 Awn or 4th glume contracted at the base into a flexuose stipes without any 

 hyaline dilatation, ciliate in the lower twisted part, attaining 2in, in the larger 

 specimens. No palea. — Erianthus articulatiis, F. v. M. Fragm, viii. 118 ; 

 fogonatlierum contortum, Brongn. in Duperr. Voy. Bot. 90, t. 17. 



Hab.: Northern localities. 



Var, minor. Spikes 2 to 4, scarcely above lin. long. 



Hab.: Kockingham Bay, Dallachy ; and other northern localities. 



The species is also in the Malayan Archipelago. 



2. P. irritans (irritating), Bentli. FL Austr. vii. 525. Stems 2ft. high or 

 more. Leaves usually long and narrow, glabrous as well as the nodes. Spikes 

 several, usually numerous, 3 to 5in. long, in a terminal cluster with a very short 

 eommon rhachis, the slender rhachis of the spikes as well as the pedicels shortly 



