1880 CLIII. GEAMINE^. [Sporobolus. 



between them. Styles very short. Grain free, readily falling away from the 

 glume, the pericarp loosely enclosing the seed or very thin and evanescent. 



The genus is widely spread over the tropical and some more temperate regions of both the 

 New and the Old World. 



Stoloniferous, stems trailing. Inflorescence like the next 1. S. Benthami. 



Panicle narrow, spikelike, continuous or interrupted, the short erect 

 branches flowering from the basp. 

 Outer and flowering glumes nearly equal. Leaves usually short rigid 



and spreading . . ... 2. S. virginicus. 



Outer glumes unequal, shorter than the flowering one. Leaves rather 



long 3. S. indicus. 



Panicle narrow, loose, with short spreading scattered branches ... 4. S. diander. 



Panicle loosely pyramidal, the branches spreading in regular distant whorls. 

 Spikelets loosely pedicellate, minut". 



Leave? rigidly ciliate. Glumes obtuse 5. S. pidchellus. 



Leaves not at all or minutely ciliate. Glumes narrow, acute ... 6. S. Lindleyi. 



Spikelets nearly sessile, crowded along the branches ... . . . 7. S. actinocladus^ 



1. S. Benthami (after Geo. Bentham, author of the " Flora Australiensis), 

 Bail. Bot. Bull. xiii. Stems wiry, erect or trailing ; the erect stems sometimes- 

 bearing adventitious tufts at the nodes, which soon disarticulate and falling upon 

 the damp land take root and thus produce fresh plants ; the trailing stems often 

 extend a considerable distance and produce plants in a similar manner to the 

 common Strawberry. The leaves of the erect stems arte often quite filiform, but 

 they are very thm and often 1 line broad on the trailing stems. The inflores- 

 cence is a very narrow, loose, spikelike panicle 2 to 4in. long. Glumes narrow 

 and nearly or quite transparent. The whole plant is pale-coloured. 



Hab.: About the Diamantina and Georgina Elvers, where it is considered an excellent pasture 

 grass. 



Probably this and the var. minor of S. virginicus constitute the grass mentioned in PI. Austr. 

 vii. 621 as var. ? pallida, a name that could not now be used for a species, there being one 

 already so named. 



2. S. virginicus (of Virginia), Kunth, Emm. i. 210 ; Benth. Fl. Austr. vii. 

 621. Stems much branched and leafy at the base, erect or decumbent, 6 to lOin. 

 or rarely 1ft. high. Leaves short and narrow, often very spreading, convolute- 

 when dry, rather rigid, glabrous or ciliate at the base. Panicle rather dense, 

 narrow and spikelike or rather more branched at the base, 1 to l^in. long, often 

 rather dark coloured. Glumes keeled, rather acute, about 1 line long, the 2 outer- 

 anJ the flowering one similar or the lowest rather smaller. Palea rather longer, the 

 2 nerves close together so as to represent a broad keel, but very readily splitting 

 showing an inflexed margin between the nerves. Grain broadly obovoid, the 

 very thin pericarp separable when soaked but undistinguishable in the dried 

 state. — Aijrostis virginica, Linn. ; Labill. PL Nov. HolL i. 20, t. 23 ; R. Br. Prod. 

 170: Vilfa virginica, Beauv.; Trin. Spec. Gram, t, 48. 



S. virginicus proper is the stout-stemmed erect grass, with ereoto-pateut rather harsb 

 eaves, found on the brackish marshy lands near the coast. 



Var. minor. Bail., is found in similar situations, but often further from the coasts 

 Both have dark-green foliage and more or less running underground stems. The spike-like 

 inflorescence is usually of a somewhat dark colour. Neither of these grasses will thrive far 

 from brackish water, but in such localities they form excellent fattening pasture. 



The species is widely spread over the warmer regions of the New and the Old World, extend- 

 ing into South Africa and North America. 



3. S. indicus (of India), E. Br. Prod. 170 ; Benth. Fl. Austr. vii. 622. Rat's- 

 tail Grass. " Jilgrubari," Cloncurry, Both. An erect tufted grass of 1 to 

 2ft., glabrous except a few cilia at the base of the leaves. Leaves chiefly at- 

 the base of the stem, narrow, ending in fine points, the upper ones few 

 with long sheaths. Spikelike panicle narrow, 8 to Sin. or even longer, usually 

 continuous throughout. Spikelets very numerous, crowded along the very short 



