Leptochloa.] CLIII. GRAMINE^E. 1899 



flowering ones. Glumes keeled, acute or obtuse, unawned, the 2 outer empty 

 ones shorter or rarely as long as the flowering ones. Palea prominently 2-nerved 

 or folded. Grain smooth or nearly so, the pericarp very thin and adnate. 



The genus is generally spread over tropical and subtropical regions both in the New and the 

 Old World. 

 Spikelets 5 or 6-flowered. Flowering glumes rather obtuse. 



Spikes dense, mostly crowded at the ends of the rhaohia 1. L. subdigitata. 



Spikes slender, scattered along the long slender rhachis 2. L. chinensis. 



Spikelets 1-flowered Flowering glumes acute. SpiUes slender, scattered 



along the long slender rhachis 3. £. polystachya. 



1. Ii. subdigitata (somewhat digitate), Trin. in Steud. Syn. Glum. i. 210; 

 Benth. Fl. Awtr. vii. 617. Cane Grass. An erect rigid usually glaucous grass, 

 attaining 4 or 5ft. Leaves short, with rigid rather loose sheaths. Spikes or 

 panicle-branches 6 to 10, crowded at the end of the pedunijle with usually 1 or 2 

 lower down, 2 to 4in. long. Spikelets 1^ or rarely 2 lines long, 5 or 6-flowered, 

 the rhachis bearing a few short hairs under each glume. Glumes about ^ line 

 long, obtuse or almost acute, the outer empty ones usually rather smaller, 

 especially the lowest. Palea folded. Grain oblong, perfectly smooth, the 

 pericarp very thin and adnate. — -Poa digitata, R. Br. Prod. 182 ; Eleusine 

 digitata, Spreng. Syst. Cur. Post. 36 ; F. v. M. Fragm. vii. 112 ; K. polystachya, 

 F. V. M. Fragm. i. 216, 



Hah.: Suttor River, F. v. Mueller ; Gracemere, O'Shanesy ; Darling Downs. 



This is a tall tassac grass, having numerous erect branching leafy stems, and is usually met 

 with around dams and river banks, where it affords a large supply of coarse herbage. A 

 common inland grass of most parts of Australia. 



2. Ii. chinensis (of China), Nees ; Steud. Syn. Glum. i. 209 ; Benth. Fl- 

 Austr. vii. 617; Stems from a creeping and rooting base ascending to 2 or 3ft., 

 glabrous and usually slender. Leaves narrow, flat, tapering to a point. Panicle 

 6in. to above 1ft. long, the numerous simple branches scattered or clustered along 

 the rhachis, very slender, 2 to 4in. long, or in the smaller weaker specimens 

 under 2in. Spikelets sessile or nearly so, distant or rather crowded, narrow, 1 to 

 2 lines long, usually 4 to 6-flowered. Outer empty glumes rather unequal, 

 acute, flowering ones broader, obtuse. — Poa chinensis, KoeQ.; F. v. M. Fragm. 

 viii. 132 ; Leptochloa tenerrima, Roem. and Sohult.; Kunth, Enum. i. 270 ; Poa 

 decipiens, R. Br. Prod. 181 ; Eragrostis decipiens, Bteud. Syn. Glum. i. 279. 



Hab.: Keppel Bay, R. Brown ; Brisbane Kiver, Moreton Bay, Leichhardt, C. Stuart, Bailey ; 

 Bokhara Flats, Leichhardt ; Rockhampton and neighbouring districts, Bowman O'Shanesy. 



A rather tall, feathery, grey-ooloured grass, usually found on the margins of rivers, producing 

 a large quantity of fodder, relished by stock.- The panicle is very delicate and drooping. 

 Found throughout Queensland and many other warm countries. 



8. !•. polystachya (many spikes) Benth. Fl. Austr. vii. 617. An erect 

 grass of .Sft. or more, the lower nodes sometimes bearded, otherwise glabrous and 

 glaucous. Leaves convolute with subulate points and rather loose sheaths, the 

 lower ones flat. Spikes very numerous and slender, 1 to 2in. long, crowded in a 

 long narrow simple panicle of 8 to lOin., the common rhachis slightly flattened 

 and striate. Spikelets 1-flowered, nearly sessile. Outer glumes J to nearly 1 

 line long, acute, with a prominent glabrous or slightly ciliate keel. Flowering 

 glume rather shorter, glabrous or minutely pubescent. Palea prominently 

 2-nerve4, rhachis produced behind it into a minute point, sometimes quite 

 obsolete, sometimes according to F. Mueller bearing an empty glume. Grain 

 oblong, smooth, the pericarp not distinguishable when ripe. — Cynodon polystachyus, 

 R. Br. Prod. 187 ; F. v. M. Fragm. viii. 113; C. virgatus, Nees in Steud. Syn. 

 Glum. i. 218 ; C. Neesii, Thw. Enum. PI. Ceyl. 371. 



Hab.: Islands of the Gulf of Carpentaria, B. Brown ; Etheridge and Gilbert Rivers, Sullivan; 

 Bucdekin River, Bowman. 



Also in Ceylon and in the E. Indian Peninsula. 



