426 GBAMiNBJS. [Ischatnum. 



hairy. Sessile spikelets 3 lines long, the outer glume pointed and marked at 

 the base with a few transverse wrinkles, the twisted awn of the upper flower- 

 ing-glume protruding to about \ in. Pedicellate spikelet not much smaller, 

 male, on a very short flat pedicel. — Meeschium lodiculare, Nees, PI. Meyen. 

 195, and M. Meyenianum, Nees, 1. c. 197. 

 Common in tHe islaud, Binds, Champion, and others. Also in the Indian Archipelago. 



29. SPODIOPOGON, Trin. 



Spikelets in pairs, 1 sessile, the other pedicellate, in simple, branched, 

 or paniculate spikes, both 3 -flowered, the lower flower male ; the rhachis an- 

 gular and articulate, at- least at the top. Outer glumes stiff, the lowest con- 

 vex, the second keeled. Flowering glumes and palea very thin and transpa- 

 rent, the glume of the fertile flower with a twisted awn. 



A small genus dispersed over the tropical and subtropical regions both of the New and the 

 Old World. 



1. S. obliquivalTis, Nees, PI. Meyen. 185. Stems tufted or creeping 

 and rooting at the base, ascending or erect, 1 to 2 ft. high, with tufts of hairs 

 at the nodes. Leaves acute, more or less hairy. Spikes 1 to 1| in. long, 

 divided" into 2 erect branches, the rhachis and pedicels more or less ciliate. 

 Spikelets about 2 Knes long, the outer glume wrinkled on the back, the awn 

 of the fertile flower slender, 4 to 6 lines long. Pedicel of the upper spikelet 

 and rhachis, both angular, separated by an obtuse sinus giving the appear- 

 ance of a Httle circular perforation. — Andropogon malacophyllw, Steud. Syn. 

 Gram. 372. 



Hongkong, Hance. Common in India, from Ceylon and the Peninsula to the Archipelago 

 and northward to Amoy. ' 



Var viUosus. Sheaths of the leaves with long spreai&ighxaa.—AndropogonpatenUmllo- 

 sus, steud. Syn. Gram. 373. 



Hongkong, Wright. Also on the continent of S. China. 



30. SPOBOBOLUS, Br. 



Spikelets small, 1 -flowered, awnless, in a loose spreading or rarely spike- 

 like panicle. Outer glumes 2, keeled, one or both usuaUy shorter and never 

 longer than the acute flowering glume. Palea nearly as long, usuaUy 2-nerved. 

 Grain free, short, deciduous, the seed sepai-ating from the thin pericarp. 



A considerable tropical and subtropical genus, both in the New and the Old World, dif- 

 fermg but little from Vilfa and Agrostis. 



1. S. indicus, Br.; Kunth, Etium. i. 211. Stems tufted at the base, 

 erect, smaple, 1 to 2 ft. high. Leaves narrow, pointed, convolute when dry. 

 Pamcle contracted, linear, 6 to 8 in. long, interrupted at the base, the short 

 more or less compound branches aU erect. Spikelets nearly 1 line long, 

 pomted, shimng. Outer glumes usuaUy unequal, obtuse or the second acute 

 about half as long as the flowering glume. Seed brown, obovate-truncate 



the s^ °° '°^^"^' ^""'^ '°^ "*•""■'• '^'^^y ^"^'^ °™^ "'^ ^^^^^ regions of 

 31. POLYPOGON, Desf. 

 Spikelets small, 1-flowered, in a dense spike-like or slightly spreadins nani 

 Gle. Outer- glumes 2, narrow, keeled, ending in a flne stra^ht awnSe: 



