297 



panicle linear, erect, 8 to 12 inches lonof, composed of many 

 sessile, expanding, alternate, secund, short spikes ; spikelets occu- 

 pying the underside of the spike ; calyx 3-flowered ; glumes equal, 

 twice the length of the flowers, each ending in a long, sharp dagger. 

 On the banks of the Taptee, above Surat. The L arabica is 

 common in Sind, where it is called Drub, and is a favourite 

 food of buffaloes. 



16. DACTYLOCTENIUM, Willd. 



1 . D ^GYPTiACUM. — Root fibrous and turfy ; culms ascending ; 

 proliferous, branched, sometimes rooting, 3 to 12 inches long; 

 spikes digitate, short, 2 to 4, scarcely 1 inch long; rachis terminated 

 by a mucro ; spikelets unilateral imbricated, 3 to 6-flowered ; 

 awns of the glumes longer than the spikelet. Syn. Cynosurus 

 segyptiacus, Linn. Common about roadsides. D figarei takes the 

 place of this in Sind. 



17. CYNODON, Richard. 



1 . C Dactylon, Pers. Syn. i, 85. — Root turfy or stoloniferous ; 

 culms creeping, compressed, rooting, branched, and giving rise to 

 new plants ; leaves rather short, rigid, distichous ; spikes very 

 slender, digitate, 2 to 4, linear, smooth. Syn. Panicum dactylon, 

 Linn. sp. 85 ; Digitaria stolonifera, Schrad. The " Doorba" of the 

 Hindoos, sacred to Gunesh. The Huryalee Grass of the Deccan. 

 Found also in all the southern parts of the world. 



18. MELANOCENCHRIS, Nees. 



1. M RoTHiANA, Nees. Ann. Nat. Hist, vii, 221. — Culms cespi- 

 tose, fihform, 4 to 5 inches high, the nodes bearded ; leaves short, 

 rigid, folded, convolute at the apex, mucronate ; raceme short, 

 erect; spikelets secund, short; awns dark-coloured. A very 

 common Grass in stony and barren places, both in Concan and 

 Deccan. Syn. Pommereullia monoica, Roth. N. PI. sp. 33. 



Section Festucace^. 



19. ERAGROSTIS, Beauv. 



1. E Nutans, Retz. Obs. iv, 19 (Sub. Poa.)— Culm erect, 

 simple, smooth, 3 to 5 feet high ; leaves narrow-elongated, rough ; 

 panicle linear, contracted, 1 to 2 feet high ; rays filiform, solitary, 

 twin or several, approximated, adpressed; spikelets 8 to 14-flower- 

 ed, pedicelled, smooth ; seed oblong. In water-holes in Gujarat. 

 Poa nutans, Roxb. Fl. Ind. i, 335. 

 38 c 



