^phcerocaryum.] olxxiii. GRAMiNEiB. (J. D, Hooker.) 247 



SiLHKT and the Khasia Hills, in marshes, Wallieh, &c. Mbegui, Griffith. 

 SiNQ-APOKB, Ridley. Cexlon, Maerae, &c. — Distbib. China. 



Stem 6-12 in., as thick as a sparrow's quill, prostrate and rooting below, then 

 erect, rarely branched, nodes bearded. Leaves all alike in size and form, ^-J in. 

 long, acute or acuminate, ciliate-serrulate, subcoriaceous, ecostate, nerves very close- 

 set ; sheaths much shorter than the internodes, glabrous or hirsute ; ligule of close- 

 set white hairs. Panicle 1-lJ in., solitary and terminal, with very rarely 1-2 

 lower on the stem j peduncle very short ; concealed in the leaf-sheath ; rachis rather 

 stout J branches very many, opposite and alternate, capillary, spreading. Spikelets 

 4V~J5 in.— This is undoubtedly Roth's Isachne pulohella. The habit is that of 

 Fanioiim ovalifolmm, Poir, with the leaf-nervation of an Isachne. It differs from 

 Agrostis in habit, and in the spikelets jointed on the pedicels (as in Panicece) ; and 

 from Sporobolus in habit, foliage, and the aduate pericarp of the grain. 



71. SPOB,OBOX.US, Br. 



Perennial, rarely annual grasses. Leaves flat or convolute. Spike- 

 lets small or minute, 1-rarely 2-fld., in effuse or close or spioiform pani- 

 cles, jointed on their pedicels, awnless ; rachilla very short, jointed at 

 the base, not produced beyond the flg. gl. Glumes 3, nerveless or 1-3- 

 nerved, membranous; I and II unequal, persistent or sin^-rly caducous ; 

 III longer or shorter than I or II, 1-nerved; palea often splitting 

 between the 2 very close nerves. Lodicules very minute or 0. &tamens 

 2-3, anthers short. Styles short, free. Grain loose within the gl. and 

 palea, pericarp or its epidermis loose, deciduous, rarely adherent. — Species 

 about 80, chiefly tropical. 



* Glumes I and II both much shorter than III. 



1. S. dlander, Beauv.Agrost. 25; panicle narrowlypyramidal, branches 

 capillary in scattered fascicles, spikelets ^— rs in., gl. I and 11 hyaline 

 truncate nerveless, grain oblong or obovoid-oblong. Jmq. JSclog. Gram. 

 t. 28 ; Unh JSnum. Sort. Beg. Berol. i. 87 ; Kunth Entm.. Pl..i. 213 ; Wall. 

 Cat. n. 3765 ; Griff. Notul. iii. 46, le. Fl. Asiat. t. 139, f. 85 ; BaU. & Gibs. 

 Bomb. Fl. 296; Thw. Enum. PI. Zeyl. 370; Trim. Gat.. Ceyl. PI. 108; 

 Aitchis. Cat. Panjah PI. 165 ; Buthie Grass. N. W. Ind. 29, Fodd. Cfrass. 

 N. Ind. 40, t. 63; Miguel Fl. Ind. Bat. iii. 375; Benth. Fl. Austral, vii. 

 622. Vilfa diandra, Wight Gat. n. 1744 («o,» Trin.), V. erosa, Trin. in 

 Mem. Acad. Petersb. 8er. yi. 8c. Nat. v. IL (1840) 86; Steud.l.c. 159. 

 V. Retzii, Steud. Norn. Ed. II. ii. 768, 8yn. Gram. 162. Agrostis con- 

 tracta, Ser6. Heyne ex Wall. Gat. n. 3766 A.. A. diandra, Betz. Ohs. v. 

 19 ; Bomb. Fl. Ind. i. 317. Panicum secundum, Herb. Beyrte ex Wall. I. c. 

 — Sporobolus, Wall. Cat. 3766, 3768.— Sporobolus, Griff.l.c. 44, lo. t.l49, 

 £.2. 



Throughout India and Burma, ascead'ng. the Himalaya to 5500 ft. Ceylon. — 

 Distbib. Asia and Austral, trop. 



Stems 1-3 ft., slender. Leaves densely tufted, 3-10 in., very narrow, flat or 

 convolute, margins entire ; ligule a few hairs. Panicle 4-10 in., rachis very slender, 

 sometimes capillary, strict; branches |-1 in., sometimes flowerless at the base. 

 SpiJeelets sessile or very shortly pedicelled ; gl. I and II not half as long as III, 

 broadly truncate and usually erose ; III obtuse or subacute, obscurely 1-nerved. 

 Stamens 2-3. Grain subtruncate, pericarp rather adherent, 



2. S. Indicus, Br. Prodr. 170; stem stout, panicle very narrow 

 branches short appressed covered to the base with crowded spikelets ■^-j\ 



