( « ) 



Though similar in habit to P. colonum, it is usually a much coarser 

 plant, and is nearly always found in or near water. The grain is eaten 

 by the poorer classes^ and is also used for making into " khir." I am 

 told that it is frequently sown in the Lahore District for the sake of its 

 grain. In Rajputana it is considered to be a good fodder, though not 

 plentiful. It extends to Australia, where it affords a large amount of 

 feed to cattle, and is much improved by cultivation. In America, where 

 it is known under the name of " Barn-yard grass," it appears to be 

 highly valued. The following quotations are from Dr. Vasey's " Report 

 on the Agricultural Grasses of the United States " : — ■ 



" It is greedily eaten (at Mobille, U. S.) by horses and cattle, and makes a hay of 

 good quality. It is justly regarded as an excellent grass, particularly before it 

 ripens its seeds. 



" In Louisiana, Mississippi, and other States, it is mowed annually, and yields as 

 much as four or five tons of hay per acre. Two cuttings are procurable each season 

 when mowed as soon as it begins to bloom. It re-seeds the ground, and requires no 

 care save protection from live stock. Cows and horses are very fond of it green or 

 dry." 



P. distachyum, Linn. (Plate XL II.) Syn>—Digitaria distachya, 

 Pers. Vern. — Motia (Doab). 



Stems slender, usually creeping and rooting at the lower nodes, as- 

 cending to 1 foot or more. Leaves flat, smooth, or hairy at the mouth 

 of the sheath. Panicle of 2-4 distant simple secund branches 1-2 inches 

 long, at first erect, afterwards spreading or reflexed ; rachis with a few 

 scattered hairs. Spikelets loosely alternate, or sometimes more nu- 

 merous and arranged in two rows, ovoid, acute, glabrous. Outer glume 

 about half the length of the spikelet, broad and with the edges over- 

 lapping each other; second and third glumes prominently 3-nerved; 

 fruiting glume a little shorter, obtuse, hardened, and with three distinct 

 nerves. 



Not uncommon on the plains. I have received no information as to 

 its value for fodder in Northern India, though it has all the appearance 

 of a good fodder grass. It occurs in Australia, where it is said to be 

 grown for hay, and is an immense yielder. 



P. erucseforme, Sibth. and Sm. (Plate XLIII.) Syn. — P. caucasi- 

 cum, Trin. Vern. — Bdndelkhand : Tiliya y chinwdri (Lalitpur) ; Cent. 

 Prov. : Guhria (Seoni), loidan siput and sarpot (Nagpurj, sarput (Chan- 

 da). 



Annual, caespitose; culms branching and bent below. Leaves and 

 sheaths softly hairy ; leaves shortly spreading, broadly lanceolate ; 

 ligule ciliate. Spikes linear, solitary, shortly peduncled, arranged along 

 a slender hairy rachis, close together and adpressed to the axis, some- 



