( 7 ) 



times compound at the base. Spikelets in two rows, short, hairy, ovate ; 

 lower glume very small or wanting ; flowering glume and pale shorter 

 than the glume of the elliptic obtuse hermaphrodite floret, coriaceous, 

 shining, glabrous. 



Common on cultivated ground in black and sandy soil in Bundelkhand 

 and Central India. It is reckoned as a fodder grass, but its relative 

 value is not known. 



P. flavidum, Ketz. (Plate VI.) Syn.—- P. brizoides, Jacq. Fern.— 

 Punjab : Kangna (Kangra), pdlon (Patiala), bharti (Eastern Punjab 

 and Doab) ; Eajpdtana : Eoma (Mount Abu) ; N.-W. Paov. : Sdnka 

 (Dehra Dun), dhanera (Royle), baunri (Allahabad) ; Oudh : Sathiya 

 and sitiya (Bhira) ; Cent. Pro v. : Paddatunga gadi and kura-tuka gadi 

 (Chanda), chichwi and sama jodi (Seoni); Teling : Oda and woodoo 

 gaddi (Roxb.). 



Annual. Stems erect, rigid, 1-2 feet high, branching below. Leaves 

 rather broad, acute, glabrous except some hairs at the top of the sheath. 

 Panicle of several jjrect distant branches or sessile spikes. Spikelets 

 sessile, in two rows, ovoid, oblique ; outer glume very short, broad and 

 blunt ; second glume the largest ; upper floret usually without stamens. 

 Grain short, oval, pointed, slightly rugose. 



Common throughout the plains, and up to moderate elevations on the 

 hills. It is considered to be a good fodder grass both for horses and 

 bullocks. It produces a large quantity of grain, which is collected and 

 eaten by the poorer classes in times of scarcity. It is indigenous also 

 in Australia, and it is said that when growing on alluvial flats the pani- 

 cles are often prostrate from the weight of the seed. An analysis lately 

 made by Professor Church shows that the grain of this species contains 

 much more indigestible fibre than any species yet examined, but is 

 exceptionally rich in oil or fat, containing nearly twice as much of this 

 constituent as any other kind (Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, 

 Royal Gardens, Kew, No. 12, 1887). 



P. fluitans^^ffe^ (Plate XLIV.) Syn. — P. brizoides, Retz. (non 

 Linn.) Vern. — Bengal : Peti-nar (Roxb.) ; Teling : Doosa (Roxb.). 



Perennial, floating, glabrous. Stems rooting at the lower nodes. 

 Leaves elongate, linear, acuminate; lower sheaths inflated. Racemes 

 often several on each stem, elongate. Spikes linear, sessile, adpressed, 

 lower distant. Spikelets imbricate along the flattened smooth rachis of 

 the spike, sessile, ovate oblong, acute, sub-compressed; glumes mem- 

 branous, the lower one very short and truncate ; the upper one not much 

 larger, orbicular, ovate, obtuse ; lower floret reduced to a membranous 



=. p. 



k>o-*' 



