56 GR AMINE AE. 5. Themeda. 



finally smooth and shining ; flowering glume with or without a short, bent awn rising 

 from the notch. — Sorghum halepense, Pers. 



A cultivated Mediterranean fodder grass, spontaneous near creeks descending from 

 the Mount Lofty Range and other places. Jan. -May. 



5. THEMEDA, Forsk. (1775). 



(Forskal says themed is the Arabic name of Th. triandra, but there appears to be some 

 confusion, as themed (thamad) means a depression where water lies after rain and dries 

 up in summer, and is therefore the equivalent of the Australian " claypan " or " water- 

 hole.") — Anthistiria, L. f. (1779). 



Spikelets 1 -flowered or empty, clustered on the fragile rhachis of short racemose spikes, 

 each spike subtended by a sheathing bract ; 4 male or barren sessile persistant spikelets 

 whorled at the base of, and forming a sort of involucre round 1 fertile spikelet, sessile 

 between 2 pedicellate male or empty ones, which occupy the summit of the spike ; glumes 

 of the fertile spikelet almost as in Andropogon ; male or barren spikelets awnless. 



Fertile spikelets white and glabrous except at summit .... Th. triandra 1. 



Fertile spikelet densely pubescent with brown hairs Th. avenacea 2. 



1. Th. triandra, Forsk. Kangaroo Grass. Tall almost glabrous perennial ; leaves 

 narrow ; ligule very short, ciliolate ; each spike shortly pedunculate within the leafy 

 sheathing bract, which exceeds it in length, and all together forming a short leafy panicle ; 

 all the male or barren spikelets greenish, acute ; outer glume of fertile (bisexual spikelet) 

 firm, white, shining, with a few golden hairs at summit and a tuft of golden hairs on the 

 acute callus ; flowering glume consisting of little but the bent, pubescent awn, 5-7 cm. 

 long. — Th. Forskalii, Hack. ; Anthistiria imberbis, Retz. ; A. ciliata, Benth. not of L. f. 



All over the State; an excellent fodder grass, Aug. -Nov. — Occurs also in Arabia, 

 India, and Africa. 



2. Th. avenacea (F. v. M.), Maid, et Betche. Tall Oat Grass. Differs from the preceding 

 in having a woolly base ; the spikes (within the sheathing bracts) having a rather longer 

 and more slender peduncle, and in the 2 outer glumes of the fertile spikelet, which are 

 pubescent with appressed brown hairs. — Anthistiria avenacea, F. v. M. 



Far North. 



6. ISEILEMA, Anderss. 



(Greek isos, equal ; eilemz a covering or involucre ; alluding to the 4 involucral spikelets.) 

 Differs from Themeda in each spike being articulated at its base, so that it falls away 

 as a whole after flowering, whereas in Themeda the articulation occurs above the 4 barren 

 involucral spikelets, which remain attached to the peduncle, while the upper 3 (1 fertile 

 and 2 pedicellate and barren) fall off at maturity. 



L. I. membranacea (Lindl.), Anderss. Almost glabrous often small annual grass ; leaves 

 flat with striate sheaths ; spikes forming a short, fragile panicle ; floral bracts resembling 

 the leaves and scabrous on margins and keel ; the 4 involucral spikelets shortly pedicellate, 

 obtuse ; flowering glume reduced to a fine awn, 1-2 cm. long. — Anthistiria membranacea, 

 Lindl. 



Far North. Dec. -Aug. 



Tribe 2. Zoysieae. Flowering glume and palea membranous, the former without an 

 awn ; the second empty glume usually larger than the others ; spikelets solitary or in 

 non-articulated (continuous) spikes, dorsally compressed ; hilum punctiform. 



7. TRAGUS, Haller. 



(Greek tragos a he-goat ; alluding to the rigid hairs bordering the leaves and to the 

 bristles on the spikelets.) 



1. T. racemosus (L.), Haller. Small Bur Grass. Annual, with spreading stems genicu- 

 late at the nodes : leaves flat, bordered by rigid cilia ; ligule of short hairs ; panicle spike- 

 like, 5-10 cm. long ; spikelets 1-flowered, 2-3 sessile on very short peduncles which fall off 

 with them ; empty glumes 3, the lowest minute or obsolete ; the 2nd large, hard, and 

 furnished with 5 rows of hooked bristles on the back ; flowering glume and palea mem- 

 branous and smaller. — -Lappago racemosa, Honck. 



Murray and northern districts. Nov. -April. — Common in tropical and subtropical 

 countries. 



8. NEURACHNE, R. Br. 



Greek neuron, nerve ; alchne, husk, glume : alluding to the many-nerved outer glumes.) 



Spikelets with 1 bisexual flower and rarely a male one below it, each spikelet with a 

 tuft of hairs at base and arranged in a spike ; outer glumes 3, the 2 first subequal, the 

 2nd villous-ciliate, the 3rd smaller and with a palea, flowering glume also small and thin, 



