740 MISC. PUBLICATION 200, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



about 1 cm. wide, tapering to a slen- 

 der point, the margin sharply serrate; 

 panicle somewhat fan-shaped, con- 

 sisting of numerous silky aggregate 

 racemes, 10 to 20 cm. long; spikelets 

 with a tuft of silky hairs at base sur- 

 rounding them and about as long as 

 the glumes. % — Cultivated for 

 ornament and now growing wild in 

 some localities in the Eastern States; 

 native of eastern Asia. There are 

 three varieties in cultivation besides 

 the usual form described above: M. 

 sinensis var. variegatus Beal, with 

 blades striped with white, M. sinen- 

 sis var. zebrinus Beal, with blades 

 banded or zoned with white, and M. 

 sinensis var. gracillimus Hitchc, 

 with very narrow blades. 



Miscanthus nepalensis (Trin.) 

 Hack. Panicles yellowish brown; 

 spikelets about one-fourth as long as 

 the hairs at their base. % — Occa- 

 sionally cultivated under the name of 

 Himalaya fairy grass. Nepal, India. 



Miscanthus sacchaeiflorus (Maxim.) 

 Hack. Perennial with thick horizontal rhi- 

 zomes; culms 1.5 to 2 m. tall; blades 1 to 1.8 

 cm. wide; panicle more silky than in M. 

 sinensis, the spikelets awnless. % — Spar- 

 ingly cultivated for ornament; escaped in 

 Clinton County, Iowa; Asia. 



150. SACCHARUM L. 



Spikelets in pairs, one sessile, the 

 other pedicellate, both perfect, awn- 

 less, arranged in panicled racemes, the 

 axis disarticulating below the spike- 

 lets; glumes somewhat indurate, ster- 

 ile lemma similar but hyaline; fertile 

 lemma hyaline, sometimes wanting. 

 Robust perennials of tropical regions. 

 Type species, Saccharum officinarum. 

 Name from Latin saccharum (sac- 

 charori), sugar, because of the sweet 

 juice. 



1. Saccharum officinarum L. Su- 

 garcane. (Fig. 1128.) Culms 3 to 5 

 m. tall, 2 to 3 cm. thick, solid, juicy, 

 the lower internodes short, swollen; 

 sheaths greatly overlapping, the lower 

 usually falling from the culms; blades 

 elongate, mostly 4 to 6 cm. wide, with 

 a very thick midrib; panicle plume- 



Figuee 1126. — Imperata brevifolia. Plant, X Vz- 

 (Tourney 782, Ariz.) 



bent and flexuous awn; palea small 

 and hyaline. Robust perennials, with 

 long flat blades and terminal panicles 

 of aggregate spreading slender ra- 

 cemes. Type species, Miscanthus jap- 

 onicus Anderss. (M. floridulus (La- 

 bill.) Warb.) Name from Greek 

 mischos, pedicel, and anthos, flower, 

 both spikelets of the pair being- 

 pedicellate. 



1. Miscanthus sinensis Anderss. 

 Eulalia. (Fig. 1127.) Culms robust 

 in large bunches, erect, 2 to 3 m. tall; 

 leaves numerous, mostly basal, the 

 blades flat, as much as 1 m. long, 



