10 
Indiana University Studies 
Figs. 22-24. Fig. 22. Inflorescence of Polytoca. Fig. 23. In- 
florescence of Sclerachne. Fig. 24. Inflorescence of Chionachne. 
some varieties it resembles that of waxy maize (4), being 
rich in erythrodextrin. The caryopsis of the soft-shelled vari- 
eties is widely used as a cereal in the Orient (5, 8). 
An occasional leaf sheath at the base of a fascicle of inflor- 
escences may become hard and shining like the spathe, thus 
bearing out in a measure our conception of the homologies of 
the spathe (Figs. 8, 9). 
Polytoca 
The only accounts of Polytoca that have been available are 
the taxonomic descriptions of the genus ; and, in so far as I 
am informed, no account of any greater detail than the de- 
scriptions of its three or four species has ever been published. 
I have had access to excellent herbarium material and to 
living plants of Polytoca barb at a Stapf. grown from seeds 
received from India. 
This plant is a tall, slender annual, much branched at the 
base. The cauline branches are short and chiefly limited to 
the function of flower-bearing. The nodes are densely bearded 
(Fig. 22), and the leaf blades and upper parts of the sheaths 
