Paspalumi] 
XII. GRAMINEjU. 
323 
all obtuse or acute, awnless. Pale like the flowering glume, but smaller and 
2-nerved. Scales 2, short, fleshy. Stamens 3. Grain free within the 
hardened glume and pale. 
A most extensive tropical and subtropical genus of grasses, often weeds of cultivation, of 
various forms, etc., not extending into Tasmania. The above character does not apply to 
many of the non-New-Zealand species. 
Erect. Leaves flat. Spikelets obtuse 1. P. scrobiculalum. 
Creeping. Leaves involute. Spikelets acute 2. P. distichum. 
1. P. scrobiculatum, Linn.; — FI. N. Z. i. 291. Glabrous, erect, 
1-3 ft. high, stout, leafy. Leaves rather broad, flat or wrinkled, rough at 
the margin, sometimes hairy at the base. Spikes 2-6, alternate, 1-2 in. 
long, rachis flat, bristly at the base. Spikelets imbricate in two series, sessile, 
orbicular, -^“ro long. Empty glumes thin, membranous, 1-nerved. — 
P. orbicular e, Eorst. 
Northern and Middle Islands : common, Banks and Sol under, etc., forming pasture 
at the Bay of Islands. An abundant tropical'and subtropical weed. 
2. P. distichum, Burmann ; — FI. N. Z. i. 291. Creeping, perfectly 
glabrous. Culms branched, compressed, ascending, 4-10 in. high, covered 
with leaf-sheaths to the top. Leaves distichous, strict, involute. Spikes in 
pairs, 1 in. long ; rachis narrow. Spikelets pale, loosely imbricate, glabrous, 
pedicelled, ovate, acute, ^ in. long. — F. littorale, Br. 
Northern Island: sandy, etc. places, generally near the sea; Bay of Islands, Cunning- 
ham ; Auckland, Sinclair. A common tropical and subtropical grass. 
7. PANICUM, Linn. 
Erect decumbent or creeping grasses of very various habit. Leaves flat 
or involute.— Spikelets variously arranged, naked or with bristles at their 
base, spiked racemed or panicled, 1-flowered, or if 2-flowered the lower flower 
male. Glumes 4, awned or awnless, lowest small or minute, empty ; 2nd, 
larger ; 3rd, empty or male-flowered ; uppermost, with a hermaphrodite flower, 
fainter-nerved, smooth, hardening, and enclosing the pale and grain. Pale 
like the glume but smaller, 2-nerved. Scales 2, truncate. Stamens 3. 
Grain free within the hardened glume and pale. 
A most extensive tropical and subtropical genus, not extending into Tasmania. 
I. P. imbeciile, Trinius. — Oplismenus ceniulus, Kunth; — El. N. Z. i. 
292. Culms slender, prostrate, rooting, ascending, weak, sparingly branched, 
6-10 in. long. Leaves 1-6 in. long, 1 in. broad, lanceolate; sheaths 
and knots more or less pilose. Spikelets spiked in distant clusters of 2-6, 
nearly sessile, in. long, glabrous or nearly so, naked or with a brash of 
long hairs at their bases. Glumes 4, 3 empty concave, membranous, 3-nerved, 
green, pilose or glabrous ; lower shorter, with a long, flexuous, stout, obtuse 
awn ; 2nd, rather larger, acute or cuspidate, rarely awned ; 3rd, acute ; flower- 
ing one terete, nerveless, coriaceous, white, shining. — Orthopor/on annulus, Br. ; 
Hekaterosachne elatior, Steudel. 
Northern Island : frequent in woods and shady places, Banks and Solander, etc. 
