1376 
INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANT'S. 
in length, rounded on the back, thin, membranous, veined, 
pale-green, becoming white as the grain ripens ; pales 2, shorter 
than the glumes, lower one faintly nerved, lanceolate, bifid, 
rounded on the back, smooth, afterwards hard and firm, pale- 
green, awned ; awn proceeding from the back of the pale and 
1^ times as long, rough and twisted ; upper pale rather shorter 
than the lower, thin, transparent, 2-toothed ; margins inflexed. 
Within the pales are two small ciliate scales (lodicules). 
Stamens 3, exserted ; anthers yellow. Styles 2, short feathery, 
white. Fruit (the grain) closely covered by, but not adherent 
to, the hard persistent pales, gin. in length, narrowly oval- 
oblong, hairy, and with a deep furrow on the inside. (Duthie.) 
Uses : — It is believed to produce poisonous and deleterious 
effects. (Stewart). 
Regarding its use in the treatment of Diabetes, see my 
brochure “ Diabetes and its Dietetic Treatment ” (8th Edition, 
1917). B. D. B. 
1343. Cynodon dactylon, Pers., h.f.b.i. vn. 288 ; 
Roxb. 289. 
Syn : — Panicum dactylon, Linn. 
Sans. : — Durva. / 
Vern. : — Duba, kali gh&s, r&m ghas, nil dub, dhupsa, 
hariali, (H.) ; Dfib, daurva, dubra, kabbar, talla, (Pb.) ; 
Burawa (Trans-Indus); Chibhar (Sind); Dub, durba, (B.) ; 
Dobi-ghas (Santal) ; Durva, karala, haryeli (Mar.) ; Arugam- 
pilla, hariali (Tam.) ; Ghericha, haryali (Tel.). 
Habitat : —Throughout India. 
Stem slender, prostrate, widely creeping, forming matted 
tufts, with slender erect or ascending flowering branches 3-12 
in. high. Leaves f-4 by 3 Vi in., narrowly linear or lanceolate, 
finely acute to pungent, more or less glaucous, soft, smooth, 
usually conspicuously distichous in the barren shoots, and at 
the base of the stems ; sheaths tight, glabrous or hairy, some- 
times bearded at the mouth ; ligule a very fine ciliate rim- 
