CXIII. GRAMINEiE 
589 
acute or needle-tipped, sometimes containing a male or a rudiment- 
ary flower. Flowering glume of firmer texture, acute or needle- 
tipped, slightly longer than the uppermost empty glume, contain- 
ing a 2-sexual flower. Stamens 3. Styles 2, long, united near 
the base, fringe long. Grain free within the more or less hardened, 
persistent glumes. 
Bajra or spiked millet, P. typhoideum, is cultivated throughout India and 
up to about 3000 ft. in the outer hills. It has compact, cylindric spikes 6-9 in. 
long and about 1 in. diam. ; inner bristles of the involucre fringed. 
Involucral bristles branched . . . . . . 1. P. lanatum. 
Involucrkl bristles unbranched. 
Spikelets only one on a stalk. Bristles not fringed . . 2. P. flaccidum. 
Spikelets 1-5 on a stalk. Bristles fringed . . . 3. P. orientale. 
*1. Pennisetum lanatum, Klotzsch ; FI. Br. Ind. vii. 84. Stems 
1-3 ft. Leaves- 6-18 x J—i | in., densely hairy. Spikes 2-5 in., by 
1- f in. diam. Spikelets only one on a stalk. Bristles branched, 
fringed, hardly longer than the spikelets. Uppermost empty glume 
and flowering glumes acute, but not needle- tipped. 
W. Himalaya, 7000-9000 ft. 
2. Pennisetum flaccidum, Griseh. ; FI. Br. Ind.v ii.*84. Stems 
6-24 in., decumbent and creeping near the base. Leaves 
5-10 Xf-J in., glabrous or thinly hairy. Spikes 2-6 in. Spikelets 
one on a stalk. Bristles not branched, naked, except sometimes 
near the base, much longer than the spikelets. Uppermost empty 
glume and flowering glumes needle-tipped. (Fig. 188.) 
Simla. — Temperate Himalaya, 5000-11,000 ft. 
3. Pennisetum orientale, Rich . ; FI. Br. Ind. vii. 86. Stems 
2- 6 ft., erect or decumbent at the base. Leaves 1-2 ft. xJ-J in. 
Spikes 6-12 in. Spikelets usually 2-5 on a stalk, occasionally 
only one ; outer spikelets often containing only a male flower. 
Bristles not branched, fringed, inner ones much longer than the 
spikelets. Uppermost empty glume and the flowering glumes 
needle-tipped. 
Simla. — W. Himalaya, 3000-7000 ft. — Westward through Asia Minor to 
North Africa. 
Tribe II. Zoysiese. 
8. PEROTIS. From the Greek peros, maimed, deficient, refer- 
ring to the minute, awnless flowering glume. — Asia, Africa. 
551 Perotis latifolia, Ait. ; FI. Br. Ind. vii. 98. Annual ; stems 
leafy, 6-18 in., ascending. Leaves usually hairy, cordate, lanceo- 
late, j-1 in., minutely toothed. Ligule a fringe of hairs. Spike- 
lets numerous, shortly stalked, tinged with purple, very narrow, 
about iq in. excluding the awns, 1 -flowered, crowded in a slender 
raceme 1-8 in. long, falling off with their stalks, not jointed below 
