CXIII. GRAMINEiE 
621 
the top of the stem. Empty glumes 2, nearly equal, shorter than 
the flowering glume, keeled, acute, often falling off separately. 
Flowering glume broadly boat-shaped, keel hairy. Pale nearly 
as long, the prolonged rhachilla appearing at its base as a minute 
bristle. Stamens 3. Styles 2, distinct, feathery. Grain oblong, 
free within the persistent glumes. 
Simla. — Throughout India, ascending to 5000 ft. — Most warm countries ; 
commonly cultivated. 
The Doob Grass of the plains. It forms the chief pasture in many dry 
climates. 
38. ELEUSINE. From Eleusis, an ancient city of Greece, 
famous for the worship of Ceres, the goddess of agriculture. — 
Most warm regions. 
*EIeusine indica, Gcertn. ; FI. Br. hid. vii. 293. Annual, 
glabrous ; stems tufted, 1-2 ft., erect, soft. Leaves flat, 3-12 in., 
up to J in. broad ; sheaths hairy at the mouth. Ligule obsolete. 
Spikelets green or tinged with purple, awnless, about } in., 3-5- 
flowered, alternate, not opposite as in Panicum, sessile, crowded 
in 2 series along one side of 4-7 simple, straight, flattened branches 
2-5 in. long and digitately spreading from near the top of the stem. 
Glumes thin, boat-shaped. Empty glumes 2, shorter than the 
lowest flowering glumes, unequal, the lower the smaller, keels 
roughly hairy. Flowering glumes glabrous, acute. Stamens 3. 
Styles 2, short, distinct, feathery. Grain oblong, free within the 
persistent glumes, outer coat loose ; seed wrinkled. 
Throughout India, ascending to 5000 ft. — Tropical regions of the Old 
World. 
E. Coracana, a cultivated form of this species, is a common crop in N. India 
and in the lower hills. Native name Mandwa ; it is the Eagi of S. India. 
Tribe VIII. Festucese. 
39. ARUNDO. The Latin name for a reed. — Temperate and 
tropical regions. 
Arundo Donax, Linn. ; FI. Br. Ind. vii. 302. Perennial ; 
stems 6-10 ft., erect or creeping near the base. Leaves smooth, 
flat, 1-2 ft., in 2 opposite series, drooping, tapering from a stem- 
clasping base |-1J in. broad to a fine point. Ligule very short, 
hairy. Spikelets slightly flattened, |--J in., 3-4 -flowered (flowers 
all 2-sexual except sometimes the uppermost), in a dense, erect, 
shining, silky panicle 1-2 ft. long ; branches erect or drooping, 
in half-whorls. Rhachilla glabrous, jointed between the flowers, 
prolonged. Glumes thin, narrowly lanceolate, concave. Empty 
glumes 2, glabrous, as long as the spikelet, slightly unequal, acute. 
Flowering glumes : lower half covered with long, white, silky 
hairs ; tip, 2-lobed, lobes acute, a short, straight awn in the cleft. 
