436 
GRAMINEA;. 
[. Panicum . 
* P. molle, Swartz ; Kunth, Enum. i. 92 (P. barbinode, Trin. Ic. t. 
318), a native of the West Indies, now widely spread in the Old 
World, is naturalised in Mauritius and Seychelles. It is a perennial, 
with stems reaching a height of 6 or 8 feet, with nodes clothed with a 
dense tuft of spreading white hairs, sheaths half a foot long, linear 
leaves ^-1 foot long, an ample rhomboid panicle 6-9 in. long with de- 
compound ascending branches, rachis rather flattened and often fur- 
nished with a few long white hairs, crowded sessile oblong acute glab- 
rous spikelets in. long pale green or tinged with purple. In Ceylon 
Dr. Thwaites says it is grown under the name of Mauritius grass. 
* P. maximum , Jacq. Ic. t. 13 (P. jumentorum, Pers. ; P. polygamum, 
Sw ; P. lgeve, Lam. ; P. altissimum, DC), a native of Guinea, now 
everywhere cultivated in the tropics of both hemispheres, was intro- 
duced many years ago by Governor Labourdonnais into Mauritius as 
a forage grass, and is now plentifully established both there and also in 
Rodriguez and the Seychelles, It has glabrous stems, which reach a 
height of 6 or 8 feet, linear leaves 1-2 feet long narrowed gradually 
to both ends, a panicle a foot or more long, with very numerous ascend- 
ing branches, the lower ones in a dense whorl, pedicels J— J in. long 
and oblong acute glossy glabrous spikelets above long. Judging 
from the description, P. pamplemoussense, Steud. Gram. 71, is this 
species. Fataque. Herbe de Guinee. 
10. P. multinode, Lam. ; Kunth, Enum. i. 116. Perennial. Stems 
tufted, geniculate and rooting from the lower nodes, then ascending, a 
foot or more long. Leaves 6-8 ; upper sheaths 1-2 in. long, glabrous 
or pilose with a dense tuft of hairs at the throat ; blade linear, acute, 
glabrous, 2-4 in. long. Panicle rhomboid, 2-4 in. long, with numerous 
slender erecto-patent decompound pubescent branches ; spikelets 
shortly pedicellate, oblique oblong, obtuse, glabrous, brownish, in. 
long. P. pilipes, Nees. 
Seychelles, common by roadsides and in waste ground, Perville , 157 ! Horne , 
629 ! Mauritius, according to Lamarck. Also Madagascar and East Indies. Near 
P. trigonum , Retz. (P. patens, Burm. FI. Ind. tab. 10, fig. 2), and P. radicans , Retz 
(Kunth, Enum. i. 126). Dr. Thwaites regards them as three varieties of a single 
species. 
11. P. biflorum, Lam. Ill'i. 174. A much-branched annual, with 
slender stems a foot or more long. Leaves 6-8 ; upper sheaths 1J-2 in. 
long, glabrous or pilose ; blade linear, acuminate, glabrous, 3-6 in. long. 
Panicle rhomboid, 2-4 in. long, with numerous erecto-patent decom- 
pound capillary branches ; pedicels reaching £-- *■ in. long ; spikelets 
in. long, obovate, obtuse, glossy, glabrous. Isachne mauritiana, 
Kunth 9 Enum. i. 136. Neurachne meneritana, Bojer , Hort. Maur. 366, 
not B. and S. 
Mauritius, frequent by roadsides and in cultivated fields. Also Tropical 
Africa. 
12. P. plicatum, Lam.; var. P. costatum, Boxb.; Kunth , Enum. i. 93. 
