Genchrus .] 
gramine^:. 
441 
rigid spreading bristles outside. Spikelels 3-6 in an involucre, under 
i in. long, oblong, acute. 
Mauritius and Rodriguez, in dry soil. Round the world in the tropical zone. 
Hacle. Herbe a cateaux. 
6. PENNISETUM, Rich. 
Spikelets 2-flowered, solitary in an involucre of plumose bristles, 
that falls with them ; upper flower hermaphrodite ; lower male or 
neuter. Empty glumes unequal. Flowering glume and pale coria- 
ceous, concave, awnless. Stamens 3. Hypogynous scales 0 or very 
minute. Style elongated, free or connate in the lower part ; stigmas 
protruded from the top of the flower. Grain compressed, free within 
its coriaceous wrappers. — Tall grasses, with dense simple terminal 
spikes. Distrib. Warmer regions of both hemispheres. Species 
about 20. 
Annual, with ascending spikelets 1 . P. cenchroides. 
Perennial, with spreading spikelets * P. setosum. 
1. P. cenchroides, Rich. ; Kunth, Enum. i. 162. A tufted gla- 
brous annual, with ascending branched stems 1-2 feet long. Upper 
sheaths 2-3 in. long, pilose at the throat ; blade linear, glabrous, acute, 
4-6 in. long. Spikes 1-3 in. long ; spikelets ascending, sessile, crowded, 
oblong, acute, § in. long, included in an involucre of numerous bristles, 
densely plumose in the lower part, unequal and much longer than them- 
selves, greenish or tinged with purple. 
Seychelles, common in dry soil, Horne , 633 ! Warmer regions of both hemi- 
spheres. 
* P. setosum , Rich. ; Trin. Ic. t. 20 (P. purpurascens, E. B. K. ; 
Kunth , Enum. i. 160), a native of Tropical America, sometimes culti- 
vated in the Old World, is established in the Seychelles. It is an 
erect perennial, with stems 3-4 feet long, linear acute glabrous or 
pilose leaves, a very dense purple spike half a foot long, and spread- 
ing sessile oblong acute spikelets T V in. long, enclosed in an involucre 
of a dozen or more fine bristles densely plumose in the lower part, one 
much longer (f inch) and stronger than the rest. 
7. GYMNOTHRIXj Beauv. 
Spikelets solitary, 2-flowered, enclosed in an involucre of bristles 
that falls with them ; upper flower hermaphrodite, the lower male or 
neuter. Empty glumes unequal, membranous, concave. Flower- 
ing-glume and pale awnless, coriaceous. Stamens 3. Hypogynous 
scales distinct. Styles 2, elongated, in our plant united above the base ; 
stigmas plumose. Grain compressed. — Tall grasses, with dense long 
simple terminal spikes. Distrib. Cape and tropical zone of both 
hemispheres. Species about 20. 
