9 
Flora of the Ceylon Littoral. 
with Ipomcea 'xn the bare sand, is Zoysia pungens (Gramineae) (Fig. 3). 
This plant has a long rhizome, bearing erect axillary shoots with 
narrow leaves at frequent intervals, and fixed by numerous roots, 
very long compared with the height of the aerial portion (Fig. 4). 
The rhizome itself, like that of Ipomcea, may either lie upon the 
surface of the sand, or be buried in it. In the latter case its course 
is marked on the surface only by the star-like leaf-rosettes arranged 
in long lines. The sand in which it grows is often so loose that 
one can pull up several feet of rhizome by raising the end and 
gently lifting it out of the sand, and this in spite of the fact that 
the roots are very numerous and quite long. 
Fig. 5. An undetermined plant of the Pes-caprac formation shewing stolo- 
niferous habit and very long tap-roots. 
