the lowest smaller or absent; upper or flowering glume much firmer, cartilaginous or almost coriaceous, 5–7-nerved. Palea similar in texture to the flowering glume but rather smaller, 2-nerved. Lodicules 2, cuneate. Stamens 3. Styles 2, distinct to the base, rather long. Grain ovoid or oblong, free, enclosed within the hardened flowering-glume and palea.
Species about 160, scattered through the tropics of both hemispheres, but most abundant in America. The three species found in New Zealand are widely distributed.
| Rhizome not creeping. Culms usually erect, 1–3 ft. Spikelets orbicular-ovoid, obtuse | 1. P. scrobiculatum. |
| Rhizome long, creeping. Culms ascending, 6–24 in. Leaves flat, ⅙–⅓ in. broad. Lateral spikes sessile. Spikelets oblong-ovoid, acute | 2. P. Digitaria. |
| Rhizome long, creeping. Culms ascending, 2–8 in. Leaves involute, 112 in. broad. Spikes all peduncled. Spikelets oblong, acute | 3. P. distichum. |
1. P. scrobiculatum, Linn. Mant. i. 29.—Rhizome short. Culms tufted, erect or decumbent at the base, usually sheathed throughout by the leaves, glabrous, 1–3 ft. high. Leaves linear or linear-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, ¼–½ in. broad, glabrous or slightly hairy towards the base, flat or wrinkled; margins rough; ligule short, broad, membranous; sheaths rather lax. Spikes varying in number from 2 to 6, 1–2 in. long, alternate towards the top of the culm, usually rather distant, spreading or erect; rhachis 112 in. broad, flat, margins ciliate. Spikelets in 2 or rarely 3–4 rows, imbricate, sessile or very shortly pedicelled, sometimes geminate on a common pedicel, ovoid-orbicular, obtuse, glabrous. Empty glumes subequal, thin and membranous, with, a prominent midrib; the outer one with a single marginal vein on each side; the upper one with 2 marginal veins. Flowering glume similar in size and shape to the empty glumes, hard and coriaceous, brown, shining, minutely pitted. Palea coriaceous like the flowering glume, the margins produced into membranous inflected auricles.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i, 291; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 323; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 460; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 10a. P. orbiculare, Forst. Prodr. n. 35; A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 140; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 266; Raoul, Choix, 89.
North Island: Auckland—Lowland stations from the North Cape to the East Cape, not uncommon.
An abundant plant in all warm countries outside America.
2. P. Digitaria, Poir. Encycl. Suppl. iv. 316.—Rhizome long, branched, creeping and rooting. Culms erect or ascending, sheathed throughout by the leaves, glabrous, 6–24 in. high. Leaves numerous, distichous, 2–8 in. long, ⅙–⅓ in. broad, flat, glabrous or sparingly hairy towards the base; ligules short, membranous, truncate; sheaths compressed, striate, margins pilose above. Spikes rather
