dorsally glabrous, shining. The _third
glume_ is hyaline, ovate-oblong, acute, nerveless, margins sparsely
ciliate or not. The _fourth glume_ is the base of the awn, 3/4 to 1
inch, scaberulous. _Stamens_ are three with yellow or purple tinged
anthers, _ovary_ oblong with two feathery _stigmas_. _Lodicules_ are
two, cuneate.

The _pedicelled spikelets_ are either male or neuter and consist of four
_glumes_. The _first glume_ is chartaceous, obovate-oblong, obtuse,
many-nerved (thirteen or more), thinly ciliate with long hairs and with
a few rigid short hairs towards the apex; margins are slightly infolded,
dorsally sparsely hairy without. The _second glume_ is membranous,
ovate-lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved (occasionally 4-nerved), margins are
thinly ciliate and infolded. The _third glume_ is hyaline, nerveless and
ciliate. The _fourth glume_ is hyaline, nerveless, linear and oblong,
glabrous, small, the apex is narrowed and deeply bifid. There are three
_stamens_ and two _lodicules_.

This is a common grass flourishing on the bunds of paddy fields and in
sheltered places where there is sufficient moisture in the soil. But
this is less common than _A. annulatus_, Forsk. In black cotton soil at
Bantanahal in Bellary district it grows to a height of 4 or 5 feet.

_Distribution._--Plains and low hills throughout India and Ceylon.

[Illustration: Fig. 160.--Andropogon annulatus.

1. Full plant; 2. base of the leaf and ligule.]

=Andropogon annulatus, _Forsk._=

This is a densely tufted perennial grass.

The main stem is underground, rhizomiferous, and covered with scale
leaves; branches are many arising in tufts, leafy, procumbent at base
and afterwards geniculately ascending and ending in inflorescence,
occasionally rooting at the nodes and varying in length from 2 to 3
feet. The internodes vary from 1-1/2 to 4 inches, pale or purplish,
slightly flattened, smooth and glabrous.

The _leaf-sheath_ is terete, glabrous, shining, green or purplish,
closed, with margins where separate ciliated and profusely so at the tip
especially the outer or both. The _ligule_ is membranous truncate,
glabrous, about 1/16 inch in height. _Nodes_ are purple and softly
villous.

[Illustration: Fig. 161.--Andropogon annulatus.

1. Front and back views of a portion of the spike; 2. a sessile and a
pedicelled spikelet; 3, 4, 5 and 6. the first, second, third and the
fourth glume, respectively, of the sessile spikelet; 7. the ovary,
st