ned;
rachilla jointed V. Agrostideae.

Spikelets 1- or more-flowered,
biseriate and secund on an
inarticulate spike or on the
spiciform branches of a slender
panicle; flowers all or the
lower only bisexual VI. Chlorideae.

B. Rachilla produced beyond the uppermost
flowering glume and articulate.

Spikelets 2- or more-flowered,
pedicelled, rarely sessile, in
effuse, contracted or rarely
spiciform panicles VII. Festucaceae.

Spikelets 1- or more-flowered,
sessile, 1- to 2- or more-seriate on
the rachis of a simple spike, or
partially sunk in cavities of the
same. Glumes awned or not,
first and second glumes are
opposite or subcollateral,
persistent or separately deciduous;
first glume minute or absent VIII. Hordeae.

CHAPTER VI.

Series I--Panicaceae.

TRIBE I--PANICEAE.

This is a fairly large and important tribe flourishing mostly in the
warm regions and the tropics. It is very well represented in South India
and fifteen genera are met with.

The inflorescence varies very much within this tribe and consists of
spikes, racemes and panicles. The spikelets are usually four-glumed and
contain one terminal perfect flower and a staminate or neutral flower
below. But in the genus Isachne both the flowers are perfect. In some
grasses the spikelets contain only staminate or pistillate flowers. In
Coix and Polytoca the plant bears both male and female spikelets in the
same inflorescence, but in Zea on the same plant they occur as distinct
inflorescences. The littoral grass Spinifex is dioecious.

The first glume of the spikelet is the smallest. In Panicum it is nearly
two-thirds or less than the third glume. It is very small in Digitaria
and entirely suppressed in Paspalum. In Eriochloa it is reduced to a
minute ridge lying just close to the swollen ring-like joint of the
rachilla. The second and the third glumes are more or less equal and
similar in texture. The fourth glume becomes firm and rigid along with
its palea and usually encloses the grain.

The pedicel is jointed in some genera and in others it is continuous
with the spikelet and not jointed. When mature the spikelets fall away
either by themselves, singly with their pedicels or in groups with
portions of rachis, according to the position of the joint. Bristles
(bra