This is a low and densely tufted or tall erect annual grass. Stems are leafy, branching freely, 3 to 8 inches long.
The leaf-sheath is loose, usually hairy, rarely also glabrous and hairy at the mouth. The ligule is a small lacerate membrane.
The leaf-blade is linear-lanceolate, acuminate, hairy on both sides and with tubercle-based hairs, rarely glabrous, 3/4 to 3 inches by 1/12 to 1/8 inch.
The inflorescence consists of two racemes, closely appressed together on a very slender peduncle; the joints are shorter than the spikelets and with long brown hairs.
The spikelets are oblong, 1/8 to 1/5 inch long, the callus is short, hairy with long brown hairs. The first glume is cuneately obovate or obcordate, yellowish with red brown tips or dark brown with yellow tips, chartaceous below, membranous, hyaline and ciliate at the truncate, emarginate or retuse apex, 7- to 9-nerved, the nerves abruptly ceasing towards the apex. The second glume is as long as the first, broadly oblong, sides sharply folded inwards, 3-nerved, rarely nerveless, with long hairs at the back towards the base and with short cilia at the apex. The third glume is as long as the first, hyaline, thin, linear-oblong, nerveless, ciliate at the apex, paleate, usually with two stamens or empty; palea as long as the glume, hyaline and nerveless. The fourth glume is slightly longer than the other glumes or equal, very narrowly oblong or linear, membranous, awned and paleate; awn is 2 to 6 times the length of the glume, 7/8 to 1-1/4 inch long; palea is hyaline, thin, nerveless, convolute, broadly oblong to almost quadrate oblong, apex with very short cilia. Grain is minute and oblong.
Fig. 140.—Apocopis Wightii.
1. Spike; 2. a spikelet; 3, 4, 5 and 7. the first, second, third and the fourth glume, respectively; 6 and 8. palea of the third and the fourth glume; 9. ovary.
This grass varies very much in its spikelets. In one form they are smaller and hairy and in the other they are larger and glabrous except for a few stray hairs here and there. The former one is more widely distributed and the latter seems to be confined to certain localities in the south of the Presidency.
Distribution.—Throughout the Deccan Peninsula, Behar, Central India, Burma and Ceylon.