The panicle is ovate or ovate-oblong, on a short, smooth peduncle, usually open and stiff; branches are usually many, sub-solitary or fascicled, spreading or suberect, capillary, stiff, again branching from near the base and about 3 inches long; rachis is angular, with glands and tufts of sparse white hairs at the angles of branches and branchlets.
Spikelets are linear to ovate-oblong, compressed, pale or green, sometimes purple tinged at the base, few to 40-flowered and occasionally up to 70-flowers, 1/8 to 1 inch.
The empty glumes are subequal or the first is a little shorter, ovate, acute, membranous, keeled, and sometimes the keels with glands; the first glume is usually one-nerved (rarely obscurely one- to three-nerved) and the second glume is three-nerved.
The flowering glumes are broadly ovate, oblique, obtuse, sometimes with a minute mucro, sub-chartaceous, punctulate, strongly three-nerved, paleate, about 1/12 inch long; palea is shorter than the glume, curved, obovate-oblong, keels ciliolate and persistent. Stamens are three with very small pale yellow anthers. Stigmas are two and white. Lodicules are very small. Grain is globose reddish brown, minutely and obscurely lineolate.
This grass is a very common weed occurring in cultivated dry fields all over this Presidency.
Distribution.—Throughout India and Ceylon in the plains and low hills. Occurs also in tropical and sub-tropical parts of Asia and Africa.
