The spikelets are usually pubescent, ovoid or obovoid, acute, turgid, 1/8 inch, pale green and some occasionally purplish on one side, alternate close or distant, in pairs lower down and then one with a somewhat longer pedicel, solitary in the upper portions, pedicels with hairs, some of them especially those near the apex being longer.
Fig. 96.—Panicum ramosum.
1 and 2. Back and front view of spike; 3 and 4. front and back view of a spikelet; 5 and 6. first and second glumes; 7 and 8. third glume and its palea; 9 and 10. fourth glume and its palea; 11. ovary, anthers and lodicules.
There are four glumes. The first glume is nearly half the length of the third glume, broadly ovate, subacute, margin overlapping at the base, and usually 5-nerved. The second glume is broadly ovate acute, rather cuspidate, usually 5-nerved (rarely 7-nerved). The third glume is similar to the second glume, 5-nerved, paleate, empty; palea is hyaline oblong, acute. The fourth glume is ovoid-oblong, acute, coriaceous, rugulose, with short broadened stipes, and three faint nerves; palea similar to the glume in texture and markings. Anthers are orange-yellow; style branches are purple. Lodicules are small and fleshy.
This grass is a common weed found in dry cultivated fields and open waste places and is one of the best fodder grasses available.
Distribution.—Plains throughout India and in Afghanistan.
