Acrachne Wight & Arnott ex Chiov., Annuario Reale Ist. Bot. Roma 8: 361. 1908; Sharma & Khosla, Grasses Punj. and Chandigarh 60. 1989; Chen & Phillips, Fl. China @ eFloras.org 22: 481; Fl. Pak. @ eFloras.org p. 103.

Annuals. Culms single or tufted. Leaf blades narrow, linear, thin, flat; ligule membranous with ciliate fringe. Inflorescence open, composed of racemes arranged subdigitately or spread along a central axis; racemes with imbricate, subsessile spikelets on a slender flattened rachis on one side, rachis terminating in a spikelet. Spikelets laterally compressed, florets 6-20, spikelets falling wholly or in a part; glumes shorter than lemmas, 1-nerved, keeled; lemmas firmly membranous, 3-nerved, glabrous, strongly keeled, glabrous, entire or bidentate, tipped with a stout awn-point. Caryopsis ornamented.

3 species

Acrachne racemosa (Hayne ex Roth) Ohwi, Bull. Tokyo Sci. Mus. 18: 1. 1947; Bor, Grasses Burma, Ceyl. Ind. Pak. 487. 1960; Sharma & Khosla, Grasses Punj. and Chandigarh 60. 1989; Fl. China @ eFloras.org 22: 481; Fl. Pak. @ eFloras.org p. 104; A. verticillata (Roxb.) Wight & Arn. ex Lindl., Ann. R. Istit. Bot. Roma 8: 361. 1908; Eleusine verticillata Roxb., Fl. Ind. 1: 346. 1820; Leptochloa verticillata (Roxb.) Kunth, Revis. Gramin. 1: 91. 1829.

Annual. Culms tufted, erect or geniculately ascending, simple or branched, 15-50 cm tall. Leaf sheaths glabrous, compressed; leaf blades linear-lanceolate, flat up to 20 cm x 0.8 cm, glabrous or adaxially pilose at base, tapering to a fine hair-tip (or setaceous apex); ligule small, truncate, ciliolate. Inflorescence subdigitate (in pseudowhorls) or racemes arranged singly or in pairs along a central axis up to 15 cm; 6-20 racemes per inflorescence. Spikelets densely imbricate, oblong, 6-10 mm long, 6-15-flowered, pale green, stramineous at maturity. Glumes membranous, unequal; lower glume narrowly oblong. 1.2-1.7 mm, apex acute, mucronate; upper glume lanceolate, 1.5-2.5 mm, acuminate, awn-pointed, awn 1/3-2/3rd as long as glume. Lemma broadly ovate, 2.5-3 mm long, keeled, keel scabrid, 3-nerved with middle nerve excurrent into a stout, ca. 1 mm awn-point, lateral nerve slightly excurrent. Palea oblong, small, ca. 1 mm long, hyaline, 2-keeled, keels scabrid. Grain dark brown, rugose.

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