ELEUSINE

Eleusine Gaertn., Fruct. Sem. Pl. 1: 7. 1788; Phillips, Kew Bull. 27: 251-270. 1972; Sharma & Khosla, Grasses Punj. and Chandigarh 70. 1989; Chen & Phillips, Fl. China @ eFloras.org 22: 481.

Annuals or tussocky perennials from a short ascending rhizome. Culm slender to robust, flattened. Leaf blades long, narrow, flat, usually folded; leaf sheaths strongly keeled. Inflorescence of digitate or subdigitate spikes clustered at top of culm. Spikelets sessile, imbricate, laterally compressed, arranged in 2 rows on one side of flattened rachis; rachis terminating in a spikelet; rachilla disarticulating above the glumes between the florets. Spikelets with 3-12 florets, all bisexual or uppermost reduced. Glumes persistent, unequal, shorter than the lemmas, lower 1-nerved, upper 1-5-nerved, keeled. Lemmas similar to upper glume, elliptic to oblong, membranous, keeled, usually 3-nerved, rarely 5-nerved. Palea shorter than lemma, 2-keeled. Keels narrowly winged. Stamens 3. Caryopsis enclosed within a free hyaline pericarp, oblong to globose, grooved, surface ornamented.

10 species

Eleusine indica

Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn., Fruct. Sem. Pl. 1: 8. 1788; Bor, Grasses Burma, Ceyl. Ind. Pak. 493. 1960; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 7: 293. 1897; Maheshwari, Illustr. Fl. Delhi f. 261. 1966; Sharma & Khosla, Grasses Punj. and Chandigarh 72. 1989; Kaur & Sharma, Fl. Sirmaur 668. 2004; Singh & Sharma, Fl. Chamba Dist. 782. 2006; Fl. China @ eFloras.org 22: 482; Fl. Pak. @ eFloras.org p. 103; Cynodon indicus (L.) Raspail, Ann. Sci. Nat. (Paris) 5: 303. 1825; Cynosurus indicus L., Sp. Pl. 1: 72. 1753.

Annual. Culms tufted, erect or slightly geniculately ascending, flattened, 20-85 cm long, nodes glabrous. Leaf blades linear, flat, usually folded, 10-35 cm x 5-9 mm, glabrous or with few scattered tubercle-based hairs on adaxial surface; leaf sheaths strongly keeled, open in lower leaves, smooth, with a few tubercle-based hairs along the margin; ligule small, 1 mm, membranous, ciliolate. Inflorescence digitate or subdigitate, 2-9, slender, linear, suberect or slightly recurved spikes, 5-12(-14) cm long and 3-5 mm wide, a few spikes often set below the main apical clusters. Spikelets sessile, imbricate, laterally compressed, arranged in 2 rows on one side of the rachis; rachis flattened and terminating in a spikelet; rachilla disarticulating above the glumes. Spikelets 3-7 mm long, elliptic, 3-9-flowered, glabrous. Glumes unequal, membranous, lanceolate, acute, keeled, scabrid on keel, keels winged, persistent; lower glume 1.5-2.5 mm long, 1-nerved; upper 3-4 mm long, 3-7-nerved. Lemmas ovate-oblong, or lanceolate, obtuse, 3-4 mm long, 3-nerved. Palea shorter than lemma, oblong-lanceolate, subacute, 2-keeled, keels winged, scabrid. Stamens 3. Stigmas 2. Caryopsis dark brown, oblong or ovate, obliquely striate with fine close lines running vertically between the striae.

Flowering and Fruiting: July to December
Common Names: Indian Crowfoot Grass, Indian Goose Grass, Wire-grass, Crowfoot Grass, Yard-grass; Malan Kuri, Balraja, Mandla, Jharnpriya Kodu (Hindi)