fted, leafy at the base and occasionally with creeping stems
rooting at the lower nodes varying in length from 10 to 21 inches.

The _leaf-sheaths_ are glabrous, compressed, upper sheaths somewhat
inflated; mouth of the sheath is bearded with long hairs in the leaves
of young branches and quite glabrous when old and in flower-bearing
branches, margins are thin and membranous. The ligule is a thin narrow
membranous ridge.

The _leaf-blades_ are rather narrow, linear, flat, acute, glabrous when
old, and with scattered long hairs in the leaves of young branches,
varying in length from 2 to 9 and sometimes even 15 inches and in
breadth about 1/8 inch or less.

[Illustration: Fig. 198.--Chloris virgata.

1. Spikelet; 2 and 3, the first and second glumes; 4 and 5. the third
glume and its palea; 6. lodicules, stamens and the ovary; 7. the fourth
glume; 8. grain.]

The _inflorescence_ consists of from four to nine spikes digitately
arranged on a long peduncle and the leaf-sheath enclosing the
inflorescence is somewhat large and inflated. Spikes are 1 to 1-1/2
inches long with fine, angular rachis, scaberulous in the edges.

_Spikelets_ are about 1/10 inch, 2-awned, shortly stalked and consist of
only four _glumes_. The _first glume_ is small lanceolate, glabrous,
with the keel scaberulous, 1-nerved. The _second glume_ is about one and
a half times the first, oblong-lanceolate, 2-fid at the apex, glabrous,
but the keel scaberulous and nerve produced between the lobes into a
short scaberulous awn. The _third glume_ is oblong-ovate, lanceolate,
2-fid at the apex, and awned in the sinus, awn being about 1/4 inch long
bearded at the base, the margins are slightly ciliate up to about the
middle and then closely ciliate with long hairs almost to the tip, but
not to the tip; on the two sides of the dorsal nerve there are two
shallow grooves one on each side, with short scattered appressed hairs;
the palea is narrow oblanceolate, minutely 2-fid at the tip, with
margins folded inward and embracing the _stamens_, _ovary_ and the
_lodicules_. Grain is narrow, trigonous, oblong, translucent and
shining. The _fourth glume_ is borne by a short rachilla which is about
1/3 the length of the third glume or less, shorter than the third,
cuneiform, empty and awned.

This grass grows well and produces a fair amount of foliage.

_Distribution._--This is not very common. So far collected only from
Hosur in Salem district and Bellary district