Pit Scale Grass

Locally it is found at low altitudes, but is not abundant.

Annual; culms 5-100 cm high, erect. Leaf-blades linear-lanceolate, 2-15 cm long, 4-12 mm wide, coarsely hispid, subamplexicaul. Racemes 5-15 mm long. Sessile spikelet about 1 mm long; upper glume narrowly crested at the apex. Pedicelled spikelet 1.5 -2.5 mm long.

Culm about 30 cm tall. Blade linear-lanceolate, about 8 cm long by 4 mm wide, hirsute; sheath papillose-hispid. Inflorescence of racemes, 1-2 cm long. Spikelets paired; rachis-joint and pedicel grown together. Pedicellate spikelet conspicuous, staminate. Sessile spikelet fertile, about 1 mm long; lower glume globose, alveolate; upper glume broadly lanceolate, subcoriaceous, 3-nerved,margins infolded, appressed to the rachis-joint and pedicel which together form a cavity, as long as the spikelet. Florets hyaline.

Annual. Culms tufted, erect, up to 60 cm tall, branched from base. Leaf sheaths loose, slightly inflated, keeled; leaf blades linear-lanceolate, 5–20 × 0.4–1 cm, coarsely hispid, base subamplexicaul, apex subacute; ligule ca. 1 mm. Racemes 0.7–1.5(–2) cm; peduncle often pubescent; rachis internodes 1–1.5(–2) mm. Sessile spikelet 1–1.5 mm, usually cream-colored at maturity; lower glume hemispherical, coarsely reticulate-rugose, pits shallow and separated by broad rounded ribs, the whole surface finely granular; upper glume hyaline below, thickening upward toward the crested apex; lower lemma hyaline; upper lemma hyaline, ca. 1.1 mm, upper palea as long. Pedicelled spikelet 1.5–2.5 mm, glumes with prominent green veins and whitish wings. Fl. and fr. Jun–Oct. 2n = 14.

Throughout the tropics.

Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [throughout the tropics].

Distribution: Pakistan (Sind, Punjab, N.W.F.P. & Kashmir); throughout the tropics.

400-900 m

Fl. & Fr. Per.: (June-) August-September.

Arable land, open grassy places; 100–1000 m.

Cenchrus granularis L., Mant. Pl. 2: 575. 1771.
Manisuris granularis (L.) Sw., Prodr. Beg, Ind-Occid, 25. 1788; Henry, List. 108.1896.
Rytilix granularis (L.) Skeels in U. S. Dept. Bur. Pl. Ind. Bull. 282: 20. 1913 Honda, Monogr: 372. 1930.

Cenchrus granularis Linnaeus, Mant. Pl. 2: 575. 1771; Manisuris granularis (Linnaeus) Linnaeus f.; Mnesithea granu-laris (Linnaeus) de Koning & Sosef; Rottboellia granularis (Linnaeus) Roberty.

Annuals, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems geniculate, decumbent, or lax, sometimes rooting at nodes, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stems branching above base or distally at nodes, Stem nodes bearded or hairy, Stem internodes solid or spongy, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems with inflorescence 1-2 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly cauline, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leav es sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath hairy, hispid or prickly, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf sheath enlarged, inflated or distended, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades lanceolate, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blades 1-2 cm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blades more or less hairy, Ligule present, Ligule a fringed, ciliate, or lobed membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence a dense slender spike-like panicle or raceme, branches contracted, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence single raceme, fascicle or spike, Flowers bisexual, Flowers unisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets sessile or subsessile, Spikelets dorsally compressed or terete, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 2 florets, Spikelets paired at rachis nodes, Spikelets in paired units, 1 sessile, 1 pedicellate, Pedicellate spikelet well developed, staminate, Spikelets bisexual, Spi kelets disarticulating below the glumes, Spikelets secund, in rows on one side of rachis, Spikelets closely appressed or embedded in concave portions of axis, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes equal or subequal, Glumes equal to or longer than adjacent lemma, Glumes 4-7 nerved, Glumes 8-15 nerved, Lemmas thin, chartaceous, hyaline, cartilaginous, or membranous, Lemma apex truncate, rounded, or obtuse, Lemma awnless, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea membranous, hyaline, Palea longer than lemma, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis.

Hackelochloa granularis, the pitscale grass, is a species of grass native to sub-Saharan Africa and temperate and tropical regions of Asia. It is naturalised to the Southern United States, Mexico and South America.