Christmas Grass

Themeda arguens (L.) Hack, in DC. Monog. Phan. 6 : 657. 1889
Siipa arguens X,. Sp. PI. ed. 2. 117. 1762. Anthisiiria arguens Willd. Sp. PI. 4 : 901. 1806.
Annual. Stems up to 3 m. tall; leaf -sheaths glabrous or hairy; blades up to 4 dm. long, 3-6 mm. wide, glabrous or sometimes hairy at the base; panicle occupying usually less than one half of the stem; spathes 3-4 cm. long, longattenuate at the apex, usually more
4
or less hirsute; involucral spikelets 7-10 mm. long, the first scale acuminate or cuspidate; pedicellate spikelets subulate, similar to the involucral; sessile spikelets 9-11 mm. long, including the pimgent callus which is 3-4 mm. long and densely barbed with brown hairs, the first scale hispidulous above, the foiu-th scale with an awn 5-9 cm. long.
Type locality : India.
Distribution : Introduced into Jamaica. Native from Malacca to northern Australia.

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, Stem internodes solid or spongy, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems with inflorescence 1-2 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly basal, below middle of stem, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blade margins folded, involute, or conduplicate, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence a contracted panicle, narrowly paniculate, branches appressed or ascending, Inflorescence a dense slender spike-like panicle or raceme, branches contracted, Inflorescence with 2 or more spikes, fascicles, glomerules, heads, or clusters per culm, Inflorescence densely corymbose, paniculate, or capitate, rays reduced or absent, Inflorescence a panicle with narrowly racemose or spicate branches, Inflorescence with 2-10 branches, Peduncle or rachis scabrous or pubescent, often with long hairs, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets sessile or subsessile, Spikelets dorsally compressed or terete, Inflorescence or spikelets partially hidden in leaf sheaths, subtended by spatheole, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 1 fertile floret, Spikelets with 2 florets, Spikelet with 1 fertile floret and 1-2 sterile florets, Spikelets 3 per node, Spikelets in paired units, 1 sessile, 1 pedicellate, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating below the glumes, Spikelets falling with parts of disarticulating rachis or pedicel, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes distinctly unequal, Glumes equal to or longer than adjacent lemma, Glume equal to or longer than spikelet, Glumes 3 nerved, Lemma coriaceous, firmer or thicker in texture than the glumes, Lemma 1 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma apex truncate, rounded, or obtuse, Lemma distinctly awned, more than 2-3 mm, Lemma with 1 awn, Lemma awn 2-4 cm long or longer, Lemma awned from tip, Lemma awn twisted, spirally coiled at base, like a corkscrew, Lemma awn once geniculate, bent once, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Callus or base of lemma evidently hairy, Callus hairs shorter than lemma, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear.

Themeda arguens, commonly known as Christmas grass, is a species of grass. It is found in South Asia, Eastern Asia, Australia, the south-western Pacific and the Caribbean.