Coix lacryma-jobi L.

This species is now widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions of the world (Job's Tears). There are many variants, of which the following are the most distinct.

Job’s Tears is an uncommon grass in Pakistan, but in parts of India it is grown either for its grain, from which a porridge can be made, or for its cupules which can be made into beads. The leaves and stems provide a useful fodder. Many races of Job’s Tears are known, including soft-shelled forms used for their grain and a variety of hard-shelled forms with cupules of assorted shapes and colours.

Annual. Culms erect, robust, 1–3 m tall, more than 10-noded, branched. Leaves cauline; leaf sheaths shorter than internodes, glabrous; leaf blades linear-lanceolate, usually glabrous, 10–40 × 1.5–7 cm, midvein stout, base subrounded or cordate, margins scabrous, apex acute; ligule 0.6–1.2 mm. Male raceme 1.5–4 cm, spikelets in pairs with terminal triad; utricle ovoid to cylindrical, usually bony, shiny, 7–11 × 6–10 mm, white, bluish or gray-brown, sometimes with apical beak. Male spikelets oblong-ovate, 6–9 mm; glumes many-veined, lower glume winged on keels, wings 0.4–0.8 mm wide, wing margin ciliolate; anthers 4–5 mm. Fl. and fr. Jun–Dec. 2n = 20.

Coarse annual; culms 1-3 m high. Leaf-blades linear-lanceolate, 10-45 cm long, 2-5 cm wide, cordate at the base. Cupule 5-15 mm long, typically glabose-ovoid, bony, shining, white or bluish. Male raceme 3-5 cm long, the spikelets 7-8 mm long.

Distribution: Pakistan (Sind, Punjab, N.W.F.P. & Kashmir); native in tropical Asia but now distributed throughout the tropics.

Fl. & Fr. Per.: August-October.

Streams, marshy valleys, moist fields, by houses, often cultivated. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam].