In Malesia the genus Sporobolus R. Br. (Gramineae) is represented by 4 sections, 3 here newly distinguished, with 10 species, 2 new. Sporobolus indicus (L.) R. Br. has 5 varieties, 1 new, and 3 with a new rank: var. creber (De Nardi) Veldk., var. flaccidus (R. & S.) Veldk., and var. major Baaijens [S. creber De Nardi, S. diandrus (Retz.) Beauv., and S. fertilis (Steud.) Clayton, respectively]. Some other non-Malesian taxa have also been reduced to varieties, e.g. S. laxus Simon from Queensland (var. queenslandicus Veldk.), and S. pyramidalis Beauv. [var. pyramidalis (Beauv.) Veldk., incl. S. jacquemontii Kunth] from Africa and America. The Indian species generally known as S. tremulus – a superfluous name for S. virginicus (L.) Kunth -is reduced to a subspecies of S. humilis Presl. Sporobolus poiretii (R. & S.) Hitchc., long misapplied for S. indicus, is a synonym of S. junceus (Beauv.) Kunth. Five new sections are distinguished. The correct name for Thysanolaena maxima (Roxb.) O. Ktze is T. latifolia (Roxb. ex Hornem.) Honda.