199 
GRAMINEA. (A.B. Renpzz.) 
CENTOTHECA LAPPACEA Desy. in Journ. de Bot. (1813) 70; Schum. & Laut. 
185; Ridl. in Trans. Linn, Soc. ser. 2, Bot. ix. (1916) 250. 
Island of Roon, ridge beyond Djendé, common undergrowth in forest, 
400’. Fl. Jan. 6234. 
Distrib. New Guinea (D.S.W., Utakwa River, Kloss; N.E. and adjacent 
islands). West Africa, through India, Malesia, and Polynesia. 
GIGANTOCHLOA NOVO-GUINEENSIS Rendle, sp. nov. 
Culmus arborescens, ramis teretibus glabris. Folia subsessilia, lineari-oblonga, 
apice subabrupte acuminata, ad basin valde obliquam et inequaliter cordatam paullo 
angustata, multinervia sed haud conspicue, haud_ tessellata, utrinque glabra, margine 
scabridula ; vagine tubuliformes, persistentes ; ore auriculate, ciliate ; ligula angusta, 
ciliata. Inflorescentia terminales et axillares, rhachi elongata, ramis multo brevi- 
oribus, suberectis, spiculis capituliforme fasciculatis, capitulis distantibus, ad apicem 
rami interdum glomeratis. Spicu/e numerosissime, dense conferte, lanceolate, 
compress, pluriflore; glume inferiores, sepe 2, steriles, fertilibus minores, late 
ovate, apice mucronate, multinervie, in margine superiore sparse ciliolate ; glume 
JSertiles 2-5 distiche, 1 vel 2 superiores imperfecte, late ovate, breviter acuminate, 
apice pungente, in margine superiore ciliolatez, multinervie ; palea glume subzequalis 
vel paullo brevior, bi-carinata, carine minute ciliolate, lamina inter carinam et mar- 
ginem 3- vel 2-nervata, pars inter carinas haud nervata. Lodicule 0. Stamina 6, 
exserta, filamenta pro majore parte longitudinis in tubum tenuiter membranaceum 
demum valde fragilem connata; anthere anguste lineares, obsolete apiculate. 
Ovarium breviter pedicellatum, anguste pyramidatum, glabrum, stylo elongato, 
filiforme, superne in stigmata plumosa 3- vel 2-diviso. 
Culms about 16 ft. high; the young culm about 1 em. thick ; sheaths 
membranous, tubular, 11-12 cm. long, with margins ciliate above, and a 
truncate auricled apex bearing a fringe of long erect stiff cilia, 1°8 em. long, 
small leaf-blade, subsessile, ovate, acuminate, with shallowly cordate base. 
Fully formed leaves on tflowering shoots 4-4-5 dm. long, 7-9 em. wide, 
on the young leafy shoots up to 6 dm. long, 9°5 cm. wide ; apex acuminate, 
ending in a twisted scabrous point; ligule a ridge bearing stiffish cilie 
which are about 1 cm. long. Rbachis and branches of inflorescence smooth, 
glabrous ; the rhachis up to 6 dm. long; spikelets crowded in somewhat 
distant heads, 1°2-2 em. long, which are generally 3-5 cm. apart, but closer 
toward the end of the axis, where they sometimes unite to form a spherical 
compound head. Branches of inflorescence and heads subtended by the dry, 
brown, persistent bract-sheath, which is about equal in length to the head. 
Spikelets about 1 em. long, 4 mm. broad. Lower barren glume 4 mm. long, 
9-nerved, upper 6 mm. long, 11-nerved ; flowering glumes 8-9 mim. long. 
A very distinct species, suggesting Ozytenanthera in habit of in- 
florescence. 
Hab. Manokoeari, open cultivated slopes above “campong,” 100’. Jan. 
6270 a & b.—Humboldt Bay, beyond “campong” in the open and along 
stream. Jan. 6266a & b.- 
