CXLTII. GRAMINE.i:. 949 



rliacliis of paniculate racemes (the sessile spikelets deciduous with the 

 internode and pedicel) ; callus bearded M'ith long hairs. Glumes 4 ; 

 jnvol.-glumes subequal ; lower invol.-glume obloQg-lanceolate, dorsally 

 flattened, more or less distinctly 2-keeled ; upper invol.-glume 1-3- 

 nerved, keeled ; lower floral glume hyaline, oblong, muticous or mucro- 

 nate ; upper floral glume shortest, generally awned ; palea small, 

 hyaline, nerveless. Lodicules 2, cuneate. Stamens 2-3. Stigmas 

 usually laterally exserted. Grain oblong or subglobose. — Distkib. 

 Species about 20, mainly tropical. 



Eaceraes panicled ; leaves 2-3 ft. by 1-1^ in., scaberulous ; sheaths 



hairy; callus with long silky hairs 1. E. Eavemice. 



Racemes subdigitate ; leaves 1-2 ft. by \—^ in., smooth ; sheaths 



glabrous; liairs of callus short 2. E.fastigiatus. 



1. Erianthus Ravennse, Beauv. Agrost. (1812) p. 14. Stem 6-10 ft. 

 high ; nodes glabrous. Leaves 2-3 ft. by 1-1 ^ in., linear, scaberulous 

 on both surfaces, flat, margins scabrid, midrib broad ; sheaths hairy ; 

 ligule a narrow silky-hairy band. Panicles oblong, 1-3 ft. long, erect 

 or inclined, clothed with silky hairs ; branches many from the rhachis. 

 Spikelets pale, -I- in. long (excluding awn), lineaz'-lanceolate ; pedicels 

 with 2 opposite rows of very long silky hairs; callus short, with long 

 silky hairs which are as long as or longer than the spikelet. Glumes 4 ; 

 lower invol.-glume i in. long, membranous, lanceolate, aristately 

 acuminate, M'ilh slightly scaberulous margins; upper invol.-glume 

 slightly longer than the lower, lanceolate, aristately acuminate, obscurely 

 3-nerved ; lower floral glume rather more than i in. long, narrowly 

 lanceolate, very acute, with incurved margins, hyaline ; upper floral 

 glume Yo ^^- l^^S' ovate-lanceolate, tapering into a whitish awn of 

 variable length. Fl. B. I. v. 7, p. 121 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. 

 Nat. v. 13 (1901) p. 436.— Flowers : Dec. 



SiND : Larkliana, Cooke'.; Karachi, Cooke I, Woodrow. — Distrib. India (W. Hima- 

 laya, Panjab, Upper Gangetic plain, W. Peninsula) ; westward to the Mediterranean. 



2. Erianthus fastigiatus, Nees, ex Steud. Syn. Gram. (1855) 

 p. 409. Stem 2-8 ft. high, stout or slender, silky-hairy below the 

 panicle. Leaves 1-2 by ^-^ in., linear from a narrow base, rigid, flat, 

 smooth, with scabrid margins; sheaths glabrous, with flmbriate mouth ; 

 ligule a narrow membra,ne. Panicle oblong or fnn-shaped; racemes 

 crowded, subdigitately fascicled ; rhachis angular, silky-hairy. Spikelets 

 i in. long, lanceolate, dark brown below, paler above ; callus with white 

 hairs which are much shorter thau the spikelet ; pedicels as long as the 

 spikelets, with 2 opposite rows of silky hairs. Glumes 4 ; lower 

 invol.-glume j in. long, chartaceous, brown, shining, ovate-lanceolate, 

 acute, the margins near the base clothed with long silky hairs ; upper 

 invol.-glume chartaceous, lanceolate, acuminate, brown below, paler above, 

 equalling the lower invol.-glume ; lower floral glume ^ in. long, narrowly 

 lanceolate, acute, base membranous, colored, the upper part hyaline ; 

 upper floral glume ^ in. long, lanceolate, 2-toothed, hyaline, with a 

 slender awn | in. long or longer. Fl. B. I. v. 7, p. 125 ; Woodr. in 

 Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 13 (1901) p. 436 ; Prain, Beng. PI. p. 1 189. 



S. M. Country: Belgauni, Ritchie, 792! — Pistrib, India (Sikkim, Kbasia, Assam, 

 Bengal, W. Peninsula). 



