2 
alata, alis vel potius cristis viridibus firmulis ; anthoecio infero neutro, 
supero 3. Spicula summa glumarum cristis longe in caudas productis, 
crista inferioris leviter torta et ad 20 mm. longa.—Rottboellia caudata, 
Hack. Mon. Androp. p. 298. 
TroprcaL AFRICA. From Sierra Leone to the Sudan and southwards 
to Angola. 
The species was originally described from a specimen collected by 
Biichner at Malange, Angola. The only other species known so far 
to belong to Chasmopodium is C. Afzelii, Stapf, a grass confined 
to Sierra Leone and the lower Senegal, which is very closely allied to 
C. caudatum. The difference between Chasmopodium and Rottboellia 
(sens. angust.) is chiefly in the structure of the axes of the raceme 
and their adaptation to receive the fertile (sessile) spikelets. In 
Rottboellia each joint is fused with the adjoining pedicel, forming an 
anticously open receptacle in which the sessile spikelet is lodged. In 
hasmopodium, on the other hand, joint and pedicel are clearly 
separate, leaving an oblong open space between them, within which 
the upper glume of the sessile spikelet is exposed.—O. STAPF. 
Fie. 1, group of spikelets in front view ; 2, same in back view ; 3, lower glume ; 
4, upper glume ; 5, lower floret ; 6, upper floret (3-6 of sessile spikelet) ; 7, lower 
glume of pedicelled spikelet ; 8, pedicelled spikelet with the crest continued into 
a caudate appendage. All enlarged. 
