PLATE 46. 



BRACHYPODIUM FLEXUM, Nees. (Fl. Cap., Vol. VII., p. 736). 

 Nat. Order Graminese. 



PERENNIAL. CULMS often abundantly branched below, ascending from ageni- 

 culate (often decumbent and rooting) base, very slender, l to more than 2 feet 

 long, glabrous or scantily hairy just btlow the nodes, smooth, 5 to 7-noded, interme- 

 diate and upper internodes exserted, uppermost the longest ; sheaths tight, striate, 

 sjireadingly hairy along the margins, otherwise very sparingly hairy or glabrous, 

 excepting a finely tomentose line at the junction with the blade and the densely 

 tomentose or villous (rarely finely pubescent) nodes, lowest sheaths finally thrown 

 aside ; ligules extremely short, up to line long, truncate, brownish. Blades 

 linear, long tapering to a very fine point, 2 to 5 inches, by l to 3 lines, flat, 

 glaucous, subrigid to almost flaccid, spreadingly hairy on the upper side, less so or 

 glabrous and scabrid or scaberulous on the lower side ; false spike erect or nodding, 

 usually flexuous, 2-ranked, 9 to 1-spiculate, up to 4 inches long ; rhachis very slender, 

 strongly compressed, striate, slightly rough or smooth except along the scabrid 

 margins ; pedicels very short, up to f line long, finely puberulous to almost glabrous. 



SPIKELETS usually more or less spreading, | to 1 inch long, glabrous, very 

 rarely sparingly pubescent, 7 to 16-flowered. 



GLUMES acute to acuminate, lower subulate to subulate-lanceolate, 1 to almost 

 3 lines long, 4-5- (rarely 3) nerved, npper lanceolate to oblong, 2 to more than 3J 

 lines long, 7-nerved, nerves very prominent. Valves lanceolate, acuminate, gradually 

 narrowed into the awn, 3 to 4 lines long, rather firm, finely scaberulous, rarely 

 subpubescent above, 7-nerved ; awn up to 3^ lines long, shorter in the lower florets. 

 Pales 3j to almost 4 lines long, rigidly ciliate in the upper part ; anthers over Ij 

 line long, linear. 



Var. simplex (Stapf). Culms simple, up to more than 2 feet high, erect, rough 

 from minute reversed hairs to reversedly hirsute, rarely smooth towards the panicle. 

 Panicle up to foot long, flexuous. Spikelets erect or spreading, up to if inch 

 long, and to 18-flowered, glabrous, scaberulous. Glumes and valves by about | to 

 ^ longer than in the type. 



Habitat : NATAL. Var. simplex, Umsinga and base of Biggarsberg, Buchanan 



104 ; on the Drakensberg, near Newcastle, Buchanan 198 ; without precise locality, 



Buchanan 60, 61 ; Van Reeneu, 5500 feet alt,, Wood 8885 ; Zululand, SwanJuM. 



Var. tetme, Umpumulo, 2100 feet alt., Buchanan 233; without precise locality, 



Buchanan 79. 



Drawn from Wood's 8885. 



Fig 1, Lower glume-upper ; 2, glume ; 3, valve and callus ; 4, valve opened ; ~>, pale ; 6, 

 pistil, stamens and K-dieules-. All enlarged. 



