146 CLXXIII. GRAMINE.E. (J. D Hooker.) [Arthraxon. 



ffance in Journ. Linn. Soc. xiii. (173) 134. Andropogon Retzii & incertus, 

 8 tend. S-t/n. Gram. 375. Arthraxon, Wall. Cat. n. 88:53. 8835 A. (B. in 

 part) 8836. 



Hilly districts of INDIA from Kashmir eastwards to Burma, ascending the 

 Himalaya to 5500 ft., and southward to the Nilghiri Hills and CEYLON. 



Stems tall or short, weak, rarely as thick as a crow-quill, tufted and branched 

 from the base, or with long creeping stems and ascending leafy branches. Leaves 

 1-3 in., ovate to lanceolate, glabrous or laxly hairy, margins ciliate ; sheath with 

 ciliate margins. Spikes few or many, on long naked or spathaceously sheathed 

 glabrous peduncles, pale green or purplish. Spikelets - in., lanceolate or linear- 

 lanceolate, callus naked or shortly bearded; gl. I scaberulous, 7-10-nerved; II 

 obscurely 3-nerved; III much shorter, oblong acute; IV usually awned. Stamens 

 variable in length never = gl. IV. I give below Hackel's grouping of the two 

 principal forms of this protean plant and their synonymy. For his elaborate sub- 

 division of these into 4 subspecies and 9 varieties I must refer to his work. These 

 are founded on characters of unequal value, and subject to diverse limitations. 

 After a long study of the mass of materials at Kew I recognize the following widely 

 distributed leading Indian forms : 1, A. violaceus ; rather robust, spikes 6-20 1-2 

 in. long, spikelt j ts % in. more or less purple, awns twice as long as the spikelet or 

 shorter ; 2, nudus, usually tall and widely strangling, spikes many 1-2 in. very 

 slender rachis capillary, sparsely hairy, spikelets -y^ | ^ n> narrow very pale, stamens 

 as often 3 as 2 ; 3, plumb eus, stems shortly strangling much branched, leaves small, 

 spikes 2-3 rarely more --f in. long, rachis capillary nearly glabrous, spikelets T L in. 

 usually purple, approaches nearest to A. microphyllus ; 4, muriculatus ; habit of 

 plumbetts, but nerves of gl. I echinulate nearly to the base. N. W. India. 



Hackel's two leading groups to which I have added a third : 



a. Joints of rachis glabrous, or with a few scattered hairs towards the tip. 



A. ciliaris, Beauv. 1. c. A. gracilis & lasiocoleos, Hochst. in Flora, xxxix. 

 (1856) lf-8, 189. A. japonicus, Miq. Ann. Mus. Bot. Lugd. Sat. ii. 288. A. 

 lanceolatus & nudus, Hochst. in Flora, xxxix. (1856) 159. A. Lnngsdorfianus, 

 Hochst. I.e.', Boiss. Fl. Orient, v. 455. A. nudus, Benth. ex Clarke in Journ. 

 Linn. Soc. xxv. (1889) 86. Batratherum nudnm, Nees ex Steud. Si/n. Gram. 383. 

 Pleuroplitis centro-asiatica, Griseb. in Ledeb. Fl. Ross. iv. 477. P. Langsdorffiana, 

 Trin. Fund. Agrost. 175, t. 16. Lncaea gracilis, Kunth Revis. Gram. ii. 489, t. 

 159, Enum. i. 472. L. Laugsdorffiana, Steud. I. c. 413. Lasiolytrum hirtuui, 

 Steud. in Flora (1846) 18 j Syn, Gram. 12. Las. pilosum, Steud. ex Jord. in Rum. 

 Soc. Sc. Nat. Cherb. v. (1857) 299. Pollinia ciliaris, Spreng. Syst. i. 289. 

 Andropogon amplexifolius, Trin. in Mem. Acad. Petersb. Str. VI. ii. 1833, 274. 

 A. lasiocoleos & nudus, Steud. 1. c. 383. Fhalaris hispida, Thunb. Fl. Jap. 44. 

 Deyeuxia japonica, Spreng. I. c. 254. 



b. Joints of rachis, at least the upper, more or less ciliate. 



A. coloratus, major, Schimperi, Se-hmidtii & violaceus Hochst. I. c. 188. 

 Batratherum plumbeum, Munro ex Duthie in Atkinson Gazette, 640. Pleuroplitis 

 ciliata, Schmidt Beitr. Fl. Cap. Verd. Ins. 152. P. plumbea & violacea, Steud. I. c. 

 414. P. Quartiuiana, Regel in Bull. Acad. Petersb. v. (1866) 757, Wight Cat. n. 

 1683. P. caucasicji, Rupr. ex Regel in Bull. Acad. Petersb. x. (1866) 373. Luc-sea 

 ciliata, major, plumbea & violacea, Steud. I. c. 414. Andropogon Alectoridia, Steud. 

 1. c. 383. A. violaceus, Heyne ex Steud. I. c. 414. Alectoridia Qnartiniana, 

 A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss, ii. 448, t. 99. Wall. Cat. n. 8833 A. 



c. Spikes silluly villous, spikelets -|~ in., gl. I acu'e entire or minutely 2'toothed, 

 awn % in. or more. 



A. cuspidatus, Hochst. in Flora (1856) 188; Hack. Monogr. Androp. 353. A. 

 micans, Hochst. I.e. Batratherum micans, Nees in Ann. fy Mag. Nat. Hist. \ii. 

 (1835) 220. Pleuroplitis major, Re.jel in Bull. Avid. Petersb. v. (1866) 750 (excl. 

 Syn. Lurcea major]. Andropogon cuspidatus, Hochst. ex A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss. 

 ii. 456. A. lanceolatus, Baker Fl. Maurit. 444 (non Roxb.). A. micans, Steud. Syn. 

 Gram. 382. N.W. Himalaya, Nilghiri Hills, Mauritius, Afr. trop. 



