Avena.] CLXXIII. GRAMINE^. (J. D. Hooker.) 277 



coppery-brown ; rachilla penicillate ; gl. I and II scarious, nerves scaberulous ; I 

 linear-oblong; II oblong-lanceolate; fl. gls. oblong, scarious above the middle, 

 strongly 7-9-nerved, tip and margins broadly hyaline, margins and nerves scaberuloas; 

 awn median-dorsal, twice as long as the gl., bent just above the top of the gl. ; keels 

 of palea smooth. Hackel (in litt.) refers the Kashmir plant to A. argaea, Boiss., 

 which the latter author distinguishes from A. pratensis by the short leaves, very 

 short branches of the short few-fld. panicle, and golden-bi-own spikelets, characters 

 all of which may be traced in Kashmir and European A. pratensis. 



5. A. aspera, Munro ex Thw. Enum. PI. Zeyl. 372 ; tall, slender, 

 panicle elongate contracted flexuous inclined or nodding, branches sub- 

 erect naked below, spikelets 3-4-fld. scattered, gl. I and II very unequal 

 scarious, 1 1-3-nerved, II 5-nerved, fl. gls. coriaceous smooth or scabrid 

 5-7- (rarely 3-) nerved tip entire erose 2- fid or 2-aristate, keels of palea 

 closely pectinately ciliate. Trimen Cat. Geyl. PI. 109 ; Griseb. in Goett. 

 Nachr. (1868) 78. 



SIKZIM HIMALAYA, alt. 9-10,000 ft., J. D. H. y Clarke. KHASIA HILLS, alt. 

 5-6000 ft., Griffith, &c. NILGHIRI HILLS, Schmid, Maxwell. CEYLON, alt. 6000 ft., 

 Thwaites. 



Stem 2-5 ft., slender or rather stout, erect or inclined, glabrous, or nodes slightly 

 pubescent. Leaves 6-12 in. or more, flat or convolute, rarely in. diam. ; sheaths 

 smooth, glabrous or pubescent ; ligule short, truncate, membranous. Panicle 8-16 in., 

 usually nodding, rachis and branches smooth or faintly scabrid j lower branches 

 1-6 in., solitary geminate or fascicled. Spikelets -f in. long, glistening, green, 

 oblong; rachilla penicillate, slender ; gl. I narrowly lanceolate, acuminate; II 

 longer, oblong-lanceolate, rather shorter than III ; fl. gls. ovate-lanceolate, glabrous, 

 from entire to 2 -dentate or cleft nearly way down; callus bearded; awn dorsal 

 rather above the middle but below the cleft of the gl., and twice to thrice its length, 

 slender, column twisted then bent and more or less recurved ; keels of palea with 

 long close-set fine cilia. Lodicules narrow, cleft. Anthers linear. Ovary obovoid 

 or pyriform, top densely hirsute. A very variable plant. Some of the Khasian 

 specimens have stems 5 ft. high, and as thick as a goose-quill below, others are 

 much smaller and very slender. The fl. gl. are most scabrid in Ceylon and 

 Peninsular specimens, least so in Sikkim ones which pass into var. Roylei. The 

 nearest European species is A. Besseri, Gmel. (A. sempervirens, Bess, non Vill.) of 

 Hungary, a rigid species with narrower scabrid leaves, usually longer spikelets and 

 obtuse erose fig. glumes. 



A. ASPERA, PROPER; leaf sheaths smooth, panicle glabrous, fl. gl. more or less 

 scaberulous entire 2-dentate or 2-fld., lobes not awned. Sikkim, the Khasia and 

 Nilghiri Hills and Ceylon. 



Var. Roylei, Hook. f. ; leaf-sheaths glabrous or softly pubescent, panicle glabrous 

 or puberulous, fl. gls. quite smooth tip entire 2-toothed or 2-fid almost to the awn 

 into acuminate or long-awned lobes, or tip split into 3-4 short unequal bristles. 

 A. aspera, Griseb. I. c. A. pubesceus, Royle III. Himal. PL 417; Duthie I. c. 32. 

 Trisetum virescens, Nees ex Stead. Sqn. Gram. 226; Duthie Grass. N.W. Ind. 31 

 (non Regel).Avei\a, Wall. Cat. n. 3793. Kashmir to Nepal, alt. 6-12,000 ft. A 

 very common grass, often 4-5 ft. high with leaves half an inch broad. 



Var. parviflora, Hook. f. ; sheaths villously pubescent, branches of panicle short 

 scabrid, spikelets crowded shortly pedicelled % in. long, gl. II 3-nerved, fl. gls. 2- 

 dentate smooth. Sikkim, on Singalela, alt. 11,000 ft., Clarke. 



Var. ? Schmidii, Hook. f. ; stem slender, leaves chiefly radical, sheaths softly 

 hairy, panicle very contracted, rachis short branches and very short pedicels puberu- 

 lous or scaberulous, spikelets 5 in. 2-3-fld., flg. gls. very scabrid 5-uerved tip 

 2-aristate, keels of palea shortly ciliate. Nilghiri Hills, Schmid ; Ootacamund, alt. 

 7500-8000 ft., Clarke. Possibly a distinct species. One specimen has 7-nerved 

 fl. gls. 



6. A. polyneura, Hook.f.; panicle pyramidal, branches long lew-fid. 



