199 



GR AMINES. (A. B. RENDLE.) 

 CENTOTHECA LAPPACEA Desv. in Journ. de Bot. (1813) 70 ; Schum. & Laut. 



185 ; Ridl. in Trans. Linn. Soc. ser. 2, Bot. ix. (1916) 250. 

 Island of Roon, ridge beyond Djende, common undergrowth in forest, 

 400'. FJ. Jan. 6234. 



Distrib. New Guinea (D.S.W., Utakwa River, Kloss; N.E. and adjacent 

 islands). West Africa, through India, Malesia, and Polynesia. 



GIGANTOCHLOA NOVO-GUiNEENSis Rendle, sp. nov. 



Culmus arborescens, ramis teretibus glabris. Folia subsessilia, lineari-oblonga, 

 apice subabrupte acuminata, ad basin valde obliquam et inaequaliter cordatam paullo 

 angustata, multinervia sed haud conspicue, baud tessellata, utrinque glabra, margine 

 scabridula ; vaginae tubuliformes, persistentes ; ore auriculatae, ciliats ; ligula angusta, 

 ciliata. Inflorescentiae terminales et axillares, rbachi elongata, ramis multo brevi- 

 oribus, suberectis, spiculis capituliforme fasciculatis, capitulis distantibus, ad apicem 

 rami interdum glorneratis. Spicula numerosissimte, dense confertae, lanceolate, 

 compressse, pluriflorse ; glumce inferiores, saepe 2, steriles, fertilibus minores, late 

 ovatae, apice mucronate, rnultinerviae, in margine superiore sparse ciliolatse ; glumce 

 ft- 1- tiles 2-5 distichae, 1 vel 2 superiores imperfects?, late ovatae, breviter acuminatie, 

 apice pungente, in margine superiore ciliolatae, inultinervise ; palea glumse subsequalis 

 vel paullo brevior, bi-carinata, carinae minute ciliolatae, lamina inter carinam et inar- 

 ginem 3- vel 2-nervata, pars inter carinas haud nervata. Lodiculee 0. Stamina 0, 

 exserta, fikmenta pro majore parte longitudinis in tubum tenuiter membranaceum 

 demuin valde fragilem connata ; antherse anguste lineares, obsolete apiculatie. 

 Oniriiim breviter pedicellaturn, anguste pyramidatuni, glabrum, stylo elongate, 

 filiforme, superne in stigmata plumosa 3- vel 2-diviso. 



Culms about 16 ft. high ; the young culm about 1 cm. thick ; sheaths 

 membranous, tubular, 11-12 cm. long, with margins ciliate above, and a 

 truncate auricled apex bearing a fringe ot long erect stiff cilia, 1*8 cm. long, 

 small leaf-blade, subsessile, ovate, acuminate, with shallowly cordate base. 

 Fully formed leaves on (flowering shoots 4-4'5 dm. long, 7-9 cm. wide, 

 on the young leafy shoots up to 6 dm. long, 9'5 cm. wide ; apex acuminate, 

 ending in a twisted scabrous point; ligule a ridge hearing stiffish ciKse 

 which are about 1 cm. long. Rhachis and branches of inflorescence smooth, 

 glabrous; the rhachis up to 6 dm. long; spikelets crowded in somewhat 

 distant heads, l'2-2 cm. long, which are generally 3-5 cm. apart, but closer 

 toward the end of the axis, where they sometimes unite to form a spherical 

 compound head. Branches of inflorescence and heads subtended by the dry, 

 In-own, persistent bract-sheath, which is about equal in length to the head. 

 Spikelets about 1 cm. long, 4 mm. broad. Lower barren glume 4 mm. long, 

 9-nerved, upper 6 mm. long, 11-nerved ; flowering glumes 8-9 mm. long. 



A very distinct species, suggesting Oxytenantkera in habit of in- 

 florescence. 



Hab. Manokoeari, open cultivated slopes above "campong," 100'. Jan. 

 6270 a & b. Humboldt Bay, beyond " campong " in the open and along 

 stream. Jan. 6266 a & b. 



