316 MONOCOTYLEDONEAE. OPHIURUS. 
XXI. OPHIURUS Gertn. fil. Carpol. 3, p. 3, ex emend. Brownii in 
Prodr. Fl. N. Holl. p. 206 ; Benth. et Hook. Gen. Pl. 3, p. 1130; 
Mnesithea Kunth, Révis. Gram. 1, p. 154; Diperium Desv. Opusc. 
p. 76; Thyridostaehyum Nees in Lindl. Introd. Nat. Syst. ed. 2, 
p. 379 
Spice spurie esse subcompositi ob pedicellos primarios adnatos 
spicas v f ) in apice culmi e solitariz, eylindric®; 
rhacheos fragillimse articuli cum pedicellis ananthis v. spieulae pri- 
marie rudimentum minutum gerentibus intime connati internodiaque 
formantes crassa, semi-cylindriea, facie profunde (raro bis) exeavata, 
recte v. suboblique disjungentia, disjuncta apice cavum rotundum exhi- 
bentia. Spiculæ ad quemvis rhacheos nodum (primariis aborientibus 
v. minutissimis) solitaric v. subsolitari®, raro in inferiore spicæ parte 
binz, tum utraque secundaria, sessilis, unifloræ v. biflore, prorsus 
. muticze, rhacheos excavationem exacte occludentes. Gluma IT": coria- 
cea v. cartilaginea, convexa, margine angustissime leviterque inflexa ; 
I“ membranacea, ecarinata ; II hyalina, paleam similem floremque 
. d includens v. vacua ; IV* hyalina, enervis v. subenervis, cum palea 
ei simillima. Lodiculæ cuneatze, truncatze. Stigmata stylos superantia, 
per anthesin intra glumas erecta, non exserta. Caryopsis ovali-oblonga, 
utrinque convexa, embryone ?/, caryopseos æquante. 
Gramina orbis antiqui, habitu satis vario, spieis teretibus, spiculis 
(saltem in parte superiore spic®) ad rhacheos glabræ nodos revera v. 
specie solitariis (efr. obs. ad. calcem) insignia. — Culmi erecti, striati, 
glaberrimi. Vaginz nodis glabrz. Ligula brevissima, truncata, mem- 
branacea, glabra. Spiee spurie erassiuscule v. graciles, internodiis 
glabris. Spieule omnibus glumis glabre ; I» lævis, tenuissime v. 
obsolete 7-nervis, eallo angustissime annuliformi a reliqua gluma 
. sulco profundo separato instructa, integra, nunquam alata, anthesi 
patens; II“ P æquans, ovali-oblonga, obtusa, 3-nervis v. subenervis. 
Obs. In O. perforato semper adest rudimentum spieule primarize 
pedicellatze 0,5—1,5 mm. longum, uniglume ; quod rudimentum in O. 
monostachyo Presl, si adest, in pedicellum adnatum sine limine visi- 
bili abit; in reliquis speciebus prorsus abest, pedicelli adnati tamen 
limes versus artieulum semper costula erassiuseula indicatur. Inde 
sequitur : 
1*» ut Ophiurus a Rottbeelliis quibusdam, e. gr. a R. exaltatze var. . 
appendiculata (eujus pedicelli etiam adnati, spiculæque pedicellatze ad 
