822 



ravines and about villages on cultivated ground, Nupe (Barter, 



Herb 



(H 



Brachiaria fulva, StapJ-, Fl. Trop. Afr. IX. p. 518. [Panicum 

 falciferum, Durand & Schinz.] ' 



Vernac. name. — ^Makarin fako (Hausa, Katagum, Dalziel). 



Katagum, Abinsi, Nupe, Onitsha and Lokoja in Nigeria, 

 has been collected also in the Gambia, French Guinea, Cameroons, 

 Angola, Abyssinia and B.E. Africa. 



Seeds edible, sometimes gathered for food in Hausaland 

 (Dalziel, Hausa Bot. Voc. p. 14:— Panicum falciferum). 



A perennial, up to 3 ft. high (Fl. Trop. Afr. I.e.) \\-2 ft. 

 high, with golden hairy flowering spike, Katagum (Dalziel, 

 I.e.), in dry locaUties, Nupe (Barter, Herb. Kew), in marshy 

 places, Angola (Welwitsch, Herb. Kew). 



Brachiaria mutica, Stapf; Fl. Trop. Afr. IX. p. 526. 



[Panicum barbinode, Trin. Sp. Gram. Ic. t. 318; P. muticum, 

 Forsk. Fl. Aegypt— Arab. p. 20.] 



III. — Trinius, Sp. Gram. Ic. t. 174 {Panicum numidianum) ; 

 t. 318 {P. .barbinode); Vasey, Agric. Grasses (Ed. 1) t. 6 (P. 

 fiarbinode), (Ed. 2) t. 12 (P. .barbinode) ; Queensland Agric. 

 Journ. xxi. 1908, p. 18, t. 3 (P. barbinode— alter Trinius, t. 318). 

 .:;^ Vernac. wames.— Sari-zaba (Tigre, Schweinfurth) ; Para Grass, 

 Mauritius Grass, Water Grass, Scotch Grass, Buffalo Grass. 



Nupe, Sokoto in N. Nigeria and in the Cameroons, Senegal, 

 Liberia, Sudan, Gaboon, Belgian Congo, German East Africa 

 (Tanganyika Territory). Native of South America and West 

 Africa. First introduced from Caracas to Barbados in 1847 

 by the Governor of the Windward Islands (Col, Reid). Seeds 

 and roots from these Islands were transmitted to Kew by the 

 Colonial Office in 1849— together with a "case containing 'some 

 slips of this grass " from Caracas-^for distribution to various 

 Colonics, and a further supply in six Wardian cases— shipped 



Kew 



(Mr 



:ime. From these plants distribution was 

 made to various Colonies in the Eastern Hemisphere— including 

 N.S. Wales, W. Austraha, Ascension etc. The introduction of 

 this grass is one of the earliest operations of the then Director 

 of Kew (Sir W. Hooker) to assist industries in the Colonies 

 (Kew Bull, seq.). 



A fodder grass recommended for general pasture purposes 

 as one of the best of the tropical grasses; employed in Ceylon 

 for feedina: milk cattle (Ko.w Bull .<iPn \ 



perennial, 3-6 ft. sometimes 8 ft. hi 



may 



stolons 



and requires a hot cHmate with a good rainfaU. In Ceylon 



round. 



grass 



best method 



stems into short lengths; broadcast these 



