296 Jour., Bom Nat. Hist. Soc, Vol. XXXII, No. 2. [Oct. 20, 1927, 



var. Roxburghii, K. Schum. in Engl. Pfl. Ost. Afr. B, 48 ; C t iv, F-H ; Busse 

 and PiJger in Engl- Jahrb. xxxii, 184, partim- 



Description : Panicles more or less loose with very flexuo^^s and often drooping 

 branches- Involucral glumes coriaceous to the tips with the nerves quite obscure, 

 subglabrous and somewhat glossy on the back when mature, their margins 

 involute, exposing the whole grain, which is often placed with its back and front 

 parallel to the median line of the spikelet. 



Distribution : Mozambique District ; also in India. 



* 3. Sorghum tricolor, Moench Meth- 207, var. obovatum, Stapf in Fl. Trop. Afr. 

 ix, 127-— S. bicolor, Willd. Enum. Hort- Berol. 1036-— 5- nigrum, Roem. 

 & Schult- Syst. ii, 837- — S- vulgare bicolor, Pers. Syn. i, 101 — 5- vulgare, var. 

 obovatum, subvar. ?iigrum, Rendle in Cat- Afr. PL Welw. ii, 151-— J>. rubens, 

 Willd. Enum. Hort. Berol. 1036-— Holcus bicolor, Linn. Mant Alt. 301 — 

 H. Sorghum, Mieg. in Act- Helv. viii, 129, t. 4. f. k—H- niger, Ard. in Sagg. 

 sc e lett- acad. Padova, i, 134, t- 5—H. saccharatus—Ga.ertn- Fruct ii, 3, t. 80. 

 fig. 2 (?), non aliorum auctorum. — Andropogon niger, Kunth. Enum. i, 501-— 

 A- rubens, Kunth 1. c 502. — A. Sorghum, subsp. sativus, var- obovatus, Hack, in 

 Monogr. Androp. 514. — A. Sorghum, var. bicolor, Koern. in Bull. Herb. Boiss. 

 ii, 226- 



Description : An annual. Culms stout, up to 4 m. high, many-noded. Leaf- 

 sheaths mostly overlapping, finely pubescent at the nodes ; ligules short, ciliate 

 from the back ; blades linear to lanceolate-linear from a broad and rounded or 

 slightly narrowed base, up to 50 cm- long and 75 cm. broad, pubescent to 

 tomentose inside above the ligules and less so or glabrous on the back at the 

 junction with the sheath. Panicles erect, contracted and more or less dense, or 

 loose and oblong or oblong-ellipsoid or obovate to oblanceolate in outline 75-30 

 cm. by 5-9 cm. ; branches erect or obliquely erect, rather rigid, finally sometimes 

 slightly drooping, the longest often more than half the length of the panicle and 

 undivided for 12 mm. to 75 cm. from the base, like the branchlets very rough, 

 spinulously ciliolate or ciliate, particularly upwards, silghtly hairy, rarely villous at 

 the base- Racemes tough, compact, frequently 3- or 4- (rarely 5-) noded ; joints 

 somewhat stout, flattened, 1-6-27 mm. long, shortly whitish or fulvously ciliate ; 

 pedicels similar, about 1 mm- long. Sessile spikelet more or less broadly obovate 

 even in flower, with very short broad and depressed tips, 4-8-58 mm- by 33-4-2 mm., 

 straw-coloured to tawny, finally darker, often with red or brown or purple spots 

 or blotches or turning altogether fuscous, chestnut- brown or quite black, closed 

 when mature or only slightly gaping, usually awned ; callus-beard scanty. 

 Involucral glumes equal, firmly coriaceous except at the papery to membranous 

 tips, unevenly strigillose particularly and mostly persistently on the tips or almost 

 glabrous ; lower up to 16-nerved, nerves very faint, keels short, usually obscure, 

 tips very short, broadly triangular with a hyaline point, depressed ; upper broad, 

 9-nerved, obscurely keeled close to the tip, otherwise broadly rounded on the back. 

 Floral glumes ciliate, lower broad-elliptic, about 4*2 mm- long, upper broad-ovate, 

 3-3 mm. long, 2-lobed, awn about 106 mm- long, sometimes much reduced. 

 Anthers up to 4' 2 mm- long. Grain tigfhtly enclosed in the glumes or the top slightly 

 exposed, obovate- oblong in outline, 3-3-38 mm- by 2-2 4 mm-, brown; embryo- 

 mark distinct ; nerves obliterated. Pedicelled spikelet neuter, persistent, 

 lanceolate to linear-oblong, acute, about 4*2 mm- long, reddish ; lower involucral 

 glume 9-10 -, upper about 7-nerved. 



Distribution: Lower Guinea- Occasionally cultivated in the Mediterranean 

 region from Madeira to India, also introduced into Australia, the West Indies and 

 Brazil. 



* 4. Sorghum Durra, Stapf in Fl. Trop- Afr. ix, 129.—Ho/cus Durra, Forsk. Fl. 

 Aeg.-Arab. 174— //. Duna (sphalm.), Gmelin Syst- 173- — Andropogon Sorghum, 

 var- aegyptiacus, Koern. in Aschers- & Schweinf. 111. Fl. Egypte \§<±—A- Sorghum, 

 subsp. sativus, var- Durra and aegyptiacus, Hack, in Monogr- Androp- 516. 

 — A. Sorghum, subsp. sativus var- Durra, Chiov- in Ann- Istit. Bot Roma, 

 viii, 2\.—A- Sorghum, var. niloticus aud Schweinf urthianus , Koern. in Aschers- 

 & Schweinf. 1-c 778, 779-A- Sorghum, var. arabicus and rubrocernuus, Koern- in 

 Bull. Herb. Boiss. ii, App. ii, 12 (probabiliter) 



Description : An annual. Culms stout, up to 4 m- high and even more, 



20-40-noded- Leaf-sheaths finely pubescent at the nodes ; ligules very short, 



shortly ciliate ; blades up to 40 cm- by 5 cm , quite glabrous (? always). Panicle 



usually quite compact, ovoid or ellipsoid, erect or sometimes recurved, 10-15 cm- 



[16] 



