298 Jour., Bom. Nat. Hist. Soc, Vol. XXXII, No. 2. {Oct. 20, 1927. 



somewhat loose, 10-25 cm. by 5-7-5 cm- ; branches rather stout below, rigid, 

 spinulously ciliolate, particularly upwards, softly ciliate to villous at the base, 

 branches divided almost from the base, the longest 5-7*5 cm. long. Racemes, 

 compact : up to 3- or 4-noded, up to 106 (rarely 12 r 7) mm- long ; joints stout, 

 compressed, 1 mm- long, more or less white-silky-villous; pedicels very similar, 

 of about the same length. Sessile spikelet ovate with rather broad tips , 5*3 mm- 

 by 3-3-3-8 mm., pale straw-coloured with greenish tips, whitish when mature, 

 awned- Involucral glumes equal, coriaceous aboutuptothe middle or at the 

 base only, otherwise papery and often partly spongy, white-silky-villous all over 

 or glabrous on the coriaceous portion of the back ; lower 12-nerved (with the 

 nerves distinct upwards and sometimes with a few very delicate additional nerves 

 interspersed), sharply 2-keeled upwards with the keels spinulously ciliolate and 

 abruptly ending, forming minute teeth between which the hyaline end of the tip 

 protrudes ; upper very broad, about 12-nerved, slightly keeled upwards- 

 Floral glumes very densely ciliate ; lower broad-ovate, 2-lobed, 4*2 mm. long ; 

 upper broad elliptic-oblong, awn about 8*5 mm. long with the bristle half the 

 length of the long-exserted column or more or less reduced. Anthers 33 mm. 

 long. Grain equalling the glumes or more or less exserted, orbicular or orbicular- 

 obovate in outline, more or less compressed, 4 - 2-53 mm- by 4'2 mm-, white, dull ; 

 embryo-mark indistinct- Pedicelled spikelet neuter, linear-lanceolate, 4*2 mm. 

 long, pubescent, lower involucral glume 11-, upper 10-nerved. 



Distribution : Upper Guinea, North Central Tropical Africa, N. Africa, the 

 Orient to Turkestan and N. India as far as Manipur. 



(To be continued): 



tl8] 



