PLATE 465. 



Andkopogon distachyus, Linn. (Fl. Cap., Vol. A'll., p. 343). 



Nat. Order Gramineai. 



Perennial, tufted. — Culms erect, slender, 1 to 2^ feet long, glabrous, terete 

 about 3-noded, simple or branched below ; sheaths terete, tight, glabrous or particularly 

 the lower, hairy, lowest reduced to villous scales ; ligules membranous, about ^ to f- 

 line long, ciliolate, blades linear, tapering to a long and sometimes very fine point, 2 to 

 8 inches by |- to 1|- line, flat, subrigid to flaccid, more or less hairy to villous or sub- 

 glabrous, margins rough. Racemes 2-nate, very rarely 3 to 5-nate, distant from the 

 uppermost sheath, 2 to 4 inches long, rather stout, strict or curved ; joints cuneate, 

 2 to 24 lines long, stout, translucent along the middle, finely pubescent on the back, 

 ciliate along the outer margin, tips denticulate, jjedicels similar, slightly longer, firmer 

 and less translucent, tips produced into a denticulate lobe facing the upper glume. 



Sessile spikelets 5 to 5|- lines long, pale green, tips often purplish, callus short, 

 obtuse, bearded. 



Glujies, loLcer subherbaceous, broadl}' lanceolate, dorsall}' flattened, glabrous or 

 puberulous, rareh' villous. Keels broadly \\inged above, A\'ings membranous, whitish 

 or purplish, intracarinal nerves about 7 to 11, partly evanescent below ; upper glume 

 distinctly shorter than the lower, rigidly membranous, boat-shajjed, 3-nerved, softly 

 ciliate, tips minutely 2-toothed with an interposed bristle, about as long as the glume. 

 Valves equal, 3 lines long ; I'lwer 2-nerved, ciliate ; upper oblong, 2-fid to f, firmer 

 below, 3-nerved, lobes lanceolate, glabrous, awn slender, about 1 inch long, kneed 

 much below the middle, scabsrulous below the knee ; pale minute or obsolete. Anthers 

 \\ line long. Grain oblong, 1 line long 



ig- 



Pedkelled spikelets male, similar to the sessile, about 4 lines long, but narrower. 



Glumes, lower less acuminate and less distinctly winged, with "a short terminal 

 bristle ; ipper thinly membranous. A'^alves delicately hyaline, upper shortly bifid, 

 muticous. 



RsibitSiil Natal. Newcastle, Buchanan 179; and without precise locality, 

 Buchanan 15. 



" Common in the Mediterranean countries, also in Abyssinia and on Cameroon 

 Peak." 



Drawn from Buchanan's 179, which was kindly lent for the purpose by the 

 Director of the Royal Gardens and Herbarium at Kew. 



Fig 1, Spikelets. Sessile spikeht — Fig 2,' lower glume ; 3, upper glume ; 4, lower valve ; 

 5, upper valve ; 6, pistil, stamens and lodicules. Pedicelled spikelet — 7, lower glume ; 8, upper 

 glume; 9, lower valve ; 10, upper valve ; 11, floret. AH enlarged. 



