1862 CLIII. GRAMINEiE. 



44. ANDROPOGON, Linn. 



(Tuft of hairs on flowers supposed to resemble a man's beard.) 

 (Gjmnandropogon, Cymbopogon and Sohizachyrium, Nees). 

 Spikelsts 1-flowered or empty, in pairs in the alternate notches of the articulate 

 rhachis of simple spikes, 1 sessile hermaphrodite (or rarely female ?) and fertile 

 the other-pedicellate and barren either male or empty, the spikes either solitary 

 or clustered and sessile or very shortly pedunculate at the end of the common 

 peduncle. Glumes in the fertile spikelet 4, the outer one the largest, awnless, 

 several-nerved, but often 2 nerves near the margin much more prominent than 

 the others ; 2nd glume keeled, rarely produced into a short straight awn, 3rd 

 much smaller, very thin and hyaline, always empty, 4th or terminal glume under 

 the flower very slender flexuose and stipes-like at the base or if dilated very thin 

 and hyaline, entire or bifid at the top, with an awn either terminal or from the 

 notch, rigid and twisted in the lower part, bent back and very fine above the 

 middle. Palea small and hyaline or none. Glumes of the barren spikelets 4 or 

 fewer, the outer one the largest and many-nerved, the 2nd keeled, the 3rd and 

 4th when present small thin and hyaline, all awnless. Styles distinct. Grain 

 enclosed in the glumes but free from them. — Grasses usually tall and often 

 scented, simple or paniculately branched. 



A large genus, generally spread over the warmer regions of the globe, with a few extratropioal 

 species both in the northern and southern hemispheres. 



Section I. Gymnandropog'on. — Spikes 2, 3 or more, clustered at the end of a peduncle 

 without sheathing bracts, very rarely reduced to a single spike. 



Spikelets concealed or nearly so under copious long silky hairs. 



Spikes about 3in., spikelets about 3 lines long 1. ^. erianthoides. 



Spikes not above 2in., spikelets scarcely 2 line long. 

 Long silky hairs on the back of the outer glumes as well as on the 



rhaohis and pedicels 2. A. senceus. 



Long silky hairs only or chiefly on the rhaohis and pedicels. 



Gflumes not pitted 3. A. affinis. 



Outer glumes marked with a pit on the back i. A. pertusus. 



Spikes silky-hairy, but the hairs not covering the spikelets. 

 Spikes 3 or 4 in a close cluster. Outer glumes obtuse or toothed . . . 5. A. annulatus. 

 Spikes numerous, the common axis elongated 6. A. intermedius. 



Section II. Cymbopog'Oll. — Spikes 2 together ob each peduncle within or above a 

 sheathing bract. 



Spikes both sessile at the end of the peduncle. Awns slender short and 

 glabrous or deficient. 

 Silky hairs long, concealing the spikelets or nearly so. 

 Spikes erect. Awns prominent. 



Leaves long and broad. Stems tall and stout 7. A. procerus. 



Leaves wholly subulate or very narrow, tapering into long subulate 



points. Spikelets small S. A. exaltatus. 



Leaves flat, narrow. Spikes densely woolly 9. .4. lanatus. 



Spikes at length spreading or reflexed. Awns none or very fine and 



scarcely projecting . 10. A . bambycinus . 



Hairs much shorter than the spikelets. Spikes divaricate usually 



shortly awned 11. A. Nardus. 



Hairs minute. Spikes soon reflexed. Awns very short or none . . .12. A. refractus. 

 One spike affixed lower down than the other, slightly hairy. Awns 1 to 



3in. long, liairy in the lower part IZ. A. filipendulus. 



Section III. Schlcachyrium. — Peduncles axillary or terminal, bearing each a single 

 spike above a narrow sheathing bract. 



Rhachis and pedicels shortly ciliate, a small oblique bract at each notch . 14. A.fragilis. 



Among the following species those with densely silky-hairy spikes approach Pollinia in habit, 

 but the pedicellate spikelet is always barren and awnless, and most frequently without even a 

 male flower.— Bcntfi. 



1. A. erianthoides (Erianthus-like). F. v. M. Fiagm. x. 75 ; Benth. Fl. 

 Austr. vii. 529. Satin Top. An erect glaucous grass of 2 "to 5ft., glabrous except 

 the inflorescence, the nodes not bearded. Leaves rather narrow. Spikes usually 8 



