Eragrostis.] CLIII. GRAMINEJl. 190S 



Sect. II. Df egrastachya. — Spikelets when mature very flat. Glumes closely imbricate in 

 2 distinct rows, leaving a longitudinal furrow or depression between them on each side of the 

 spikelel, the lateral nerve usually prominent in the middle of each side of the glume. 

 Base of the stems glabrous, not at all or scarcely thickened. 



Spikelets under 3 lines, sessile in small dense globular or oblong clusters 

 sessile along a simple rhaohis. Stamens usually 2 8. £. diandra. 



Spikelets 3 to 6 lines, rather narrow, usually sessile and erect, scattered 

 or clustered, rarely shortly pedicellate and spreading,, in a simple or 

 branched panicle Stamens usually 3 9. E. Brownii. 



Spikelets 3 to 6 lines long, broad sessile and crowded on a short almost 

 simple rhachis. Palea-keels ciliate with long rigid hairs . . .10. E. concinna. 



Spikelets narrow, clustered along the long erect branches of a narrow 

 panicle. Palea narrow, truncate, glabrous, not above J as long as the 



glume . . . \l. E. speciosa. 



Base of the stem and short sheath of radical leaves thickened into an 

 almost bulbous woolly-hairy base. 



Spikelets shortly pedicellate, nearly 2 lines broad, the base of the flower- 

 ing glumes woolly-hairy 12. E. laniflora. 



Spikelets sessile, scattered, glabrous, above 1 line broad . . . . 13. .E. eriopoda. 



Spikelets shortly pedicellate, glabrous, about I line broad . . . . 14. E. chcetophylla. 



Spikelets pedicellate, scattered, dark-purplish ; glumes about ^ line 

 Iqng, almost hyaline. Edge of palea ciliate . . . 15. E. Rankingi. 



Spikelets erect, appressed to the rhaohis, 4 to 6-flowered. Glumes 

 keeled, nerves rough with ciliate margins 16. .E. stricta. 



Sect. III. Cylindrostacliya. — Spikes veiy narrow, terete or nearly so. Glumes closely 

 appressed. 



Spikelets 10 to 30-flowered, rather obtuse, shortly pedicellate in a small 

 panicle 17, E. lactmnria. .. 



Spikelets 12 to 50-flowered, obtuse, sessile, usually clustered, often 

 incurved ,., t 18. E.falcata. 



Spikelets 8 to lO-flowered, rather acute, nearly sessile, divaricate, on the 

 spreading branches of the panicle , 19. E. stenostachya. 



Spikelets 2-ranked, 5 to 6 lines long, 16 to 20-flowered, | line long . . .20. E. Ufaria. 



var. australiana, 



1. E. interrupta (interrupted), Beam. Agrost. 71 ; Hook, in Fl. Brit. Ind. 

 vii. 316, var. tenuissima. Staph. An erect tufted annual, frona 6in. to near 2tt. 

 high. Leaves flat, usually narrow, glabrous. Panicle usually occupying the 

 greater part of the plant, with very numerous capillary much divided branches, 

 the lower ones in distant whorls or clusters. Spikelets pedicellate, minute, 

 rarely f line long, with 3 or 4 or rarely 6 flowers. Glumes thin, almost hyaline, 

 obtuse, about ^ line long, the lateral nerve on each side almost marginal, very 

 loosely imbricate, the rhachis articulate. Palea glabrous, as long as the glume. 

 Stamens varying 1 to 3. Grain very small, ovoid. — Bail. 111. Mono. Gr. Q. i.; 

 Poa tenella, Linn.; R. Br. Prod. 181 ; Eragroatis tenella, Beauv.; Benth. FL 

 Honkg. 431; Benth. Fl. Austr. vii. 643 ; Duthie's Ind. Grass, t. 78. 



Hab.: Gulf of Carpentaria, tan(is6proMpft, Gulliver; Broadsound, R. Brown; Port Denison, 

 Fitisalan; Bockhampton and neighbouring districts, Thozet, Bowman, O'Shanesy; Kennedy 

 district, Daintree ; Mitchell district. Birch. An excellent pasture and hay grass. 



Widely spread in eastern tropical Asia. 



2. E. nigra (black), Nees in Steud. Syn. Glum. 267, vcir. trachycarpa ; Benth. 

 Fl. Austr. vii. 643. Leaves only seen in one specimen, narrow, rather short, 

 glabrous. Panicle 1ft. long or more, very loose, with very long capillary divided 

 b|ranches, bearing few small dark-coloured spikelets on long capillary pedicels, 

 the spikelets ovate, 1 to 2 lines long, loosely 2 to 4-flowered, quite glabrous. 

 Flowering glumes broad, obtuse or scarcely acute, hyaline, the lateral nerves 

 scarcely conspicuous. Palea as long, usually broad. Stamens 3, with small 

 anthers. Grain large in proportion, globular, prominently rugose-tuberculate. 



Hab.: Stanthorpe. 



It is on the authority of Munro that I have referred this to the East Indian E. nigra, from 

 which our specimens differ slightly in the longer pedicels and more prominently rugose grain. 

 — Benth. 



