212 OLXXiii. GEAMiNE^. (J. D. Hooker.) lAntMstiria. 



so!(brid towards the tip only, callus long pungent. Kunth. JEnum. PI. i. 

 481 ; Steud. Syn. Gh-am. 401. A. Forskahlii, Kunth Bevis. Oram. i. 162, 

 Enum I. c. 483 ; Stevd. I. c. 402. A. vulgaris, Haclc. in Engl. 8f Prantl. 

 Naturl. Planzenf. ii. II. 29. Themeda triandra, Forsk. Fl. ^ypt. Arab. 

 178. T. polysama, Qmel. Syst. 149. T. ForskaUii, Hack. Monogr. 

 Androp. 659 ; Duthie Podd. Grass. N. Ind. 43.— Anthistiria, Wall. Oat. 

 n. 8764, A. 0. E. F. 



Hotter drier parts of India, from Upper Bengal to Travancore, ascending the 

 Himalaja to 3-4000 ft. (Var. Bo^Zei to 10,000 ft.). Buema. Cetion, ascending to 

 4000 ft.— DisTsaiB. Warm regions of the Old Tforld. 



Stem 1-6 ft,, stout or slender, snbsimple or branched. Leares 3-10 in,, linear, 

 rather rigid, glabrous or sparsely hairy, green or subglaucous beneath ; ligule 

 short, ciliolate. Head of fascicles of spikes few or many, long- or short-pednn- 

 cled J spathes glabrous or ciliate with usually very small tubercle-based haira ; 

 proper spathes longer than the spikes, cymbiform, tips acute or snbacnte. Involucr. 

 spikelets i in., oblong-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, red brown, dorsally hispidly 

 ciliate or glabrous, glumes 3. Bisexual spikelets cjlindric, obtuse, with long brown 

 hairs ; gl. I terete, dorsally rounded, ripe polished dark brown, hispidulous towards 

 the tip only ; awn ^-2 in. long, base capillary. Pedicelled spikelets very narrow, 

 glabrous or ciliate with a few tubercled. based hairs, keels ciliolate. — A very variable 

 grass, some states of which are with difSculty distinguishable from A. ciliata. The 

 earliest names of this plant are Themeda triandra, Forsk., and Anthistiria imberhis, 

 Betz. Hackel has abandoned both, substituting first Anthistiria vulgaris, and then 

 Themeda Forskahlii, on the ground that A. imberbie was perhaps not Forskahl'a 

 T. trioAidra (why then call it Forskahlii ?) of which no type specimen exists, and 

 because triandra indicates a character of no individual value in grasses. In so 

 doing he overlooked Gmelin's * name of T. polt/gama (Syst. 149). Having regard 

 to the wide range of A. imberbis, from Australia to Africa, its presence in Arabia 

 might well be anticipated ; and that it is a native of that country is now proved 

 by Schweinfurth's finding Hackel's var. glauca in that country. This makes the 

 var. (which is local, and not Indian) the type of the species, and, if Forskahl's 

 name of Themeda is to be retained, necessitates a rearrangement of the varieties. 

 To me it appears most expedient to retain B«tz's name which applies to the prevalent 

 form over the area of distribution as the specific one. 



The following is Hackel's arrangement of the Indian forms which may be 

 variously reduced or added to. It has the great merit of systematizing the 

 authorities fairly well. Of these I have kept up var. laxa as a species, following 

 Andersson, though not without doubts. Of others, as A. polystachya, I am 

 doubtful, judging from Roxburgh's description and its being an annual, I suspect it 

 may be a state oioiliata. Andersson included it under A, argnens, which it certainly 

 is not. 



* Stem 1-3 ft. Leaves 2-8 by -^jpi in. Panicle 6-12 in., nodes 2-3, lower 

 branches simple below. Gl. I of invol. spikelets not winged or narrowly on one 

 side only. 



Var. vulgaris. Hack. 1. c. 660 ; spikelets with many tubercle-based hairs. A. 

 ciliata, Setz. I.e. {non Linn.f.); Lamk. lU. t. 841, f. 2 ; Cot). Ic. t. 459; Soaih, 

 Fl. Ind. i. 247 ; Wight. Cat. n. 1708 ; Anderss. in Nov. Act. Sc. XJpsal. ii. (1856), 

 in Walp. Ann. vi, 1057 ; Grah. Cat. Bomb. Fl. 239 ; Dali. ^ Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 

 304; Thw. Enum. PI. Zeyl. 366 {excl. var. major); Trim. Cat. Ceyl. PI. 108; 

 Benth. Fl. Austral, vii. 542. ? A. polystachya, iJoaii. I. c. 248; Kunth Enum. Ft 

 i, 481 ; Steud. I. c. 



Var. imberbis, Hack. 1. c. 661 ; invol. spikelets glabrous or very sparingly 

 hairy. A. ciliata var. imberbis, Nees in lAnnisa vii. (1832) 284. A. ciliata var. 



* Gmelln has, by oversight probably, assumed the first word of Forskahl'i brief 

 diagnosis to be his specific name. 



