1954] 



PLANTS COLLECTED IN NYASALAND 



103 



minute scaberula. Paleae anguste oblongae, acutae, lemmatibus paullo breviores 

 vel aequilongae, carinis minute scaberulae. Lodiculae oblongae, inaequaliter loba- 

 tae, 1.5 mm. longae. Antherae 4 mm. longae. Ovarium apice minute et sparse 

 pubescens. 



North Nyasa District: Nyika Plateau, common in small openings in montane 

 forest, 2350 m., August 7, 1946, 17282. 



The genus P seudobromus K. Schum., as at present understood, comprises six 

 to eight species of forest grasses occurring in East Africa (Didinga and Imatong 

 Mountains, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan southwards to the Transvaal) and Madagascar. 

 As originally described it was characterised by lanceolate 1-flowered spikelets 

 and 3-nerved lemmas. In the new species and in P. biflorus A. Camus, however — 

 the latter known from the description alone — the spikelets possess two fertile and 

 a sterile third floret, whilst the lemmas are 3-5-nerved, the inner pair of nerves in 

 5-nerved lemmas being very obscure and imperfectly developed. In these respects 

 the two species closely approach the genus Festuca L., in which the spikelets 

 bear two or more fertile florets and the lemmas are 5-7-nerved. Judging from the 

 description of P. biflorus, this species differs from P. brassii by its shorter (0.75 

 m.) smooth culms, smooth leaf-sheaths, shorter (20-28 cm.) and narrower (5-7 mm.) 

 leaf-blades, shorter (1.5-2 mm.) ligules, longer (0.5-5 cm.) pedicels, and by its 

 longer glumes (I. 5.5 mm., II. 7-7.5 mm.) and lemmas (9-10 mm.). 



Pseudobromus sylvaticus K. Schum. in Engl. Pflanzenw. Ost-Afr. C: 108. 1895. 



Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain; Luchenya Plateau, common on open banks of 

 stream in forest, 1820 m., July 1, 1946, 16569. Also on mountains in southern 

 Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Uganda, and Tanganyika Territory. 



DANTHONIEAE 



Pentaschistis natalensis Stapf in Dyer, Fl. Cap. 7: 493. 1899; C. E. Hubbard in 

 Hill, FL Trop. Afr. 10: 126. 1937. 

 Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain; Luchenya Plateau, tufted on rocks in grass- 

 land, 2100 m., July 3, 1946, 16648. Also in Tanganyika Territory (Mt. Rungwe), 

 Southern Rhodesia (Mt. Inyanga), and Natal. 



ARUNDINELLEAE 



Loudetia simplex (Nees) C. E. Hubbard in Kew Bull. 1934: 431. 1934; in Hill, Fl. 

 Trop. Afr. 10: 25. 1937. 

 Tristachya simplex Nees, Fl. Afr. Austr. 269. 1841. 



Tricbopteryx simplex (Nees) Hack, ex Engl. Abh. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. 1891, 2: 129. 

 1892 (Engl. Hochgebirgsfl. Trop. Afr.). 



Zomba District: Zomba Plateau, common in Brachystegia woodlands, 1430 m., 

 May 30, 1946, 16094. Mlanje District: Mlanje Mountain; Luchenya Plateau, domi- 

 nant grass on bauxitic soils, 1890 m., July 15, 1946, 16841. Widespread in tropi- 

 cal Africa from French Guinea eastwards to Abyssinia and south to Angola and 

 Southern Rhodesia; also in South Africa (Transvaal, Natal, and Orange Free State) 

 and Madagascar. 



The two gatherings represent distinct variants of this extremely polymorphic 

 species, 16094 possessing glabrous or nearly glabrous glumes, whilst those of 

 16841 bear white bristle-like hairs from dark brown tubercles. 



Tricbopteryx stolziana Henrard, Repert. Sp. Nov. 18: 242. 1922; C. E. Hubbard in 

 Hill, Fl. Trop. Afr. 10: 10. 1937. 

 Zomba District: Zomba Plateau, massed in shelter of rocks on an exposed 

 bluff, 1500 m., June 2, 1946, 16153. Also in southern Tanganyika Territory. 



