1954] 



PLANTS COLLECTED IN NYASALAND 



107 



Eragrostis diplachnoides Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 268. 1854. 

 Eragrostis leprieurii Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 269. 1854. 



Eragrostis interrupta var. diplachnoides (Steud.) Stapf in Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. 7: 316. 

 1896. 



Kota-kota District: Benga, west shore of Lake Nyasa, scattered on sandy 

 beaches, 470 m., Sept. 2, 1946, 17496. West tropical Africa, Anglo- Egyptian Su- 

 dan, Eritrea, Egypt, Belgian Congo, and India. 



Eragrostis margaritacea Stapf in Dyer, Fl. Cap. 7: 604. 1900. 

 Eragrostis angusta Hack. Bull. Herb. Boiss. II. 1: 772. 1901. 



Chikwawa District: Lower Mwanza River, occasional on sandy beaches of 

 river, 180 m., October 4, 1946, 27956; ibid., October 6, 1946, 18003. Southern 

 Rhodesia, Portuguese East Africa, Bechuanaland, Southwest Africa, and South 

 Africa. 



Eragrostis namaquensis Nees, Ind. Sem. Hort. Vratisl. 1835; Linnaea 11: Lit.-Ber. 

 125. 1837; Stapf in Dyer, Fl. Cap. 7: 630. 1900. 



Eragrostis interrupta var. namaquensis (Nees) Durand & Schinz, Consp. Fl. Afr. 5: 884. 

 1895. 



Kota-kota District: Benga, west shore of Lake Nyasa, tufted on sandy beaches, 

 470 m., Sept. 2, 1946, 11491. Blantyre, along streams in Brachystegia woodlands, 

 1100 m., June 18, 1946, 16358. West tropical Africa, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, 

 Abyssinia, and southwards to South Africa. 



The Nyasaland specimens represent the habitat state described as var. robusta 

 Stapf (in Dyer, Fl. Cap. 7: 630. 1900). 



Eragrostis patens Oliver, Trans. Linn. Soc. 29: 175. 1889. 



Blantyre District: Blantyre, in Brachystegia woodlands, 1100 m., June 17, 1946, 

 16346. i French and Belgian Congo, Kenya Colony, and Uganda, southwards to An- 

 gola and Southern Rhodesia. 



Eragrostis phaeantha C. E. Hubbard, Kew Bull. 1949: 347. 1949. 



Species a E. macilentae (A. Rich.) Steud. habitu perenni, foliorum laminis 

 latioribus, glumis et lemmatibus longioribus, lemmatibus a latere visis late lan- 

 ceolatis vel oblongo-lanceolatis acutis differt. 



Gramen perenne caespitosum, circiter 80 cm. altum. Culmi numerosi, erecti, 

 validiusculi, teretes vel uno latere sulcati, 5-nodes, e nodis inferioribus ramosi, 

 ramis erectls solitariis, purpurei, nitentes, glabri, laeves. Foliorum vaginae gla- 

 brae, laevissimae, striatae, inferiores et intermediae persistentes, compressae, 

 carinatae, latiusculae, demum stramineae, internodiis longiores, superiores tere- 

 tes, internodiis breviores; ligulae ad seriem densam ciliorum brevissimorum redac- 

 tae; laminae lineares, in apicem gracillimum obtusum gradatim attenutae, usque 

 35 cm. longae et 1 cm. latae. planae vel siccitate conduplicato-convolutae, 

 firmae vel rigidiusculae, pilis patulis demum deciduis plus minusve pilosae vel 

 glabrescentes vel glabrae, tenuissime nervatae, apicem versus et marginibus 

 scaberulae, ceterum laeves. Panicula erecta, laxa, ovato-oblonga, 33 cm. longa, 

 10 cm. lata; rhachis striata, laevis, glabra, superne flexuosa; rami solitarii, obli- 

 que patentes, prope basin et superne laxe divisi, tenuiter filiformes, flexuosi, 

 laeves, usque 12 cm. longi; pedicelli patentes, 10-23 mm. longi, minute et obscure 

 scaberulae. Spiculae lanceolato-oblongae vel oblongae, 4-7 mm. longae, circiter 2 

 mm. latae, 4-8-florae, atro-olivaceae vel nigricantes, glabrae; rhachilla glabra, 

 laevis, continua, internodiis 0.6-0.8 mm. longis. Glumae a latere visae lanceola- 

 tae, acutae, oblique patentes, demum deciduae, carinatae, carinis scaberulis, 

 tenuiter membranaceae, 1-nerves, subaequales; inferior explanata lanceolata, 2.5- 



