PLATE 467. 
AxDitoiMKiox SciiiMrKHi, Hcx'list. (Fl. Cap., \ 01. \\\., p. .').")7). 
Nat. Order ( {raiiiiiica'. 
Perennial (always ?) — Ci lms erect, sometimes o-eniculate, stout, u]> to 5 feet 
lonii', o'labrous, up to T-noded ; sheaths quite glabrous or the uppermost more or less 
hairv, those of the iuuovation shot)ts couipressed, the others terete or slightly keeled 
in the upper ])art, the lowest whitish, almost scarious ; ligules obtuse, scarious, up to 
'2 lines long ; blades linear, tapering to a long fine ])oint, i; to 1|- foot by 3 to 7 hues, 
subrigid to almost tlaecid, Hat, glabrous, rarely se;uitily hirsute near the base, scal)rid, 
at least upwards, margins scabrid to subspiiuilous. 
Panicle large, oblong to ovate, lax, decomjxanid up to foot long. Spathes 
lanceolate, acuminate, narrow or broad, 1 to 1^ inch long, scarious, reddish ; common 
peduncles filiform, glabrous except the curved tips, which are beset with long, 
yelloAvish tu])ercle-based hairs and enclosed in the spathe or shortly and usually 
laterally exserted. Eacemes J to 1 inch long, dense, scarcely spreading, very shortly 
and unequallv ])edancle<l ; joints 5 to many, filiforni, ol)liquely truncate, up to 1 line 
long, shorth' whitish ciliate, ])edicels very similar ; s])ikelets of the lost jmir of the 
sessib' raceme alike, male, the sessile of all the other ])aii"s ])erfect, the ])e<licel]e(l male. 
Perfect spihelets linear-oblong, 2 to '1^ lines long ; ])ale. 
Glumes, loirer subchartaceous to almost membranous, minutely truncate, dorsally 
flattened, glabrous or more or less villous, intracarinal nerves ."), some at least 
evanescent below, keels spinulous ciliate abo\e, callous bearded ; upper membranous, 
obtuse, 3-nerved, nerves scabrid near the tip. Yah'es, lower oblong, obtuse, faintly 
2- o-nerved, ciliate, upper shortly 2-fid, 1 -nerved, lobes oblong, oljtuse, subglabrous, 
awn about 10 to 15 lines (rarely 2 to 2^ inches) long, pul)escent and kneed below the 
middle ; pale 0. Anthers 1 line long. 
.Pedicelled spikelets lanceolate, usually pale, 2^ to 4 lines long, glabrous or hairy. 
TiLUMEs, /r*/rr^r subherbaceous, acutely acuminate, 1) to II -nerved, often with a, 
terminal ))i-istle (up to 2^ lines long), keels s])inulons ciliate ; upper cuspidate, 
3- nerved, ciliate. Valves, /direr linear-oblong, obtuse, e(pialling the glumes, 
1 -3-nerved; ^/y)/^*';' narrow, linear-cuneate, 1 to 3 lines long, 1-nervei I. Anthers 1^ 
to 2 lines long. 
Hdhitat : Natal. Without precise locality, Gerrard GDI. 
"■ A rather variable ])lant, extending throughout East Africa to Abyssinia, 
(rerrard's sjiecimen represents a robust state, with hairy sjiikelets, like those of 
Schimper's No. .Si)7 (coll. 1853) and 1052 (coll. l«S63-8), and with long-aristulate 
male spikelets, as in Schimper's No. 1052 (coll. ]<S3<S)." 
Drawn from (lerrard's sjiecimen, which was kindly loaned for the purpose by the 
Director of Kew Gardens and l\oyal Herbarium. 
Sessile spikclct — Fig 1, Lower glume; 2, upper glume ; 3, lower valve ; 4, upper valve ; 
5, pistil, stamens and lodicules. Pedicrllrd spikclct, Fig 6, lower glume ; 7, upper glume ; S, 
lower valve ; 9, upper valve. All cnlart/cd. 
