Stipa, Linn. 
Spikelets l-ftowered, narrow, jnvniciilatc : i-liacliilla disai'tienlating above the 
glumes, not produced. 
Glumes usually persistent, narrow, 1 to 3-nerved, muticous or mucronate. 
Valves convolute, cylindric or oblong-cylindric. 5 to 7- (rarely 3) nerved, rather rigid, 
tip gradually tapering, or minutely !^-lobed ; callus moi'e or less bearded, usually 
pungent ; awn simple, continuous with or jointed on the valve, bent or geniculate, 
twisted, below, plumose or naked above the knee. Pale :?-keeled or i-nerved, almost 
as long as the valve or much shorter. Lodicules usually 3, the posterior smaller or 
suppressed. Stamens 3, rarely t'ewei'. Ovary glabrous ; styles distinct, short ; 
stigmas plumose. Gi'ain slender, cylindric or oblong cylindric, terete (^r sul)terete, 
sometimes grooved, tightly embraced by the hardened valve and the pale : hilum 
linear, almost as long as the grain ; embryo rather small. 
Perennial, i-arely annunl : leaves often convolute, rarely flat ; ligules mem- 
branous. 
Panicle from spike-like to effuse. 
Numerous species, principally in the drier and warui regions of both hemispheres. 
PLATE 485. 
Stipa Dregeana, Steud. (Fl. Cap.. A'ol. p. 572). 
Nat. Order (Iramineiie. 
Perennial, glabrous. Culms fascicled from a short pi-a'inoi-sc i-iiizoine, erect, 2 
to 4 feet high, 3-noded, smooth, internodes enclosed or more or less cxserted ; lowest 
sheaths much reduced, firm, scale-like, the following verv tight, long, the up])ermost 
sometimes tumid, slightly rough, striate ; ligules ol)tuse, erose, u}) to 2 lines long : 
blades linear from a broad or slightly narrowed base, tapering to a \ er\- long fine 
point, u}) to 1^ foot to 3 to o lines, flat, rather firm, smooth l)elo\v, slighth' I'ough 
above, closely and very finely mauA'-nerved. 
Panicle erect or slightly nodding, oblong, contracted. rai'el\- open and pyramidal. 
^ to 1 foot long, branches fascicled or 3-2-nate, very unequal, the longest ^ to 1 foot 
long, undivided to ^ of their length or more, filiform, smooth ; pedicels scabi-id, the 
lateral shorter than the spikelets, the latter light green. 2|- to 3| lines long. 
Glumes subequal, 3-nerved, subhyaline above, glaljrous, the /otcer lanceolate- 
acuminate, the upper lanceolate -oblong, acute or sul)-aeuminate. ^"alves oblong- 
cylindric, convolute, obscurely bi-lobed, 2 to 2^ lines long, ^^horth' haii-v all over. 
5-nerved ; callus minute, obtuse, minutel}^ hairy ; awn not disarticulating, to 6 lines 
long, scabrid, slightly twisted below, bent 1 to 2 lines above the Ijase. Pale almost as 
long as the valve, obtuse, hairy on the back ; lodicules 3. ol)long, obtuse, the jiosterior 
smaller. Anthers Ij- line long, naked. Gi-ain oblong. cNlindi-ic. 1 .'^ line lonu'. 
Habitat: Natal. Ivier Wrl. in bnsli. :)()()0 feet air., liurlm ini n 23'.). 
Drawn from Buchanan's specimens, kindly lent for the pn]-|)ose b\- the Director 
of the Royal Gardens and Herbarium at Kcav. 
The above described species is the only one of the genus Stipa that has yet been 
found in Natal. 
Fig 1, Lower glume : 2, upper glume ; 3, valve : 4, pale ; 5, pistil, stamens and lodicules. 
All enlaryed. 
