418 
CL VII. GRAMINEiE (Stapf). 
[Themeda. 
Trop. Afr. 115 ; Glied. Veg. Usambara, 23, 40 ■; Chiov. in Ann. Istit. 
Bot. Roma, vii. 61, and viii. 27, 290 ; Batt. & Trab. FI. Anal. 
Alger, et Tunis, 355 ; Stapf in Kew Bulletin, 1907, 212 ; Pilg. 
in Engl. Pflanzenw. Afr. ii. 119. T. Forskalii, var. glauca, 
Cheval. Sudania, 36 ; Th. & Hel. Durand, Syll. FI. Congol. 627. 
T. glauca , Batt. & Trab. FI. Alger. Monoc. 128. T. imberbis, T. 
Cooke, FI. Bombay, ii. 993. Anthistiria imberbis , Retz. Obs. iii. 11 ; 
Desf. in Journ. de Phys. xl. 293, t. 1 ; Thunb. FI. Cap. i. 402, ed. 
Schult. 107 ; Kunth, Enum. i. 481 ; Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. i. 401 ; 
Stapf in Dyer, FI. Cap. vii. 366 ; Wood, Natal PL ii. t. 133 ; Burtt 
Davy in Transvaal Agric. Journ. iii. 287, t. 52. A. glauca , Desf. 
FI. Atlant. ii. 380, t. 254 ; Coss. & Durieu, Expl. Scient. Alger, ii. 52, 
A . Desfontainii, Kunth, Rev. Gram. i. 161. A. ciliata, Nees in 
Linnrea, vii. 284 (var. j3), and in FI. Afr. Austr. 121 ; Anderss. in 
Peters, Reise Mossamb. Bot. 562 ; Oliv. in Trans. Linn. Soc. xxix. 
176 ; Dewevre in Comptes-Rendus Soc. Bot. Belg. xxxiii. 108 ; not of 
Linn. f. A. ciliata, v. Burchellii, Hack, in Bolet. Soc. Brot. iii. 139. 
A. arguens, Nees, FI. Afr. Austr. 124 ; not of Willd. A. punctata, 
Hochst. ex A. Rich. Tent. FI. Abyss, ii. 448. A. paleacea, Ball in 
Journ. Linn. Soc. Bot. xvi. 734. A. vulgaris, Hack, in Engl. & 
Prantl, Pflanzenfam. ii. Abt. 2, 29. Stipa arguens, Thunb. Prodr. 20 ; 
not of Linn. Calamina imberbis, Roem. & Schult. Svst. ii. 810. 
The name Themeda triandra, Forsk., (1775), has been used here instead of 
T. Forskalii , Hack. (1889), as there is no doubt that the type of Forskal’s 
species, which apparently has been lost, was one of the forms covered by the 
description given above (see Schweinfurth in Bull. Herb. Boiss. ii. App. ii. 16). 
The species, as defined here, is, however, taken in a sense somewhat narrower 
than Hackel’s; this restriction requires a short explanation. Hackel in his 
monograph of the Andropogonece distinguishes 11 varieties and as many sub- 
varieties or forms within his T. Forskalii, whilst other authors have at various 
times described more than a dozen species, all of which come within the com- 
pass. There can be no doubt as to the close affinity of these forms and the 
question of their status is mainly one of expediency. A careful examination 
of the large amount of material at Kew and the British Museum has led to 
the conclusion that for the present it will be most useful to detach, firstly, 
those forms that are fairly uniform, and at the same time exclusive, over a 
large area; and secondly, those that, though of a limited range, stand out from 
the remainder by some character or characters. This leaves a residuum much 
less homogeneous than any of the segregates just referred to. It consists 
apparently of more or less fixed races, mutants, hybrids and edaphic forms which 
from herbarium material are the less separable because they are to a high degree 
independent of geographical areas. At the same time, however, they are all 
African with an extension into Arabia, Syria and the south-eastern corner of 
Asia Minor, and, taken as a whole, represent practically the African share of 
Hackel’s T. Forskalii. It is to this aggregate that the description and synonymy 
given above apply. The forms distinguished here have long been recognized 
and received proper names. They are briefly characterized below. The first 
is the most common. To avoid overloading the text with letters, the specimens 
referable to it are not marked ; and the remainder have added to them the 
Greek letter, or in the case of intermediate forms letters which precede the name 
in the following synopsis of varieties. 
a hispida. Not conspicuously glaucous in any part, frequently quite green ; 
leaves glabrous or — particularly their sheaths and blade -bases — sparingly 
