482 
[ Digitaria . 
CLVII. GRAMINE2E (Stapf). 
Falls, Allen, 271! Maslionaland ; North Mazoe District, Mundy ! Salis- 
bury, Eyles , 629 ! 633 ! Mrs. Craster, 9 ! 24 ! Matabeleland ; Bulawayo, 
Appleton, 26 ! Insiza District, Mundy ! Gazaland ; Chirinda, Swynnerton, 
1627 ! 
A species of very varied habit and probably very plastic. The specimen from 
which it was originally described represents a rather robust state with erect or 
suberect culms 4 ft. high, rather long and glabrous or almost glabrous basal 
sheaths, and numerous long (5-8 in.) racemes. To it belong all the East African 
and Nyasaland specimens, and of the Angolan, Welwitsch, 2855, 7322 and 7349, 
and Gossweiler, 1610 and 6054. A curious form distinguished by radiating 
rather short culms, often long stolons, short and usually densely villous basal 
sheaths, and fewer and shorter (3-4 in.) racemes, was collected by Welwitsch 
(7468 and 7470) and Gossweiler (1567 and 1579) in the same area, mostly in 
sandy ground where according to Gossweiler the roots contribute considerably 
to the stabilization of the sand. The spikelets are rather uniform as to 
disposition, size and structure (apart from the presence or absence of 
setulee). 
3. D. seriata, Stapf. Perennial with a creeping branched rhizome 
emitting serially arranged culms in close or loose succession from 
extravaginal innovations, covered by strigillose-tomentose cataphylls. 
Culms erect, rather slender, up to over 4 ft. high, glabrous, 4-6- 
noded, simple, rarely with a branch from near the base. Leaf- 
Hblades rather tight, terete, striate, the upper much shorter than the 
internodes, glabrous, smooth, moderately firm, the basal breaking 
down with the dying culms, not forming persistent coats ; ligules 
scarious, rounded, usually very short, rarely up to 1 lin. long, gla- 
brous ; blades linear, tapering to a fine point, about 6 in. by 14 to 
almost 2 lin.. flat with straight or sometimes crisp subscaberulous 
margins, flexuous, finely pubescent or quite glabrous and smooth, 
nerves numerous, very fine and close, the primary (3 or 4 on each 
side) hardly standing out from the others, midrib very slender. 
Racemes 3-6, sessile or subsessile, digitate or subdigitate on a 
slender angular common rhachis, up to § in. long, suberect or spread- 
ing, 5-6 in. long, slender, straight or flexuous, rather loose, brownish- 
or purplish-green ; rhachis very slender, lin. wide, trigonous, 
angles marginate, scaberulous ; pedicels 2-nate, finely filiform, 
more or less angular, scaberulous, unequal, the longer to over 1 lin. 
long, flexuous. Spikelets loosely appressed, the superposed distant 
by their own length, never imbricate, lanceolate-oblong, more or 
less acute, up to 1| lin. long, apparently glabrous or obscurely silky 
on the sides. Lower glume a minute membranous ovate scale, 
up to ~ lin. long ; upper lanceolate, acute, about 1 lin. long, very 
faintly 3-nerved with 4 lines of very fine more or less appressed 
silky hairs. Lower floret : valve lanceolate-oblong, more or less 
acute, 7 -nerved, middle and inner paired side-nerves prominent but 
fine, the outermost often faint, with lines of short appressed hairs in 
the narrow spaces between the inner 2 side-nerves (of each half) 
and of long ones (up to f lin.) towards the margins, the hairs very 
fine, wavy, obtuse ; palea and lodicules very minute, ~ lin. long. 
