440 
CL VII. GRAMINEiE (Stapf). 
[ Digitaria . 
distinctly shorter, 3-nerved, with fine lines of hairs between the 
nerves and along the margins, rarely quite glabrous. Lower floret : 
valve corresponding in outline and size to the spikelet, firmly mem- 
branous, 7-nerved, nerves quite smooth, the lateral usually rather 
distant from the middle nerve, approximate along the submarginal 
flexure, more or less prominent, particularly the inner, rarely quite 
glabrous, usually with fine lines of hairs between the inner side-nerves 
(of each half) and along the margins, the inner line of hairs not rarely 
augmented by a row of fine tubercle-based acute yellow bristles, 
hairs very fine, thin-walled, obtuse-tipped, straight or flexuous, 
closely appressed at first, ultimately loosened or somewhat stouter 
and like the bristles spreading at right angles and forming with 
them a rigid double fringe on each side of the spikelet ; valvule and 
1 lodicules minute. Upper floret oblong-lanceolate, acutely acuminate, 
almost as long as the spikelet, thinly chartaceous, pale or slightly 
purplish, brownish when ripe, margins of valve slightly distant. 
Anthers about § lin., more rarely J or up to ~ lin. long. Grain 
oblong, about f lin. by J-Jj| lin., plano-convex, whitish ; scutellum 
less than half the length of the grain. 
This species, which occurs all over the tropics and also extends into some 
subtropical regions, has so far been found in Tropical Africa in the following 
/modifications. 
Var. Linhii, Stapf. Upper glume usually much exceeding the middle of 
the fertile floret and frequently equalling § of its length ; indumentum of 
spikelets uniform ; hairs of the lower floret in fine lines, all of one kind, very 
fine, thin- walled, obtuse-tipped, at first tightly appressed, then more or less 
loose. — D. marginata, Link, Hort, Berol. i. 229 (sensu stricto). D. incequalis. 
Link, l.c. i. 224. D. sanguinalis, Stapf in Dyer. FI. Cap. vii. 378 (partly). 
Panicum glaucescens, Nees, Agrost. Bras. 100. P. sanguinale, var. longiglvme, 
Trin. ex Nees, l.c. ; Chiov. in Ann. Istit. Bob. Roma, viii. 296. P. linhianum, 
Kunth, Rev. Gram. 33. P. Neesii, Kunth, Enum. i. 84. P. cegyptiacum, a 
genuinum, Chiov. l.c. (partly ?). Paspalus incequalis , Link ex Schult. Mant. 
ii. 174. Paspalum sanguinale, var. commutatun , Hook. f. FI. Brit. Ind. vii. 
15. Syntherisma marginatum, Nash in North Amer. FI. xvii. 154. 
Nile Land. Eritrea: Dembelas, Ferfer, Pappi, 6129, 6144; Acran, along 
the Dharo torrent, 5900 ft., Pa'p'pi, 3033. 
Throughout the warmer parts of the New and the Old World, but apparently 
very rare in Tropical Africa. The Eritrean specimens quoted above are referred 
here on account of Chiovenda’s description of their “glumes II. and III.” 
(upper glume and lower floret) as “ sericeo-lineate, glabrescenti.” He refers 
them to Panicum cegyptiacum., Retz., var. genuinum, but this appears to be 
merely a perfectly glabrous state of D. sanguinalis. The variety has been 
collected in. typicajj^cimens in Yemen, 
Var. fimbriata^ Stapf. Upper glume as in var. Linhii ; indumentum of 
spikelets uniform or more often more or less varied in the same inflorescence ; 
hairs of the upper glume and lower floret partly as in var. Linhii, partly more 
thick-walled with slightly clavate tips, and up to | lin. long, spreading out at 
maturity and forming a rigid double fringe on each side of the spikelet, the 
inner fringe often mixed with a varying number of tubercle-based acute yellow 
bristles which ultimately also spread out at right angles. — D.fimbriata, Link, 
Hort. Berol. i. 226. D. commutata, Schult. Mant. ii. 262. D. chrysoblephara. 
Fig. & De Not. in Mem. Acc. Tor. ser. ii. xiv. 364. D. sanguinalis, var. ciliaris, 
Rendle in Cat. Afr. PI. Welw. ii. 163, and in Journ. Linn. Soc* Bot. xl. 228 ; 
