444 cl vii. GRAMiNEiE (Stapf). [ Digitaria . 
shortly hirsute, the lowest white-tomentose or villous at the base, 
at length breaking up into long-persistent fibres ; ligules reduced 
to a scarious rim ; blades narrowly linear, loosely convolute, at 
length sometimes flat, tapering to a setaceous point, of the basal 
leaves up to 1 ft. long, of the cauline very much shorter, flattened 
out up to 2 lin. wide, flexuous or rigid, glabrous or more or less 
finely hirsute towards the base, margins scaberulous upwards, lateral 
nerves numerous, close, primary (about 4 on each side) slightly 
prominent. Racemes 6-8, sessile or subsessile, subdigitate, with 
a slender angular common rhachis (1-1| in. long), erect, up to over 
3 in. long, subcomposite and rather dense downwards, loose above, 
greenish ; rhachis very slender, |-J lin. wide, triquetrous, angles 
marginate, scabrid ; pedicels 2-4-nate, very unequal, the longest 
up to 2 lin. long, or those of the short secondary racemes often 
solitary and subsessile ; pedicels and secondary rhachises finely 
filiform, angular, scabrid. Spikelets subappressed, the lower im- 
bricate, the upper gradually looser (the internodes of the rhachis 
equalling or exceeding the longest pedicel), oblong, subacute, 1J lin. 
long, pale, apparently glabrous or nearly so. Lower glume a minute 
hyaline membrane breaking up and disappearing very soon, or 0 ; 
upper oblong, subobtuse, f lin. long, 3-nerved, with 4 lines of fine 
short closely appressed silky hairs. Lower floret : valve oblong, 
subacute, 1J lin. long, 7-nerved, middle and side nerves slender, 
prominent (except the outermost), with dense lines of hairs between 
the inner two side-nerves (of each half) and along the margins, hairs 
appressed, about J lin. long as fine as in D. eriantha, but with slightly 
thickened tips ; valvule and lodicules very minute. Upper floret 
lanceolate, acute, almost 1J lin. by § lin., thinly chartaceous, pale, 
turning brown. Anthers ^ lin. long. 
Mozambique Distr. Rhodesia : Matabeleland ; Insiza, Mundy, 2170 ! 
13. D. nardifolia, Staff. Perennial, compactly csespitose ; inno- 
vations intravaginal. Culms erect, very slender, 1-2 ft. high, 
glabrous, with only 1 suprabasal node, simple. Leaf-sheaths tight, 
striate, the uppermost 5-6 in. long, with white soft spreading hairs, 
those of the innovations short, firm, soon glabrescent or glabrous, 
at length breaking up into tough dark persistent fibres ; ligules 
a scarious rim ; blades setaceously folded or subconvolute, acute, 
curved or flexuous, 4-6 in. long, J-J lin. in diam., rarely unrolling 
and then \ lin. wide, almost wiry, loosely hairy towards the base or 
quite glabrous, finely 5-ribbed on the upper (inner) side, smooth on 
the back. Racemes 3-7, sessile or bare at the base for a short 
distance owing to the arrest of the spikelets, subdigitate on a very 
slender terete (below) to angular smooth common axis J to over 1 in. 
long, erect or slightly arching, 2-4 in. long, slender, loose, greyish- 
green ; rhachis very filiform, slightly wavy, lin. wide, trique- 
trous, angles finely marginate, smooth or very sparingly scaberulous, 
