Digitaria.] clvii. gr amines (Stapf). 457 
Stefanini-Paoli, i. 183, 224, 225). It was collected by Riva (no. 303) in the 
Ogaden desert, south or south-west of the Arussi country, by Provenzale at 
Merca, and by Paoli at Balaad on the Web Shebeli, both in Southern Italian 
Somaliland. The inflorescence figured is 8 in. long and bears 25-30 racemes 
with solitary or 2-3-nate spikelets the longest of whose pedicels equal the 
spikelets. Chiovenda also describes the barren valve as 5-nerved, but this 
may be due to oversight. 
26. D. gazensis, Rendle in Journ. Linn. Soc. Bot. xl. 228, l. 6, 
figs. 1-5. Perennial, compactly csespitose on a short stout prsemorse 
rhizome ; innovations extra- and intravaginal. Culms erect, mode- 
rately stout, 2 J-4 ft. high, glabrous, 2- (rarely 3-) noded, simple. Leaf- 
sheaths rather tight, the lowest at length often slipping off the culm, 
finely striate, the intermediate and upper shorter to much shorter 
than the internodes, the lowest softly hirsute, at least downwards, 
with generally densely villous bases which persist more or less, the 
sheaths otherwise glabrous except for a ring of long soft silky hairs 
at the nodes ; ligules scarious to membranous, rounded, up to 1 lin. 
long, glabrous ; blades linear, tapering to a fine point, up to 6 in. 
by 1J-3| lin., flat, flexuous, green, often drying dark brown, glabrous 
or more or less hairy from pubescent to hirsute, particularly towards 
the ligule, margins slightly rough to smooth, lateral nerves numerous, 
fine, close, primary nerves 5-6 on each side standing out from the 
rest on the upper side or merged among them. Racemes numerous, 
often over 10, subdigitate, simple or sometimes compound, par- 
ticularly towards the base, with short secondary racemes, solitary or 
the lower usually 2-4-nate, often bare at the base for up to over 1 in. 
with distinct traces of arrested spikelets, or bearing spikelets all along, 
with a slender often almost filiform angular common rhachis, 1 to 
over 3 in. long, erect or suberect, 4-7 in. long, strict or subflexuous, 
very slender, somewhat loose or at any rate not closely imbricate, 
pale green to purplish -grey or violet ; rhachis very slender to filiform, 
lin. wide, triquetrous, with some long fine spreading hairs in 
the lower part, angles fine, scabrid, green or purple ; pedicels 2-3- 
nate or solitary in the secondary racemes, finely filiform, angular, 
scabrid, unequal, the longer about 1 lin. long. Spikelets loosely 
appressed, the superposed distant by more than their own length, 
elliptic-oblong, subobtuse to subacute, up to over 1 lin. long, 
slightly silky or apparently glabrous on the sides. Lower glume 
a very delicate hyaline cuff -like scale up to almost ^ lin. long, soon 
disappearing ; upper narrowly oblong, subobtuse to acute, of the 
length of the spikelet, 5-nerved, with a line of hairs on each side of 
the middle nerve and along the margin, hairs very fine, curled 
upwards, with obtuse tips, often purplish, those of the margin longer 
(up to J lin.). Lower floret : valve similar to the upper glume, 
but 7-nerved, the inner 2 side-nerves on each side approximate with 
a line of appressed hairs between them, marginal hairs or cilia also 
more or less appressed, directed forward, very slightly exceeding the 
tip ; valvule a hyaline scale up to f lin. long, slightly exceeding the 
