Brachiaria . ] 
CL VII. GRAMINE.ZE (Stapf). 
521 
continued beyond the uppermost raceme as a filiform point, semi- 
terete or more or less flattened, minutely pubescent on the face, 
shortly hairy at the nodes, otherwise glabrous. Racemes simple, 
dense, 1-2J in. long, straight or slightly arching or flexuous, 2- 
seriate in plan but usually 1-seriate by the dovetailing of the ranks ; 
rhachis rather flat, with an almost straight slightly prominent keel 
on the face, \ lin. wide ; scaberulous along the angles, sometimes 
with scattered hairs, internodes § to almost 1|- lin. long; pedicels 
solitary, extremely short, sparingly setulose. Spikelet s contiguous 
or imbricate, oblong, acute, 2-2 J lin. long, pale greenish, quite 
glabrous. Glumes unequal, membranous, the lower broad-oblong, 
very obtuse, about 11-nerved, nerves very fine ; upper glume 
corresponding in outline and size to the spikelet, prominently 9- 
nerved and reticulately cross- veined. Lower floret neuter or (J, 
as long as the spikelet : valve somewhat flattened on the back, broad- 
oblong, subacute or acute, 5-nerved with prominulous cross-veins, 
lateral nerves near the margin ; valvule oblong, subacute, somewhat 
shorter than the valve, flaps very narrow. Upper floret elliptic- 
oblong in outline, obtuse, 14 lin. long, pale or brownish, shining : 
valve and valvule crustaceous, the former obscurely wrinkled on 
the sides, otherwise almost smooth like the valvule. Anthers less^ 
than 4 lin. long. Grain elliptic in outline, obtuse, 1 lin. long, flat on 
the back, moderately convex on the face, yellowish ; scutellum ovate- 
lanceolate, three-quarters the length of the grain. — Panicum dig- 
matisatuw,, Mez in Engl. Jahrb. xxxiv. 140. 
Upper Guinea. Gambia, Park ! French Guinea: Timbo, Pobeguin, 1711 ! 
Fouta Jallon, between Trebeleya and Timbo, Chevalier, 18308 ! Northern 
Nigeria : Jeba on the Niger, Barter ! 
Nile Land. Jur : Ghaftas’ Great Seriba, Schweinfurth, 2209 ! 
Cl 
12. B. brevispicata^ Stapf. Annual, loosely tufted, up to 1J ft. 
high. Culms ascending from a decumbent and rooting base, terete 
or somewhat angular, glabrous and smooth, many-noded, simple, 
lower 5-7 internodes short (1 in. or less) and completely covered 
by the sheaths. Leaf-sheaths rather loose, slightly compressed, 
striate, glabrous except at the pubescent or ciliate margins, very 
smooth ; ligules reduced to a narrow ciliolate rim ; blades linear- 
lanceolate from an equally broad base, tapering to an acute almost 
pungent point, 14—2 in. by 3-4 lin., flat or with involute margins, 
rigid, loosely hirsute with tubercle-based hairs on the upper surface, 
glabrous and smooth below, margins stoutly crisped, spinulose to 
spinulose-serrulate or in parts smooth, nerves very numerous, 
rather obscure below, midrib very slender ; uppermost blade 
reduced to a small subulate point or suppressed. Inflorescence 
at length long-exserted, of 2 or 1 suberect or oblique sessile spici- 
form racemes ; common axis about j-1 in. long, semiterete or 
somewhat flattened, finely pubescent on the face, otherwise glabrous 
