672 clvii. graminbj] (Stapf). [Panicum. 
flaccid, quite glabrous or more or less finely and softly hairy, smooth 
or slightly rough on the upper side, margins scaberulous, midrib very 
fine, usually distinct and whitish below, lateral nerves numerous, 
very fine, not differentiated. Panicle erect, rotundate-ovate to 
obovate in outline, loose and open, 3-8 in. by 1-4 in., divided to the 
third or fourth degree ; common axis terete, smooth, lowest internodes 
1-J in. long or irregularly shorter and longer ; lower primary 
branches solitary and divided from low down or like the following 
divided from the base, forming imperfect false whorls, the longest 
equalling three-quarters or more of the panicle, finely filiform to 
capillary, scaberulous ; ultimate divisions delicately capillary, wavy 
or flexuous, all these divisions frequently with a flush of pale purple ; 
pedicels unequal, the lateral 1 lin. long, the terminal up to over 
3 lin. long, with very minute discoid tips. Spikelets ovate to 
elliptic-oblong in outline, subacute, about 1 lin. long, pale to bright 
green or faintly tinged with purple or brown, here and there with a 
slightly silky lustre, but on the whole dull, glabrous. Glumes very 
thinly membranous, finely nerved, rather concave, obliquely ovate, 
oblong or oblong-lanceolate in profile, subacute to acute, the lower 
over three-quarters the length of the spikelet, 3-nerved, the upper 
equalling the spikelet, 5-nerved. Lower floret ; valve very like 
the upper glume but less acute to obtuse, 5-nerved ; valvule slightly 
shorter. Upper floret elliptic-oblong, obtuse, up to f lin. long ; 
valve and valvule thinly papery, almost transparent, minutely 
verrucose ; anthers § lin. long.— P. Icetum, Stapf in Johnston, 
Liberia, ii. 666 ; Pobeguin, Ess. FI. Guin. Fran 9 . 21b ; not of Kunth. 
Upper Guinea. Sierra Leone : Kenmensi, Thomas, 7642 ! and without precise 
locality, Meade ! French Guinea : Kouroussa, Pobeguin, 523 ! common on 
dry ground and on cultivated land in the Bating valley, Pobbguin, 1723 ! 1822 ! 
Liberia : about 70 miles up the St. Paul’s River, Reynolds ! Northern Nigeria : 
waste places near Abinsi, Dalziel, 892 ! 
24. P. gracilicaule, Rendle in Cat. Afr. PI. Welw. ii. 179. Annual, 
up to over 1 ft. high, in small tufts. Culms geniculately ascending 
or sometimes with a decumbent base, with flowering branches up 
to the middle, about 4-noded, internodes exserted or laid bare by 
the slipping off of the sheaths, glabrous. Leaf-sheaths terete, rather 
loose except the uppermost, quite smooth or ciliate upwards ; 
ligules very short, hyaline, ciliate ; blades linear from a slightly 
rounded base, tapering to a slender point, 2-2 J in. by 2-2 J lin., flat, 
spreading or deflexed, thin, soft, drying yellowish, glabrous or 
minutely and scantily hairy, midrib very slender, lateral nerves faint, 
margins minutely scaberulous, sometimes slightly crisp. Panicles 
terminal and lateral, the terminal long (up to 3 or 4 in.), exserted, 
broadly rhomboid or ovate in outline, up to 3 in. by 2J in., very 
loose, divided to the third degree ; common axis terete or angular 
downwards, smooth, lowest internodes short, the next up to over 
J in. long, the following gradually or irregularly decreasing ; lower 
