684 
CLVII. GRAMINE^ (Stapf). 
[. Panicum . 
very similar and equal to the upper glume, but less acute, rather 
broader, paler at least downwards, 5-nerved ; valvule slightly 
shorter, oblong, acuminate, flaps generally wider downwards. Upper 
floret £>, oblong, subacute, § lin. by f lin., yellowish, very glossy and 
smooth. 
Mozambique Distr. Portuguese East Africa : Msalu river, Allen, 115 ! 
38. P. poecilanthum, Stapf. Perennial, up to 3 ft. high, compactly 
csespitose, with intra vaginal innovations, coated by the persistent 
sheath-bases. Culms erect, slender, simple, usually 1-noded, with 
the node about the middle, more rarely 2-noded, terete, striate or 
sulcate, sparingly hairy below the node or glabrous, scaberulous. 
Leaf-sheaths tight, the lowest very firm and long-persistent, greyish- 
tomentose at least upwards, often glabrescent towards the nodes, 
densely ciliate along the outer margin, much shorter than the 
internodes ; ligule reduced to a brown minutely ciliolate rim ; 
blades very narrowly linear, acute, J to over 1 ft. long, 1-1 J lin. wide, 
rigid, flat or particularly upwards setaceously convolute, dull green, 
finely and spreadingly hairy on both sides with white hairs, midrib 
slender, flat above, raised below, lateral nerves very close, raised. 
Panicle oblanceolate to obovate in outline, open and loose, 6-7 in. 
by 4 in., divided to the third or fourth degree ; common axis slender, 
striate or sulcate, angular upwards, like all the divisions scaberulous, 
hairy at the lower nodes ; primary branches filiform, obliquely 
spreading, usually approximate in pairs, pairs lj-f in. distant, more 
rarely sub-3-nate, pseudo-verticillate or solitary, the lowest 3-4 in. 
long, undivided for 1J-1 in., the following 5-3 lin. only, then loosely 
divided, the fine flexuous divisions forming very slender downwards 
compound loose or upwards contracted racemes of about 7 or fewer 
spikelets ; pedicels very unequal, often longer (to 2 lin.) than the 
spikelets, tips obscurely thickened. Spikelets oblong, acuminate- 
soon gaping, 1 lin. long, richly tinged with purple. Glumes mem- 
branous, finely nerved ; lower obliquely ovate-lanceolate or lanceo- 
late, acuminate in profile, appressed or spreading upwards, two- 
thirds to three-quarters the length of the spikelet, 5-nerved ; upper 
obliquely oblong, acuminate with a slightly blunt point, 1 lin. long, 
5-nerved. Lower floret : valve equal and very similar to the 
upper glume, if not broader ; valvule subequal, oblong, minutely 
truncate, flaps much widened at the lower third ; anthers 1 lin. long. 
Upper floret oblong, subobtuse, f lin. long, whitish, glossy and 
smooth ; valve and valvule thinly crustaceous. 
Upper Guinea. Cameroons : without precise locality, Unwin, 9185 ! 
39. P. dregeanum, Nees , FI. Afr. Austr. 42. Perennial, compactly 
csespitose, with a coat of persistent leaf-bases, 1-4 ft. high, with 
intravaginal innovations. Culms erect, slender, up to 1 lin. in 
diam., 1-2-noded, simple, very smooth, glabrous. Leaf-sheaths firm. 
