704 
CL VII. GRAMINE® (Stapf). 
[. Panicum . 
margins, hairs tnbercle-based, midrib fine, primary lateral nerves 
3-5 on each side, very fine, distinct below only, somewhat distant. 
Panicles erect, at length mostly exserted, sometimes much so, broad- 
oblong to broad-ovate or obovate, widely open and loose, somewhat 
stiff, 3-6 in. by 1J-3 in., divided to the third or fourth or even fifth 
degree, glabrous or frequently the hairs of the culm spreading over the 
lower part of the common axis and its principal divisions ; common 
axis subfiliform to filiform, terete or more or less angular, smooth or 
like its divisions slightly scaberulous upwards, lower and intermediate 
internodes 10-5 lin. long, with some shorter intermixed ; primary 
branches filiform, more or less straight, particularly at maturity and 
like all the divisions more or less obliquely spreading, loosely divided 
from some distance (up to 5 lin.) above the base, more rarely 
from near the base and then the lower branchlets often subfasciculate 
and long ; secondary branches subcapillary, the lowest of large 
panicles often 1-1 J in. long ; pedicels capillary, very unequal, 1-6 lin. 
long, with minutely discoid tips. Spikelets oblong to elliptic- oblong, 
acute to minutely apiculate-acuminate, f to over 1 lin. long, greenish, 
usually variegated with purple, glabrous. Glumes thinly mem- 
branous, finely and somewhat prominently nerved, unequal ; lower 
lanceolate from a broad-ovate clasping base, acute to acuminate or 
mucronulate, two-thirds the length of the spikelet, 5-nerved ; upper 
corresponding in length and outline to the spikelet, 7 -nerved. Lower 
floret barren : valve very similar to the upper glume ; valvule 
oblong, acute, shorter than the valve or much reduced. Upper 
floret oblong, obtuse, | lin. long, turning uniformly chestnut- 
brown to black-purple when ripe, polished ; valve and valvule 
subcoriaceous, at length crustaceous ; anthers \ lin. long. Grain 
elliptic-oblong in outline, obtuse, f lin. long, white. — Steud. Syn. PI. 
Glum. i. 84 ; Schweinfurth in Bull. Herb. Boiss. ii. App. ii. 23 ; Balf. 
f. Bot. Socotra, 311 ; Durand & Schinz, Consp. FI. Afr. v. 741 ; K. 
Schum. in Engl. Pfl. Ost-Afr. C. 103 ; Bendle in Cat. Afr. PI. Welw. 
ii. 176 ; Chiov. in Ann. Istit. Bot. Roma, viii. 308. 
Nile Land. Nubian desert : without precise locality, Petherick ! Eritrea : 
Medri od Tesfa ; Mamut Mahader, Pappi, 6742. Abyssinia : Tigre ; Hamedo 
plain, 4600 ft., Schimper ! Sana; near Jelajeranne, Schimper, 1709 ! Samen ; 
Dehli Dikeno, Schimper, 257 ! and without precise locality, Schimper, 230 ! 
769 ! Socotra : on Haghier, Balfour ! Uganda : Kafuru (acc. to K. Schumann) ; 
Victoria Nyanza region, Maitland, 209 ! Nakuru, on very dry ground, Scott 
Elliot, 6819! British East Africa: Nairobi, M. J. Johnston, 47! Linton, 
28 ! Makindu, Linton, 113 ! 
Lower Guinea. Angola : Pungo Andongo ; Muta Lucala, Welwitsch, 2722 ! 
in damp sandy meadoAvs at the Luxillo river betAveen Pungo Andongo and 
Cambambe, Welwitsch, 7418 ! in sandy places near Luxillo, Welwitsch , Coll. 
Carp. 1088 ! 
Also in tropical Arabia. 
According to Welwitsch excellent fodder for cattle. 
59. P. arcurameum, Stapf. Annual, tufted, about 1 ft. high. Culms 
radiating from the centre and geniculately ascending, 5-6-noded, 
