708 
CLVII. GRAMINEiE (Stapf). 
[ Panicum . 
62. P neglectum, Roem. & Schult. Syst. ii. 451. Perennial, 
suffrutescent (?). Culms stiff, terete, hard, over 1 lin. in diam., 
glaucous and glabrous, like the whole plant, with the internodes 
long-exserted from the sheaths and up to 3 in. long, with short erect 
or spreading branches from all the nodes. Leaf-sheaths firm, 
prominently striate, up to over 1 in. long ; ligule a ciliate rim ; 
blades linear, tapering to a pungent point, 1-1 J in. by up to 2 lin., 
rigid, spreading or deflexed, flat below, convolute upwards or convo- 
lute all along, smooth. Panicles up to over 1 in. long, narrow, 
divided to the second degree ; common axis very slender, terete or 
angular, lowest internodes about 3 lin. long ; primary branches 
scaberulous, up to 5 lin. long, forming short dense racemes or, 
higher up, clusters ; pedicels shorter to much shorter than the 
spikelets. Spikelets turgid, ovoid-globose, If lin. by over'l lin., 
somewhat gaping. Glumes firmly membranous, shortly and acutely 
acuminate in profile ; lower obliquely ovate, two-thirds to four- 
fifths the length of the spikelet, 5-nerved, nerves evanescent above 
the middle, joined upwards by delicate cross-nerves; upper 
obliquely oblong- elliptic in profile, much curved to almost gibbous 
above the middle, as long as the spikelet, firmly 9-nerved, almost 
grooved between the unconnected nerves. Lower floret $ : valve 
very similar to the upper glume, but subobtuse with widened hyaline 
margins towards the tips ; valvule as long as the valve, elliptic, 
obtuse, keels sharp and scaberulous downwards with the narrow 
flaps suddenly widened towards the base ; anthers 1 J lin. long. 
Upper floret obliquely obovate in profile, broadly elliptic in 
dorsal view, apiculate, 1 J lin. long, polished ; valve and valvule 
subcoriaceous, the former faintly 7-nerved. Grain ovate in outline, 
•acute, whitish. — Kunth, Enum. i. 132 ; Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. i. 81. 
“ Africa ” ( Collector ?). 
The specimen in Herb. Shuttleworth (British Museum) answers perfectly 
to Roemer & Schultes’ description and represents evidently the type or a cotype. 
No indication of its origin is given beyond the inscription “ Africa.” The 
affinity of P. neglectum with P. turgidum is quite clear, and it is like the latter 
manifestly a desert grass of a pronounced xerophytic structure. 
63. P. repens, Linn. Sp. PI. ed. ii. 87. Perennial, up to 2 (rarely 4) 
ft. high ; rhizome long, creeping, innovation-shoots mostly extra- 
vaginal, often growing into long stolons. Culms erect or ascending, 
glabrous, many-noded, simple or branched at the base, the barren 
shoots densely and distichously leafy. Leaf-sheaths generally 
exceeding the internodes, the lower more or less loose, wide and 
tough, the upper tight, all ciliate along the margins, otherwise usually 
smooth and glabrous or the lower more or less finely hirsute or 
pubescent, with tubercle-based hairs ; ligule a membranous ciliate 
rim ; blades linear, shortly tapering to a callous point, 2J-6 in. by 
1J-3 lin., usually involute, very firm and rigid, spreading, glaucous, 
