Sacciolepis.] 
CLVII. GRAMINE^J (Stapf). 
763 
or flexuous, 1-6 in. by 3-3-J lin., dense, continuous or here and there 
slightly interrupted or constricted ; pedicels very short, smooth, 
with discoid tips. Spikelets ovate, subacute to acutely acuminate, 
symmetrical or slightly oblique, 1J to over If lin. by f-J lin., pale 
greyish-green to a warm straw-colour, glabrous or more or less hairy, 
with finely tubercle-based short hairs. Lower glume broad-ovate, 
subacute to almost obtuse in dorsal view, half or over half the length 
of the spikelet, thin, 5- (rarely 3- or 7-) nerved; upper broad- 
oblong to ovate-oblong in dorsal view, tip hyaline and rather obtuse 
if flattened out, finely and prominently 9- (rarely 7-) nerved. Lower 
floret (J or barren : valve very similar to the upper glume, but 
slightly shorter, 9-nerved ; valvule narrow, distinctly shorter than 
the valve ; anthers £ lin. long. Upper floret oblong, subacute, 
£~— lin. by J-§ lin., white, polished. — Panicum indicum, Rendle in 
Cat. Afr. PI. Welw. ii. 174 ; Cheval. Sudania, 105 ; not of Linn. 
Upper Guinea. French Guinea : Baffing Valley, in wet places, Pobeguin, 
1745 ! 1745 b ! Southern Nigeria : Lagos ; in damp situations, Dawodu , 157 ! 
Northern Nigeria : Borgu, Barter, 752 ! 
North Central. Shari Territory : Senussi Country ; Ndelle, Chevalier, 6798 ! 
Nile Land. Uganda : low swamps between Ukoko and Makaswa, 4000 ft., 
Bummer , 2951 ! 
Lower Guinea. Angola : Pungo Andongo ; in marshy meadows, near 
Pedras de Guinga, Welwitsch, 2826 ! 
Panicum indicum, as understood by Linnaeus, is a small weak annual with 
small spikes and spikelets and exauriculate leaf-sheaths. The nearest approach 
to it in Africa is 8. spiciformis (see above, p. 756). It seems to be limited to 
the Indo-Malayan region from Ceylon to North Australia. The various varieties, 
among them var. datum (see below under 8. leptorrhachis), admitted in the 
Flora of British India are mostly referable to 8. anausta , Stapf ( Panicum 
angustum, Trin.). None of them has the auricled leaf -sheaths characteristic of 
the African plant described here. 
17. S. leptorrhachis, Stapf. Perennial, up to 2-§ ft. high, glabrous 
throughout. Culms suberect or geniculately ascending from a very 
slender rooting base, sparingly branched from some of the lower nodes, 
up to over 10-noded, lower internodes short (J-14 in.), the lowest very 
slender and almost wiry, the following stouter, weaker and more or 
less compressed, or, if erect, terete like the upper, these 4-8 in. long 
or the uppermost (peduncle) up to ft. long. Lowest leaf-sheaths 
short, thin, soon decaying, the following herbaceous, somewhat loose 
and slipping off the culm, shorter to much shorter than the adjoining 
internodes, rarely over 3 in. long, with short auricles or shoulders at 
the mouth ; ligules membranous, truncate, up to J lin. long ; blades 
more or less spreading, linear from an almost equally wide base, 
tapering to a fine point, 3-4 in. by 2 lin., flat, green, glabrous and 
smooth except along the minutely scaberulous margins, midrib 
very slender, whitish below, lateral nerves obscure. False spikes 
1J-4 in. by 3 lin., rather dense, continuous or irregularly con- 
stricted or interrupted ; common axis slender, up to £ lin. in diam. ; 
pedicels short, up to -f lin. long, smooth, tips more or less discoid. 
