Urelytrum.] clvii. gramine^e (Stapf). 
43 
joints obliquely truncate with appendaged tips. Sessile spikelets : 
florets 2, lower upper $ . Glumes equal or subequal ; lovrer 
coriaceous, dorsally flattened, 2-keeled, muticous ; upper sub char - 
taceous or membranous, boat-shaped, keeled. Valves hyaline, sub- 
equal, slightly shorter than the glumes, muticous, of lower floret 2-, 
of upper 3- to sub-5-nerved. Valvules almost equalling their valves, 
hyaline, 2-nerved. Lodicules 2, cuneate. Stamens 3. Stigmas 
linear, laterally exserted. Grain narrow, oblong, terete at the middle ; 
scutellum reaching to the middle ; hilum obovate, basal. Pedicelled 
spikelets with 2 $ florets and with the lower glume narrowed into 
a subulate often long awn, otherwise as in the sessile spikelets, or 
more or less reduced, sometimes to a pair of rudimentary glumes, the 
lower of which is represented by a long awn, flattened and widened 
at the base. — Perennial, rarely annual; culms erect, few-noded, 
simple ; blades narrow, linear, flat or convolute ; racemes long, rigid. 
Species 6 or 7, in Tropical and South Africa. 
Racemes solitary : 
Lower glume of sessile spikelet more or less muricate 
along the keels, nerves usually 5 ( 1 intracarinal, 
the others in pairs at the keels). 
Perennial ... ... ... ... ... ... 1. U. squarrosum. 
Annual 2. U. annuum. 
Lower glume of the sessile spikelet not muricate 
along the keels, nerves 8-9 (3-4 intracarinal), 
the others in pairs at the keels ... ... ... 3. 
Racemes 2 to many. 
Racemes in pairs ; sessile spikelets linear-lanceo- 
late, subacuminate, 5 lin. long ... ... ... 4. 
Racemes about 10, stout, up to over ft. long ; 
spikelets very closely appressed 5. 
Racemes very numerous, slender, up to 6 in. long ; 
spikelets loosely appressed ... ... ... 6. 
U. agropyroides. 
U. coronulatum. 
U. giganteum. 
U. thyrsioides. 
1. U. squarrosum, Hack. Androp. in DC. Monogr. Phan. vi. 272. 
Compactly tufted. Culms up to over 4 ft. high, glabrous, few- 
noded. Leaf-sheaths exceeding the internodes except the upper- 
most, reddish, tight, terete, glabrous, smooth, the lower widened, 
very firm, shining, persistent ; ligules oblong, 2-3 lin. long, glabrous 
or with a few long hairs behind ; blades very narrow, linear, taper- 
ing to a setaceous point, lowest up to over 1 ft. long by £ to 2 lin. 
wide, flat or convolute, rather rigid, glabrous or hirsute below, promi- 
nently nerved and finely scaberulous above. Racemes solitary, 
5-10 in. long, 1-2 lin. thick, almost glabrous to villous ; joints 3-4 lin. 
long, silky at the base, scantily pubescent to villous above, appen- 
dage up to 2 lin. long, unequally lobed or toothed, ciliolate. Sessile 
spikelets about 4 lin. long. Lower glume oblong to lanceolate, 
obtuse to acute, minutely 2-toothed, one tooth sometimes running 
out into an awn up to over 1J in. long, glabrous, smooth or punc- 
tate or pubescent to villous, keels acute at least above, distantly 
