Thyrsia.\ clvii. gramine^; (Stapf). 49 
middle. — Tall, coarse grasses ; blades very long, bard, flat ; ligules. 
very short, membranous ; racemes rather stout and stiff, more or 
less distinctly dorsiventral and sometimes submoniliform owing to 
the constrictions between the swollen joints and pedicels. 
Species 3 or 4, in Tropical Africa and India. 
Joints and pedicels clavate, much inflated upwards, of 
equal length; spikelets 2^-3 lin. long ... ... 1. T.infiata. 
Joints subclavate, slightly convex on the back ; pedi- 
cels stoutly clavate, shorter than the joints ; 
spikelets 2 lin. long ... ... ... ... ... 2. T. huillensis. 
1. T. inflata, Staff. Perennial, tufted. Culms erect, up to over 
3 ft. high, densely covered at the base with persistent sheath-baseS, 
simple, smooth and glabrous or very slightly rough and hairy below 
the inflorescences, terete, 4-5-noded. the upper internodes exserted. 
Leaf-sheaths striate, more or less hairy to glabrous, the basal com- 
pressed, particularly those of the innovation shoots, nodes slightly 
bearded ; ligules very short, membranous, ciliolate ; blades linear, 
long-attenuated to a fine point, passing at the base into the sheath, 
up to over 1 ft. long and 1J-3 lin. wide, folded or flattened out, soft 
or sometimes rather stiff, softly hirsute, particularly along the rough 
margins, or more or less glabrescent, midrib and lateral nerves slender, 
slightly prominent. Kacemes quite glabrous, 3-4 on a common 
rhachis, which is J-f in. long, subterete and more or less hairy, 
shortfy peduncled, of unknown length, about 1J lin. wide, stiff, pale 
yellowish green, tinged with purple ; joints stout, much inflated 
and hollow upwards, 1 J-2 lin. long, very convex on the back, slightly 
concave on the face, smooth, distinctly striate, disarticulating hori- 
zontally, with a smooth, almost square scar ; pedicels similar to the 
joints but more narrowed at the base and more or less curved, 
usually shorter than the joints and subcontiguous with them. Sessile 
spikelet, including the very short subannular callus, slightly over 
2 lin. long, ovate-oblong. Glumes equal ; lower coriaceous along 
the keels, chartaceous between them, subobtuse, sometimes minutely 
emarginate, with narrow indexed margins, distinctly 2-keeled, keels 
very minutely ciliolate, intracarinal nerves very fine, 3-4, with few 
transverse veins above ; upper glume boat-shaped, thinly char- 
taceous, semiovate in profile, subacute, with a marked minutely 
ciliate keel and a sub marginal nerve on each side. Lower floret 
barren : valve hyaline, broadly lanceolate to oblong, 2-nerved, 
finely ciliate above ; valvule 0. Upper floret : valve broadly lanceo- 
late, acute, 3-nerved ; valvule slightly shorter, oblong, subobtuse, 
obscurely 2-nerved. Anthers 1J-1J lin. long. Stigmas purple, 
J lin. long, exserted from near the base. Grain oblong, dorsallv 
much compressed, J lin. long, scutellum extending beyond the 
middle. Pedicelled spikelet showing various degrees of develop- 
ment from a perfect state with a $ flow^er, when it is very 
FL. TROP. AFR. VOL. IX. E 
