70 
CLVII. GRAMINE^l (Stapf). 
[Elyonurus. 
duct on one side, glabrous on the other, 2-3-nerved, apart from the 
keel ; upper glume asymmetrically keeled, keel minutely and rigidly 
ciliolate above the middle, 3-nerved. Valve linear, over 1 lin. long, 
nerveless. — Th. & Hel. Durand, Svll. FI. Congol. 623. E. argenteus , 
Durand & Schinz, Stud. FI. Congo, (1896) 313. 
Lower Guinea. Belgian Congo : Kiengi ; Lutete, Hens , 285 ! Kisantu, 
Gillet, 850 ! 
9. E. Chevalieri, Stapf in Bull. Soc. Bot. Fr. lv. (1908), Mem. viii. 
100. Perennial, densely csespitose ; innovations intravaginal. Culms 
erect, slender, up to over 3 ft. high, glabrous or bearded below the 
nodes, compressed below, simple or sparingly branched, with the 
branches flowering, about 3-noded ; internodes more or less exserted. 
Leaf -sheaths terete, tight, the uppermost bladeless, the lower long- 
persistent, silky at the very base (the inner) or quite glabrous, 
shining ; ligules very short, ciliate ; blades linear, long-tapering 
upwards, 4-8 in. long by 1J lin. wide, loosely involute or almost 
flat, pale green, smooth, bearded at the very base otherwise quite 
glabrous, nerves about 10, equal, prominent below. Racemes on 
a shortly or long exserted peduncle, 3-3J in. long, flexuous, silvery- 
feathery ; joints linear, 3-2 lin. long, densely villous with the hairs 
up to 3 lin. long ; pedicels similar to the joints but shorter and more 
slender. Sessile spikelet lanceolate, 5 lin. long. Glumes sub- 
equal ; lower acuminate with a slender acumen, deeply 2-fid, densely 
and long villous, keels indistinct, nerves about 7, obscure, balsam- 
ducts pale ; upper glume lanceolate, acute or acuminate, slightly 
shorter than the lower, hairy along the middle nerve, nerves 3, 
distinct. Lower floret 3 lin. long : valve lanceolate, acute, 2- 
nerved, softly ciliate upwards. Upper floret 2J lin. long, valve 
similar to that of the lower floret, 3-nerved ; valvule 0. Anthers 
1 i lin. long. Pedicelled spikelet lanceolate, acute or acutely acumi- 
nate, 2J-3 lin. long. Glumes subequal; lower 7 -nerved, villous; 
upper 5~nerved, less and more shortly hairy. Florets as in the 
sessile spikelets if not shorter, but the upper $ . 
Upper Guinea. French Guinea : Sangorola, near Kouroussa, Chevalier, 341 ! 
Northern Nigeria : Abinsi and vicinity, in hush, Dalziel, 866 ! 
North Central. Eastern Shari Region : Ndelli and village of Kounde, Dar- 
Rounga, Chevalier, 7713 ! 
10. E, argenteus, Nees, FI. Afr. Austr. (1841) 95. Perennial, 
densely csespitose ; innovation-shoots intravaginal. Culms compressed 
below, terete above, glabrous or more or less hairy, slender, 3-5- 
noded, with 1, rarely 2, flowering branches from the upper nodes. 
Leaf-sheaths tight, the lower appressedly silky with long hairs, 
later on glabrescent or glabrous from the beginning, often very firm 
and long-persistent, the others glabrous or sparingly hairy, strongly 
striate, nodes sometimes bearded ; ligules a densely ciliolate mem- 
branous rim ; blades very narrow, linear, acute, usually folded, 
