76 
CL VII. GRAMINEiE (Stapf). 
\Ophiurus. 
2-nerved ; valvule narrowly oblong, emarginate, f lin. long, nerve- 
less. Upper floret $ , somewhat shorter than the lower : valve 
elliptic-oblong, subobtuse, hyaline, nerveless or almost so ; valvule 
slightly shorter, oblong, emarginate, flaps much widened below. 
Anthers J lin. long. Styles finely capillary, almost \ lin. long. 
Stigmas purple, slightly shorter, laterally exserted. Grain oblong, 
1 lin. long, dorsally slightly compressed ; scutellum elliptic-oblong, 
equalling a quarter of the grain; hilum punctiform, basal. Pedi- 
celled spikelet completely suppressed. — Hack, in DC. Monogr. Phan, 
vi. 318. 0. cethiopicus, Kupr. in Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. i. 360. Rott- 
boellia papillosa , Durand & Schinz, Consp. PI. Afr. v. 699. 
Nile Land. Gallabat : Matamma, Schweinfurth, 1100! Sudan: Senaar, 
Kotschy, 192 ! 
19. CHASM0P0DIUM, Stapf. 
Spikelets 2-nate on the nodes of the very fragile rhachis of stout 
cylindric spike-like racemes which terminate the culms and their 
scanty branches, different in sex, very similar in shape and size 
excepting the terminal spikelet which is sometimes very long and 
slender ; joints linear and slender below, cup-shaped and hollowed 
out upwards, free and distant from the linear, upwards slightly 
widened, and not hollowed pedicels, joints and pedicels ciliate along 
the posticous edges ; disarticulation of the spikelets at a right angle 
to the rhachis, of the pedicelled spikelets very tardy. Sessile spike- 
let dorsally somewhat compressed, its narrow callus fused with 
the bases of the adjacent joint and pedicel into a minutely bearded 
ring from the centre of which protrudes a knob fitting into a cup- 
shaped hollow of the next lower joint, the whole plexus falling 
together. Florets 2, lower $ , upper £ , awnless. Glumes equal ; 
lower coriaceous, flat or convex on the back with very narrow indexed 
margins, 2-keeled upwards, the keels widened upwards into a crest 
or wing, obtuse; upper boat-shaped, keeled and winged upwards. 
Valves hyaline, 3-nerved. Valvules as long as the valves, 2-nerved. 
Lodicules 2, cuneate. Stamens 3. Stigmas laterally exserted. 
Grain unknown. Pedicelled spikelet similar to the sessile, but the 
lower glume convex, winged on one side only and the upper asymme- 
trical ; both florets <£ or one barren. — Annual (or sometimes peren- 
nial ?) somewhat coarse grasses, sparingly branched ; blades lanceo- 
late-linear, flat ; ligules a line of short hairs ; racemes dorsiventral, 
with the sessile spikelets placed anticously and the pedicelled postic- 
ously. 
Species 2, endemic. 
Racemes caudate owing to the elongation of the 
glumes of the terminal spikelet. Sessile spikelet 
ovate 1. C. caudatum. 
Racemes not caudate. Sessile spikelet oblong ... 2. C. Afzelii. 
