92 
CLVII. GRAMINE^ (Stapf). 
[ Eriochrysis . 
exserted. Grain obovoid- to ellipsoid-globose ; embryo half the 
length of the grain. — Perennial, of moderate size. Leaves mostly 
crowded at the base, with narrow blades. Panicle contracted, 
fulvonsly or rufously tomentose. Spikelets surrounded by short or 
moderately long hairs springing from the callus. 
Species 5, in Tropical Africa and America. 
Sessile spikelets surrounded by hairs up to half as long 
as the spikelets. 
Glumes subchartaceous, thin in the upper part; 
panicles oblong, 1-2 in. long, pale tawny ... 1. E. purpurata. 
Glumes chartaceous, shining ; panicles narrow, 3- 
6 in. long, fulvous ... ... ... ... 2. E. brachypogon. 
Sessile spikelets surrounded by hairs distinctly ex- 
ceeding them ; glumes chartaceous, shining ; 
panicles fulvous 3. E. pallida. 
C T&rnA&jf) 
1. E. purpurata^ Stapf. Culms 1-1 J ft. high, erect, 3-noded, 
upper nodes long-exserted. Leaf-sheaths rather tight, the lowest 
glabrous, shining, long-persistent, the upper pubescent, all bearded 
at the nodes; ligules membranous, very short, truncate, ciliolate ; 
blades linear, tapering to an acute or subacute point, very narrow 
or almost setiform, those of the innovations 4-7 in. long, of the culm 
up to 4 in. long and 1 \ lin. wide, the uppermost very short, pubescent 
on both sides, but particularly on the back and often villous at the 
tips, or villous all along, about 3 secondary nerves on each side. 
Panicle oblong, 1-2 in. long, J-f in. wide, tawny, dense. Rhachis 
glabrous, smooth. Racemes about 6, sessile or the lowest shortly 
peduncled and up to 1 in. long, the following much shorter ; joints 
1-1 \ lin. long, smooth, ciliate, thickened at the tips ; pedicels similar, 
about J lin. long. Sessile spikelet lanceolate, subacute, 3 lin. long, 
surrounded by fulvous hairs springing from the callus, up to half 
as long as the spikelet. Glumes equal ; lower glume membranous, 
minutely truncate, 2-keeled, with 2 to 4 intracarinal nerves con- 
nected by transverse veins in the upper part, strongly ciliate, pubes- 
cent near the tips otherwise usually glabrous, sometimes tinged with 
wine-red ; upper glume acute, 3-nerved, ciliate, thin. Valve of 
lower floret oblong, subacute, 2-J lin. long, hyaline, ciliolate, nerve- 
less, pubescent on the back upwards ; of upper oblong, subobtuse 
or truncate, rarely produced into a delicate mucro or minute 
bristle, 1 lin. long, hyaline, nerveless, sparingly ciliate. Anthers 
1-1 J lin. long. Stigmas purplish, over 1 lin. long. Pedicelled spike- 
let 9 , similar to the sessile, up to 2J lin. long, surrounded by a tuft 
of hairs as long as the spikelet, glumes with fewer nerves and longer 
hairs. Valves slightly smaller. Anthers reduced to very minute 
club-shaped bodies. — Saccharum purpuratum, Rendle in Trans. 
Linn. Soc. ser. ii., iv. 56 ; K. Schum. in Engl. Pfl. Ost-Afr. C. 96. 
Mozambique Distr. Nyasaland : Mount Milanji, Whyte , 8 ! and without 
precise locality, Buchanan, 997 ! 
