96 
CLVII. GKAMINEiE (Stapf), 
[Saccharum. 
2. S. officinarum, Linn. Sp. PL ed. i. 54. Culms up to 20ft. high, 
many-noded, glabrous or pubescent below the panicle, more or less 
coated with wax below the nodes. Leaf-sheaths tight, terete, 
smooth, glabrous except when young ; ligules very short, mem- 
branous, ciliate ; blades linear-lanceolate, up to 5 ft. long, and over 
2 in. wide, glaucous below and green above, more or less scabrid 
along the margins, midrib very stout, rounded on the back, more or 
less flat above. Panicle pyramidal, up to over 3 ft. long, dense, 
silvery ; common rhachis glabrous except on the pubescent nodes, 
or more or less silky ; primary branches verticillate or semiver- 
ticillate, glabrous or hairy, very slender. Racemes up to 4 in. long, 
very fragile, joints and pedicels filiform, more or less ciliate or 
glabrous, the former of varying length (the middle ones 2-3 lin. 
long), the latter much shorter. Spikelets lanceolate, lf-2 lin. long, 
surrounded from the callus by a tuft of long silky hairs, up to 5 lin. 
long. Glumes subequal, lanceolate, firm towards the base, otherwise 
subhyaline, the lower acute, 2-nerved to sub-4-nerved, glabrous, 
the upper very similar, 1- to 3-nerved, glabrous or ciliolate. Valve 
of lower floret oblong, acute or subacute, hyaline, nerveless, ciliate, 
about 1 \ lin. long ; of upper subulate, ciliate, as long as the lower 
or 0. Valvule if present, very minute, obovate, ciliate. Lodicules 
broad, cuneate, sparingly ciliolate from the top. Anthers f lin. 
long. Styles § lin. long. Stigmas purplish, 1 lin. long. Grain 
oblong, attenuated upwards, subterete, § lin. long, flesh-coloured ; 
embryo J the length of the grain. — Beauv. Agrost. Explan, planch. 
5, t. iv. fig. 10 ; Kunth, Enum. PI. i. 474 ; Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. i. 
405 ; Bentl. & Trimen, Med. PL t. 298 ; Hack, in DC. Monogr. Phan, 
vi. Ill ; Durand & Schinz, Consp. El. Afr. v. 694 ; K. Schum. in 
Engl. Pfl. Ost-Afr. B. 74-76, 86, figs. 8 & 9, C. 96 ; Rendle in Cat. 
Afr. PI. Welw. ii. 136 ; Cheval. in Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, vii. 92. 
Lower Guinea. Angola : Golungo Alto ; in plantations by the Luinha River, 
Welwitsch, 2901 ! Mossamedes ; near Cavalheiros, Welwitsch, 2283 ! 
Mozambique Distr. German East Africa, Busse, 193 ! Nyasaland : between 
Kondowe and Karonga, Whyte ! 
Grown in many parts of Tropical Africa, but mostly only for chewing. 
3. S. Ravennse, Linn. Syst. ed. xiii. 88. Culms from 3 to over 
6 ft. high, robust, many-noded, glabrous, smooth. Leaf -sheaths 
tight, the lowest hirsute at least towards the base, otherwise glabrous ; 
ligules very short, membranous, with long hairs ; blades linear, the 
basal up to over 3 ft., the upper up to 2 ft. long and 3-8 lin. wide, 
towards the base more or less bearded with long white hairs, rough 
on both sides, midrib very stout, rounded on the back, flat or slightly 
channelled above, occupying almost the whole width of the lower 
part of the blade. Panicle erect, up to 2 ft. long, dense or somewhat 
lax and lobed, silvery-silky, with a tinge of grey or purple or quite 
white ; rhachis glabrous, smooth below ; branches slender, solitary 
from the distant nodes, divided from the base, up to 8 in. long, 
