187 
Schizachyrium.] clvii. gramine^: (Stapf). 
Spikelets linear-lanceolate, 2-2\ lin. long ; 
awn 4 lin. long with a very short or 
obscure column ... ... ...13 .8. Thollonii. 
Spikelets lanceolate, 3-4 lin. long ; awn 
7-8 lin. long, kneed and twisted 
below the middle 14. S. compressum. 
Annual ; culms very slender ; racemes 
sparkling from the dense short silvery 
lines of the cilia and the very short 
dorsal hairs of the spikelets, these 2\ 
lin. long ; fertile valve of sessile spike- 
let entire ... ... ... ... 15. S. scintillans. 
Flowering branches gathered in a terminal 
bunch ; racemes plumose from the long 
hairs (3 lin.) covering the joints and pedi- 
cels all over ; fertile valve of sessile 
spikelet entire ... ... ... ... 16. S. pulchellum. 
Copiously branched, suffrutescent or with numerous 
barren branches below the flowering. 
Suffrutescent ; leaf- blades up to 2\ in. long ; 
racemes silky- villous owing to the long hairs 
of the joints and pedicels ... 17. S. Keller i. 
Culms wiry below with numerous barren branches 
below the flowering ; cilia of joints and pedi- 
cels short ... ... ... ... ... 18. S. rupestre. 
1. S. brevifolium, Nees, Agrosl. Bras. 332. Annual. Culms 
weak, up to 2 ft. long, usually ascending from a decumbent base, 
rarely erect, many-noded, branched from most of the nodes ; 
branches often 2-4-nate and dividing again, very slender to filiform, 
geniculate, glabrous, the lower internodes usually much compressed. 
Leaf-sheaths compressed, the lower keeled, somewhat lax, glabrous, 
smooth, the uppermost spathe-like ; ligules membranous, very short, 
ciliolate ; blades linear, constricted at the junction with the sheath, 
the lower and those of the primary branches obtuse or subobtuse or 
suddenly narrowed to a sharp point, 1-1 J in. long and 1-3 lin. wide 
(flattened out), the upper and those of the secondary and tertiary 
branches much narrower and more acute, folded or flat, often glau- 
cescent, glabrous, smooth except along the margins and the lower 
side of the midrib, nerves very fine ; leaves like the spathe of the 
inflorescence ultimately turning reddish ; spathes on subcapillary 
curved or flexuous branchlets, very narrow, acute, reaching to the 
base of the racemes or slightly exceeding them, 1 j-f in. long ; 
racemes borne on filiform upwards clavate peduncles, slender, from 
less than J in. to slightly over 1 in. long, 5-11-jointed ; joints 1-1 J 
lin. long, widening upwards from a slender base, often more or less 
clavate, tips 2-toothed, glabrous, smooth ; pedicels as long as the 
joints, very slender and only slightly thickened upwards. Sessile 
spikelets linear-lanceolate, acuminate, more or less convex on the 
back, pale green, including the minute callus, which is more or less 
shortly bearded, at least on the sides, about 1 J lin. long. Glumes 
