210 
cl vii. GRAMiNEiE (Stapf). [Andropogon. 
peduncle, and the spatheole, the function of which has already been indicated. 
The racemes of these units are usually gathered into pairs or digitate corymbs or 
they may be solitary (very rarely in Andropogon, more often and typically so in 
other genera of Andropogonece). According to the number of racemes these 
units or special inflorescences may be termed “ Monostachya ,” “ Distachya” and 
“ Polystachya” The peduncle carrying the racemes has, if they occur in pairs 
or corymbs, been called their “ common peduncle ” in contradistinction to the 
“ special peduncles,” that is the short barren bases of the racemes themselves. 
In this work they will be spoken of as “ peduncle ” and “ raceme-base ” or 
“base” respectively, but with this modification, that the term “base ” covers 
the whole of the axis of the raceme below the lowest fertile spikelet. The 
- bases carry therefore any homogam ous pairs that may be present, and often 
persist with them long after the fertile portion of the raceme has broken up. 
Finally, however, they too disintegrate, leaving the bare peduncle behind. 
Starting from the mono-, di- or polystachya as ultimate units, we find 
that the spatheate panicles represent a mixed inflorescence in which the 
primary branching is racemose, whilst the secondary is largely of a peculiar 
cymose type. The primary branches are everywhere arranged spirally and 
sometimes distichously on the main-axis of the panicle. The lowest one or two 
(rarely more) may start with an elongated internode and beyond that behave 
like the main-axis itself. In most cases, however, the cymose branching com- 
mences at the base of the panicle, each branch giving off near its base and to- 
ward one side of its abaxial face a secondary branch. This in turn does the same, 
but in such a way that its offsplit is nearer the other side, and so on, with the result 
that a succession of branches of a steadily increasing order is produced : these 
branches stand alternately on the right and the left side of a very short common 
compound axis or sympodium. Thus the whole forms a cincinnus or helicoid cyme 
which, owing to the convergence of its members towards the median plane, 
approaches a drepanium or sickle-cyme. These drepanoid cincinni are here briefly 
spoken of as “ tiers ” and their members as “ rays” The rays of the upper and 
peripheral tiers of decompound panicles, and very frequently of all or at least 
the majority of more sparingly divided panicles, are simple. But in the more 
proliferous lower or inner tiers the innermost or adaxial raj’- (rarely rays) divides 
again racemosely, and, if strong enough, also cymosely from the base of its 
branches, thus forming secondary tiers. These in the case of very complex 
panicles may repeat the process and produce tertiary tiers. Such branching rays 
are called “ compound rays” and tiers containing compound and simple rays 
are designated “mixed” Towards the apex of the main-axis of compound 
rays no division of the branches takes place, but as the branches behave like the 
simple rays of an ordinary tier, we are justified in speaking of them as the rays 
of 1-rayed tiers. Similarly the terminal raceme-corymbs or pairs, with their 
subtending modified leaf, conform so completely with simple rays that the 
description of the latter may be taken as applying to them. These simple rays, 
whether members of true or of “1-rayed” tiers or merely the subterminal 
internodes of racemosely branched axes, are thus the direct carriers of the syn- 
thetically ultimate units of a spatheate panicle. All the divisions of the 
spatheate panicle below the spatheole start with a dorsal prophyll. These 
prophylls may, when studied more thoroughly, afford additional distinctive 
characters, but, as known at present, they are of little help for the discrimina- 
tion of the species and have therefore been here generally passed over. 
It may finally be observed that this analysis holds good for all the Andro- 
pogonece with spatheate panicles, and may therefore be also applied to those 
which have already been dealt with in this volume. 
Key to the Sections. 
Joints and pedicels linear (sometimes slightly widened up- 
wards in sect. Eu- Andropogon) to finely filiform. 
Culms simple or very sparingly branched upwards ; 
racemes usually paired, dense ; joints and pedicels 
