Andropogon.] clvii. gramine^: (Stapf). 
227 
smooth, internodes shorter than the sheaths. Leaf-sheaths thin, 
loose, soon slipping away from the culms, glabrous, smooth ; ligules 
membranous, broad-oblong, up to 1 lin. long, glabrous ; blades 
linear, tapering to a fine point, 2-5 in. by 1-1 \ lin., green, flaccid, 
loosely and shortly hairy from small tubercles, smooth except for 
the margins which are more or less scaberulous upwards, midrib 
relatively broad above, very prominent and rounded below ; sub- 
tending leaves spathaceous, thin, subherbaceous, glabrous, up to 
2J lin. long, at length convolute and narrow, mostly with herbaceous 
blades. Peduncles finely filiform, at length sometimes very shortly 
exserted. Racemes 2-nate, one sessile or subsessile, the other with a 
short slender base, 1-14 in. long, slender, rather dense, pale green, 
almost glabrous, conspicuously marked by the blackish stigmas ; 
joints slender, 1J lin. long, filiform, slightly thickened upwards, 
minutely scaberuious, sparingly and loosely ciliate, tips truncate ; 
pedicels very similar, slightly longer. Sessile spikelets heterogamous 
(except the lowest of the sessile raceme which is often imperfect), 
oblong, acute, 2§-2§ lin. long, greenish, darker upwards, glabrous ; 
callus obtuse, like its dense beard very short. Glumes equal ; lower 
shortly acuminate, minutely denticulate, slightly concave on the 
back, almost hyaline between the firmer sides, keels wingless, 
scaberulous, intracarinal nerves 2, green, close to each keel-nerve, 
and 1 or 2 short median below the hyaline acumen ; upper narrowly 
boat-shaped, acute, 3-nerved, with a fine bristle up to 2 lin. long 
from between the teeth, ciliolate. Lower floret reduced to a linear- 
oblong truncate ciliate 2-nerved hyaline valve, over 2 lin. long. 
Upper floret ^ or $ ; valve slightly shorter than the lower, gibbous 
at the middle and 2-fid beyond it, subchartaceous below, lobes 
linear-lanceolate, acute, ciliolate ; awn very fine, 5-8 lin. long, bent 
at and twisted below the middle ; valvule 0. Anthers lin. long 
or barren, quite empty and transparent, up to \ lin. long, on capillary 
filaments ; stigmas over 1 lin. long, almost black, exserted from 
the middle. Pedicelled spikelets 9 or $ , narrowly lanceolate- 
oblong, acute, glabrous, 2| lin. long ; lower glume submembranous, 
obscurely 2 -denticulate, with a terminal bristle up to 1 lin. long, 
wingless, indexed margins extremely narrow, intracarinal nerves 
about 7-9, very close, fine, the middle one more distinct ; upper 
glume somewhat shorter, acutely acuminate, aristulate, 3-nerved, 
ciliate ; valve of lower floret delicately hyaline, linear-oblong, trun- 
cate, 1| lin. long, faintly 2-nerved, ciliolate, of upper suppressed ; 
flower as in the sessile spikelet or $ , with anthers 1 lin. long. — 
Hack, in DO. Monogr. Phan. vi. 467 ; Durand & Schinz, Consp. PL 
Afr. v. 715. 
Nile Land. Abyssinia : on rocks near Jenausa, Schimper, 850 ! 
All spikelets, whether sessile or pedicelled, examined by me were function- 
ally ? , with minute barren anthers, Hackel, however, describes the sessile 
as § and the pedicelled as $ or 6 . 
