Andropogon .] clvji. gkamine^j (Stapf). 
237 
young ; ligules reduced to a ciliate rim ; blades linear, very acute, 
passing almost imperceptibly into the sheath, tightly folded or 
opening out upwards, up to 6 or sometimes 8 in. long, 1-3 lin. wide 
(unfolded), very firm, rigid, pale green or subglaucous, turning 
russet, almost villous at the junction of the blade, otherwise 
sparingly hairy or at length quite glabrous, smooth, margins scaber- 
ulous, midrib compressed downwards into a narrow acute keel, up 
to almost 1 lin. high, lateral nerves numerous, close, slightly raised ; 
subtending leaf with a spathaceous subherbaceous early convolute 
sheath, up to 5 lin. long, and a short herbaceous blade. Peduncle 
stoutly filiform, hairy above with truncate bearded tips. Inflores- 
cence a true more or less fastigiate panicle, 2-3 in. long ; common 
axis up to 1 in. long, filiform, grey, hairy to villous ; basal branches 
2-nate to sub-3-nate, all the branches representing sessile, or the 
lowest bare-based (base up to 5 lin. long) racemes. Racemes about 5, 
very lax and flexuous, rich purple, 1-2 in. long ; joints and pedicels 
very similar, filiform, about 2j lin. long, equally and shortly ciliate 
on both sides, cilia silvery, J-f lin. long. Sessile spikelets nor- 
mally linear and acuminate in front view, 3-3 \ lin. long, glabrous, 
rich or brownish violet ; callus short, obtuse, bearded from the very 
base, beard silvery, J-f lin. long. Glumes equal, the lower charta- 
ceous, more or less concave, minutely 2-denticulate, keels acute and 
very finely scaberulous upwards, intracarinal nerves 1 or 2, faint, very 
slightly raised in the upper part ; upper narrowly boat-shaped, very 
gently curved on the back, subchartaceous, 3-nerved, mucronulate, 
ciliolate. Lower floret reduced to a narrow oblong obtuse 2-nerved 
sub-eciliate valve, 2J lin. long. Upper floret functionally $ : valve 
reduced to a chartaceous sublinear stipe, produced into delicate 
hairlike lobes, its body If lin. long, glabrous ; awn about 5 lin. long, 
kneed at and twisted below the middle, the bristle usually flexuous 
and often reflexed ; valvule 0. Anthers reduced to very minute 
empty 2-lobed bodies on short hair -like filaments. Pedicelled spike- 
let lanceolate, acute, 3J-4J lin. long, violet, glabrous ; glumes equal, 
sub membranous, very similar, 5-nerved, with the middle nerve more 
marked and distant from the paired marginal nerves ; valve of lower 
floret oblanceolate, 1 -nerved, sub-eciliate, hyaline, as long as the 
glumes; of upper floret very narrow, linear, up to lj lin. long, 
nerveless or obscurely 1 -nerved or 0 ; anthers 2J lin. long ; pistil 0. 
-f" Mozambique Distr. German East Africa : Kymbila ; north of Lake Nyasa, 
in mountain meadows, 6550-7250 ft., Stolz , 2281 ! 
A very beautiful grass on account of its large violet spikelets. All the 
specimens seen have panicles which are to some extent anomalous in that 
the sessile spikelets at some of the nodes are exactly like the pedicelled 
spikelet in shape and sex, or are reduced and barren or altogether absent. 
21. A. laxatus, Stapf. Perennial, compactly csespitose, with strong 
root -fibres. Culms up to 2 ft. high, terete, somewhat compressed 
