606 
CXIII. GRAMINE2E 
cluster of 2 or 3 on the few and distant branches of a narrow, erect 
panicle ; joints of the spikes and the spikelet-stalks fringed with 
short, white hairs. Sessile spikelets \ in., pubescent, lowest one or 
two usually containing only a male or a rudimentary flower ; lowest 
empty glume flat-backed, strongly 2-keeled, 2-pointed ; second or 
intermediate empty glume boat-shaped ; flowering glume narrow, 
bifid, awn two or three times the length of the spikelet. (Fig. 192.) 
Simla, common. — W. Himalaya, 4000-9000 ft. 
14. Andropogon Gidarba, Buch.-Ham. ; FI. Br. Ind. vii. 208. 
Characters of A. distans except that the leaves are broader and the 
branches of the panicle closer, each bearing 2 or several sheathing 
bracts with their enclosed spikes. Spikes \-l in. Sessile spike- 
lets about \ in. ; lowest empty glume having a deep impression 
on the lower half of the back. 
Simla.— W. Himalaya, 7000-8000 ft. 
20. ANTHISTIRIA. Supposed to be from the Greek anthistemi, 
to withstand or oppose, referring to the stiff, tough stems. — Warm 
regions of the Old World, and especially characteristic in Australian 
grass vegetation. 
Perennial ; stems leafy, erect, 1-4 ft. Leaves long, narrow, 
flat. Ligule short, oblong. Spikelets 7 or 9 in a spike, 1-flowered, 
the lower 4 or 6 in pairs, three terminal ; spikes in clusters of 2-8, 
each spike and each cluster more or less sheathed in a spathe-like, 
long -pointed bract, the clusters disposed on the branches of a 
panicle ; only 1 or 2, sometimes 3 spikelets in a spike fertile. Fertile 
spikelets : empty glumes 3, the lowest prolonged downwards in a 
hard, curved tip, the second or intermediate nearly equal, the upper 
much smaller, membranous ; flowering glume narrow, membranous, 
awned or awnless, containing a 2-sexual flower. Stamens 3. 
Styles distinct, fringed. Grain free within the hardened, persistent 
glumes. Barren spikelets : empty glumes 2 ; flowering glume 1, 
containing a male or a rudimentary flower or wanting. 
Spikes usually bearing 7 spikelets. Rhachis hairy. Fertile 
spikelet 1, awned 1. A. imberbis. 
Spikes usually bearing 9 spikelets. Rhachis glabrous. Fertile 
spikelets 2 or 3, awnless . . . . . . . 2. A. anathera. 
1. Anthistiria imberbis, Betz. ; FI. Br. Ind. vii. 211. Stems 
2-3 ft. Leaves 3-1 2 in. Clusters of flower-spikes fan-shaped ; 
sheathing-bract 1^-3^ in. Spikes 2-6 in a cluster, crowded ; 
rhachis very short, densely hairy ; sheathing-bract J-l in. Spike- 
lets usually 7 in a spike, thinly hairy ; the 4 lower ^ in., sessile 
round the base of the rhachis, barren ; terminal sessile spikelet \ 
in., fertile, flowering glume long-awned ; terminal stalked spike- 
lets \ in., long-pointed, barren. 
