Studies in the Gramineae: XXVI

Author(s): W. D. Clayton
Source: Kew Bulletin, Vol. 27, No. 1 (1972), pp. 151-153+iii
Published by: Springer on behalf of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4117878
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 Studies in the Gramineae: XXVI*

W. D. CLAYTON

Summary. Four new names or new combinations are proposed: Eragrostis ambleia W. D.
Clayton, E. botryodes W. D. Clayton, Leptothrium senegalense (Kunth) W. D. Clayton, Tragus
heptaneuron W. D. Clayton.

ZOYSIEAE

Leptothrium senegalense (Kunth) W. D. Clayton, comb. nov.

Latipes senegalensis Kunth, Rev. Gram. I: 261 (1830).
The tribe Zoysieae includes three monotypic genera in which the spikelets,
either solitary or paired, are persistent on a flattened cuneate peduncle, and
fall with it at maturity.
The commonest species is Latipes senegalensis Kunth, which is distributed
from Senegal to Pakistan. The spikelets are mostly paired (but sometimes
solitary), and the glumes are heavily embossed and thickened with spinose
tubercles. The lower glume stands slightly apart from the rest of the spikelet,
the floret being tightly enfolded within the upper glume, and in one spikelet
from each pair the lower glume is modified into a long flat recurved tail
without tubercles. In Leptothrium rigidum Kunth (1829), from the West
Indies and Colombia, the spikelets are solitary, but of similar structure with
the lower glume smooth, caudate and standing apart from the rest of the
spikelet. The chief difference is that the upper glume is also elongated and
smooth, looking very unlike the sculptured oblong glume with a beaked tip
found in Latipes. However, the sculpturing, size and shape of the glumes in
Latipes senegalensis is rather variable, and in a few unusual specimens from
the Somali Republic the upper glumes are as smooth and elongated as the
lower glumes. They clearly form one extreme of the range of variation of L.
senegalensis (at the other extreme both spikelets in a pair are alike, with the
lower glumes ecaudate and tuberculate), but their spikelet structure is
almost exactly that of Leptothrium rigidum. It can scarcely be doubted that the
two species are congeneric.
The third member of this alliance is Lopholepis ornithocephala (Hook.)
Steud. from India and Ceylon. Here the lower glume is of an extraordinary
shape and, unlike the preceding species, it embraces the rest of the spikelet.
The continued recognition of this species as a distinct genus is fully justified.

Tragus heptaneuron W. D. Clayton, sp. nov. affinis T. racemoso (L.) All.,

sed spiculis geminatis sine rhachidi distincta differt.

Gramen annuum, laxe caespitosum; culmi 12-3o cm. alti, erecti vel
adscendentes. Foliorum laminae planae, 1-5 cm. longae et i 5-4 mm. latae,
a basi ad apicem sensim angustatae, marginibus pectinato-ciliatae.
Inflorescentia spiciformis, 3-9 cm. longa, cylindrica; spiculae geminatae sub-
aequales paullo hiantes, inter se sine rhachidis internodio distincto. Spiculae

* Continued from Kew Bulletin 23: 254 (I97I).

151

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 152 KEW BULLETIN VOL. 27(I)
uniflorae, lanceolatae, 3-3'5 mm. longae; gluma inferior brevissima (o02-
0 -3 mm. longa), triangularis, hyalina; gluma superior spiculam aequans,
lanceolata, manifeste rigideque 7-nervis, secus nervos serie aculeorum
uncinatorum armata; lemma anguste ovatum, 2-2.5 mm. longum, 3-nerve,
puberulum, acuminatum; palea hyalina, lemmate paullo brevior; antherae
tres, o.4-o.6 mm. longae; caryopsis ellipsoidea, I12-1-6 mm. longa, leviter
dorsaliter applanata.

SOMALI REPUBLIC. Belese Cogani, sandy saline soils in spaced Acacia

tortilis and Salsola dendroides, 9 Dec. 1954, Hemming 424!
KENYA. Dandu, sand, 3 May 1952, Gillett 13019! Mariakani, open glades
in Combretum bush, 14 Nov. 1961, Bogdan 5333! Kurawa, Garsen, sandy places
on black clay soil, grassland with scattered Dobera, Acacia zanzibarica and
Hyphaene, 20 Sept. 1961, Polhill & Paulo 515! Samburu, 13 Nov. 1952,
Bogdan 3619! (holotype, K). Taru, 3 Aug. 1922, Walters 161!
Tragus heptaneuron resembles T. biflorus (Roxb.) Schult., but this Indian
species has a strictly 5-nerved upper glume, and a characteristic prostrate
radiately spreading habit.
The 7-nerved upper glume is shared with T. racemosus (L.) All., a species
from the Mediterranean region and South Africa. In T. racemosus the
clusters comprise 2-4 spikelets borne on a brief rhachis and separated from
one another by distinct internodes, the rhachis itself being prolonged and
bearing a further 1-2 reduced or rudimentary spikelets. This may be
compared with T. heptaneuron in which the spikelets are strictly paired, with
neither a distinct separating internode nor rhachis prolongation.
It is readily distinguished from the common African species T. berteronianus
Schult. The latter has clusters of two spikelets, of which the upper is smaller
and borne upon a distinct internode, the upper glume is 5-nerved, and the
prickles are usually bulbous below.

ERAGROSTIDEAE

Eragrostis ambleia W. D. Clayton, sp. nov., affinis E. asperae (Jacq.) Nees

sed panicula rigidiore haud tremula et antheris majoribus differt.
Gramen annuum; culmi 30-90 cm. alti, erecti. Foliorum laminae planae,
usque 30 cm. longae et 2-4 mm. latae, acuminatae. Panicula elliptica,
15-25 cm. longa, ramis rigidis horizontaliter patentibus, in axillis barbata;
spiculae in pedicellis rigidis brevibus suffultae, et saepejuxta ramos primarios
laxe aggregatae. Spiculae 7-I5-floratae, lineares, 4-10 mm. longae et I 5-2
mm. latae, pallidae vel purpurascentes, rhachilla fragili ab apice decidenti;
gluma inferior lanceolata, 1.5-1.7 mm. longa, acuta, ea superior anguste
ovata, 1-5-2 mm. longa, subacuta vel obtusa; lemmata late oblongo-
elliptica, I1 6-2 mm. longa, membranacea, valde truncata; palea carinis
scabridis; antherae 3, 0-5-0-7 mm. longae; caryopsis subglobosa vel late
ellipsoidea, 0-5-0-6 mm. longa.
KENYA. Northern Frontier District: Wajir, Commiphora woodland on red
sand, 13 May I960, Pratt MS 628! Kitui District: Ngamba, 20 Jan. I953,
L. C. Edwards 237! Galole, Makin EAH 14669! & EAH 14670! Tana River
District: Garsen, dry dense thorn scrub on sandy soil, 16 Sept. 1958, Hacker
161B! (holotype, EAH).

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 STUDIES IN THE GRAMINEAE: XXVI 153

The spikelets of E. ambleia closely resemble those of E. aspera in their mode

of abcission, their broadly truncate lemmas and their scabrid palea keels.
A notable feature of E. aspera is the diffuse panicle with its copious spikelets
trembling on slender pedicels. These characters are altogether lacking in
E. ambleia, whose panicle is rather stiffly branched, with a tendency for the
slightly larger and less abundant spikelets to aggregate loosely about the
primary branches.

Eragrostis botryodes W. D. Clayton, sp. nov.

E. atrovirens (Desf.) Steud. var. congesta Robyns & Tournay in Bull. Jard.
Bot. Brux. 25: 243 (1955). Type: Congo, Kivu, Ruthshuru to Lulenga,
Scaetta 1462 (K, isotype!).
Eragrostis atrovirens belongs to a cluster of intergrading species which include
E. inamoena K. Schum., E. chalarothyrsos C. E. Hubbard, E. barteri C. E.
Hubbard and E. friesii Pilger. Variety congesta is at least as distinct as these
species. Moreover its relationship is probably closer to E. paniciformis (A.Br.)
Steud. than to E. atrovirens. It is unsatisfactory to continue treating it as a
subordinate taxon, and it is best accorded a rank equal to that of other
members of the cluster.

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 THE SEPARATE NUMBERS OF THIS VOLUME

WERE PUBLISHED AS FOLLOWS:

No. I Pp. 1-216 I7th August 1972 ?4'53

No. 2 Pp. 217-386 23rd October 1972 ?k4'97
No. 3 Pp. 387-586 I5th December I972 ?6o05

CORRECTIONS

Page 151, line I for 'XXVI' read 'XXVII'

Page I5I, footnote for '23: 254 (1971)' read '26: 123 (1971)'
Page 331, line I for 'XXVII' read 'XXVIII'
Page 579, line 14 for 'Castillejo' read 'Castilleja'

iii

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