Notes

Perennial, 6-12 inches, stems green to reddish purple, rooting at the nodes below, thin and weak; spikelets green with yellow anthers, in spike-like racemes, rachis of which much bent. In association with Digitaria abyssinica Stapf, D.scalarum Chiov., Panicum calvum Stapf, Oplismenus hirtellus P.Beauv., Arthraxon quartinianus Nash, Acritochaete volkensii Pilger, Pennisetum glandestinum Hochst, etc. Notes on African Grasses, IX. Snowdenia, a new genus from Uganda. C.E.Hubbard: The only genus with which itshows any marked affinity is Acritochaete Pilger, which was originially described from specimens collected on Kilimanjaro by Volkens, but is now known to occur on Mount Aberdare in Kenya Colony and on Mount Elgon in Uganda. Snowdenia is a short grass with weak, decumbent, much-branched culms, rooting at the lower nodes and with all the branches bearing solitary, slender, spiciform racemes. It differs from Acritochaete, first in regard to the arrangements of its inflorescence, and secondly in the structure of its spikelets. On first examination the spikelets appear to be spirally arranged, but this is due to the twisting of the raceme-axis; they are really sub-secund and distichous. The peduncles of the racemes may be solitary, but more often there are two or three together from the uppermost node, whereas in Acritochaete the peduncles are always solitary and bear from one to three racemes. The new genus has the spikelets rather more dorsally compressed, quite glabrous and shortly awned, but they are similar in outline to those of Acritochaete, although slightly smaller. The lower glumes are very similar in both genera; the upper glumes are, however, very different. In Snowdenia the upper glume is reduced to a very small nerveless hyaline scale resemblingthe lower, whereas in Acritochaete it is lanceolate in outline, almost as long as the spikelet, prominently three-nerved, firm in texture and produced at the tip into a long, very fine, twisted awn. The lemma of the lower floret is more flattened on the back than in Pilger's genus, whilst in the dry state only three of the five nerves can be distinctly seen. The lemma of the upper floret bears a close resemblance to that of Acritochaete; it is thinly chartaceous and had thin membranaceous margins which just touch, folding loosely over the palea. The palea of the upper floret is very much reduced and only about half the length of the floret. It has broad flaps at the base, is very thinly membranous or almost hyaline in texture, keelless and nerveless, andloosely envelops the caryopsis which is more or less exposed at the tip. Snowdenia is also allied to Chloridion Stapf, but the digitate inflorescence and very much reduced spikelets of the latter at once distinguish it. In shade of bushes in short grass turf much frequented by cattle, sheep and goats, near the edge of bushes