Mnesithea

Veldkamp, J. F., Heidweiller, J., Klaauw, M. A. F. van der, Koning, R. de, Kraaijeveld, A. R., Sosef, M. S. M. & Strucker, R. C. W., 2013, A revision of Mnesithea (Gramineae - Rottboelliinae) in Malesia and Thailand, Blumea 58 (3), pp. 277-292 : 278

Mnesithea

Mnesithea Kunth (1829) 153; Veldk. et al. (1986) 281. — Thyridostachyum Nees (1836) 379, nom. superfl. — Rottboellia L.f. sect . Mnesithea Hook.f. (1896) 158. — Type: Mnesithea laevis (Retz.) Kunth.

Rottboellia L.f. sect . Apogonia Nutt. (1818) 83. — Apogonia (Nutt.) Fourn. (1886) 63. — Type: Rottboellia rugosa Nutt. [= Mnesithea rugosa (Nutt.) de Koning & Sosef ].

Coelorachis Brongn. (1831) 64, t. 14. — Rottboellia L.f. subg . Coelorachis Hack. (1889) 293, nom. superfl. — Rottboellia L.f. sect . Coelorachis Pilg. (1940) 139; Roberty (1960) 74 (‘ Coelorrhachis ’), isonym. — Type: The plate, ‘ Coelorhachis’ glandulosa Brongn. (= Mnesithea glandulosa Trin. ).

Diperium Desv. (1831a) 180, t. 9, f. 3; (1831b) 76. — Type: Diperium cylindricum Desv. (= Mnesithea laevis Retz. ).

[ Rytilix Raf.(1830) 219,nomen]. — Hackelochloa Kuntze (1891) 776. — Rytilix Raf.ex Hitchc.(1920) 279,nom.superfl. — Rottboellia L.f. sect . Hackelochloa (Kuntze) Roberty (1960) 79. — Type: Hackelochloa granularis (L.) Kuntze [= Mnesithea granularis (L.) de Koning & Sosef].

Ratzeburgia Kunth (1831) 487. — Rottboellia L.f. sect . Ratzeburgia (Kunth) Roberty (1960) 85. — Type: Ratzeburgia pulcherrima Kunth [= Mnesithea pulcherrima (Kunth) de Koning & Sosef ].

[ Aikinia Wall. (1832) 46, t. 273, nom. inval., non A.DC. (1830). — Type: Aikinia elegans Wall. , nom. inval., not accepted by author [= Mnesithea pulcherrima (Kunth) de Koning & Sosef ].

Rottboellia L.f. subg . Rottboelliastrum Hack. (1883) 310. — [ Cycloteria C.E.Hubb. (1931a) 459, nom. inval., in syn.; (1931b) 546,in nota]. — Syn- types: Mnesithea selloana Hack. , Mnesithea loricata Trin.

Heteropholis C.E.Hubb. (1956) t. 3548; de Koning et al.(1983) 137. — Type: Heteropholis sulcata (Stapf) C.E.Hubb. [= Mnesithea sulcata (Stapf) de Koning & Sosef ].

Rottboellia auct non L.f.

Annuals or perennials. Culms solid. Ligule collar-shaped, membranous. Inflorescence a compound, leafy panicle of spatheate spikes. Peduncles not articulating at base. Inflorescence axes articulating in joints, with 1– 2 sessile spikelets and 1 pedicelled one; joints at base with a remnant of a vascular bundle (‘knob’ or ‘elaiosome’) which fits into a cavity in the top of the joint below. Spikelets paired (1 sessile, 1 pedicelled and the topmost a triad: 1 sessile, 2 pedicelled) or in triads (2 sessile, 1 pedicelled, but in the topmost one 1 sessile and 2 pedicelled). Sessile spikelets more or less immersed in cavities in the joints, 2-flowered, awnless, the lower floret epaleate or paleate and sterile, the upper one bisexual. Lower glume indurated, smooth or sculptured, 4–13-nerved, apex winged or not; upper glume chartaceous, 3–15-nerved. Lower lemma membranous, upper one even thinner. Pedicel free or adnate to the joint. Pedicelled spikelets dorso-ventrally flattened, varying from a single small scale to 2-flowered with the upper floret bisexual ( M. glandulosa , M. granularis , M. rottboellioides ). × = 7 ( R. granularis (L.) Roberty), 9, 10.

Distribution — Pantropical with about 32 species, of which 10 species and 1 variety in Malesia and Thailand.

Eponymy — Named after the Greek herbalist, Mnesitheus Cyzicenus (from Cyzicus in Mysia, Turkey, c. 300 BC), but the work cited (πεΡΙ ’εδεΣΤΩν, On Diet) is by Mnesitheus Athenien- sis (of Athens, Greece, c. 400 BC).