(- 



I 



i 



r 



indropogon.] CLixiii. qbamine^. (J. D. Hooker.) 183 



jrffier prevalent forms, between which transitions occur, both vary lU habit and in 

 "!!^^ ^^ned mucronate or awnless spikelets ; they are a. genuinusj of which 

 ^i«weus, Roxb., may be regarded as the type with sessile spikelets f-i in. long, it is 

 ^m cai. n. 8778 A. B. C. And b. efusus, with sessile spikelets } nearly i in., it 



+--^- t 



rol>?i "^^ ^°^*^H^^. 5ro#. PL iu^i^ i. 88 ; annual, tall, usually very 

 oDust, panicle decompound usually thyrsiforra with crowded whorls of 

 J^eci branches and branchlets and spikes rarely subeffuse, rachis of spike 

 u^-^!^n^I •'°-?^' ^^^'^ forcibly separated leaving a ragged scar at the tip, 

 CiJ 'pikelets usually neuter, pedicels short. Boxb. FL Ind. i. 273 ; 

 ™* iSBMTO m. i. 581 ; Steud. Syn. Gram. 393. A. Sorghum, .lubsp. 

 1(U7 A / ;.-^°"°S'^- -^wfl^r-ojj. 505, Holcus Sorghum, Linn. Sp. Fl. 

 Fl V-^fi n ," ^^'"'*- "• 2, t. 80 ; Lamk. Encycl. t. 838 ; Qrah. Cat. Bomb. 

 ^^l^^^Dalz. & Gibs. Bomb. Fl. Suppl. 99. 



Aiced'lnt?'^!^ throughout the warmer parts of Europe, Asia and Africa.— latro- 



: tnd t"'"'''^' Australia, &c. 



ptnt OfVK ^^^P^^^^ I I'ave alluded to ^. Sorghum as the cultivated form of that 



"'ne' and t-h -^ ^«tory of its culture nothing is recorded, it having no Sanskrit 



^e East V^l^ "° evidence of its being known to the ancients of Europe or 



'•"wt and K V* "^ '*^ ^^' ^*^^ *^°*"™^ appear to be much less fixed than those of 



^ent origin Tw' "^''^^ ^'^^^ ^'«« *o ♦^'^e suspicion that they are of comparatively 



•"■neorallnf \^^ «athors have endeavoured to limit by botanical characters 



"*! could n f ^°°*» varieties, and more have applied specific names to forms 



''^andanov T' °^ ^'** "°*^ ^H to identify with known ones. The result is a 



f fodacts of T r"f ! ^"'^ ''^ inextricable synonymy. Watt's " Diet, of Economic 



•^"der aamei H f i. ^ ^^^eated in great detail the culture of many varieties, but 



*'««an BtahliT ^l^ ^^''*^^^ °^ »o significance. Hackel has essayed to clean this 



S^um of »K?°A"^^ devoted 15 pages of his Monograph to the forms of ^. 



""itorious \h \ \^ <^«scribe8 37 varieties and 12 subvarieties. His earnest and 



"" Indian S^ ^"^ '^^ ^reat advantage of approximately harmonising most of 



!'" on>it8 chli'?^ '''^'^ synonyms, and I therefore give a precis of it. It. h"^^- 



'""»«. hag sf,^™1^" °f tlie glumes which Dr. Stapf, in working up the African 



"^■^ 'faose S • ^?*^ '"^^'^^ characters appear to be of far more importance 



.'*° "^'assiacat Ir, °? ^ Hackel. Unfortunately it is not possible to combine the 



f ^e descrinti ' / *^® obvious reason that Stapf's characters have been neglected 



, *» case «,^^'.v P''^^'o^s investigators, and it remains for the Indian botanists 



&"^. to rem J! !u- * °^ ^^'^riisetum typhoideum, and indeed many other cultivated 



*Uo»:.^ "'* this reproach to Indian botany, Hackel* s Indian varieties are as 



S^'stooS?'' ^f'^- ^- <^- 510 ; panicle lax ovate-oblong. rachis elongate, 

 E*'" *hite.!fA ^' '^'""'^ spikelets ovate awnless, gl. I keeled in the upper thud, 



^^.brS!"i_^^^^l•c•511 characters of var. Roxhurghii, but panicle more 



^>irtt«i;it^ ^accharatus, iJoxb. EL Ind. i. 271; Da^^. ^ Oibs. FL Suj.pl 



H'^'Sr I'sf "'^' spikelets rroa'direIli"ptic,"gI.'''rhIiry''in the* upper 



S'^' 'Pikefeul' Jn^^l^- '• *=• 515 ; panicle dense, branches erect or erecto-pntent, 

 Qr' HhuS t,?" °^''''°»** O'- subglobose obtuse awned; A. Sorghum Ro^b. I.e. 



'^^^ 8orgh;^7j.23, F^id ^. a^^a. Crops. 25. t. 6, i'odrf. Grass. N. Ind. 41 ; 



S "'^Ccolf ?™- ^"°db. Getreit. i. 314 ; very robust, panicle drooping 

 fcnt "P'teletsi!! ' •"'"^i« ^nd appressed branches short, suberect ^ubvillous 

 "**'? «lkil, „ii^~^ '°- l^roadly obovoid or rhomboid obtuse awned wh.tish 



J viilous or glabreacent dorsally, grain globose white with • black 



. : "^.".v ■ . 







