ODORIFEROUS GRASSES OF INDIA AND CEYLON. 119 



comes to describe the order Graminece in his Flora of British India, 

 now in course of being written, Sir J. D. Hooker will, with the 

 materials in hand, throw much light on the subject. 



The present contribution is intended as the description of an 

 Andropogon which I think is a new one ; and does not presume to 

 clear up the obscure points about the scented grssses which may 

 exist in India, for my knowledge of Botany in general is poor and 

 limited to a few tracts of the Bombay Presidency. 



Before I describe this Andropogon to you, let me briefly mention 

 those that are already more or less known. We find the following 

 growing wild or cultivated in different parts of India and in Ceylon, 

 and yielding aromatic oils and other scented products. 



1st. Andropogon Nardus, Linn. — This is a magnificent looking 

 grass, with leaves glaucous, large and attenuated at the end ; the 

 stem six feet high or even more, with a long drooping panicle 

 about two feet or more in length consisting of numerous panicled 

 branches. According to General Munro, the distinguishing features 

 of this grass are its rufous colour, short spikes, and narrow leaves. 

 This plant, which is said to grow wild in Ceylon, is also met with in 

 certain parts of the Madras Presidency, particularly in the South- 

 ern portions near Travancore, It is also cultivated in Ceylon and 

 Singapore, whence considerable quantities of the oil distilled from 

 it finds its way to the European markets, where it is known under 

 the name of Citronelle oil. (See a beautiful drawing by Trimen and 

 Bentley in their work on Medicinal Plants, p. 297.) 



2nd. Andropogon Citratus, DC. — This grass yields the Lemon 

 grass oil, or oil of verbena of commerce. In India it is found in 

 gardens, and appears to occur only in the cultivated state, 

 although it is stated that in Ceylon it may be seen growing wild 

 side by side with the first-mentioned species. The close resemblance 

 it bears to the former would seem, however, to suggest the idea that 

 it is only a cultivated variety of A. Nardus. 



The specimen on the table, collected in the garden of the Bishop 

 of Damaun, at Colaba, belongs to this plant, which is also shown in 

 plate 280 given by Wallich in his Plantar Asiatics Rariores, under 

 the name of Andropogon Schcmanthus. Andropogon Oitratus is 

 known to the natives of India under the name of OU-cha (green 

 tea), and is in fact, used at times for aromatizing this beverage and 

 flavouring curries. An infusion of the leaves is used as a diaphoretic 



