08 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1891. 



A. odoratus. Under this name I have described in my last paper 

 a tall grass with beautiful purple-coloured inflorescence, growing- in 

 various parts of this Presidency. It is very abundant in Lanowli in 

 the fields beyond the woods, and all along the railway line, as far 

 down as two or three stations on this side of Poona, where it is to be 

 seen at the end of the rainy season, and it is called there Gaiatt wedde. 

 As you must have noticed, it has a close affinity to A. intermedins 

 of R. Br. I believe it is owing to this affinity, that in a letter 

 dated September 2nd, 1890, written to Dr. Lisboa, Mr. Thiselton 

 Dyer, Director of Kew Gardens, says : — " The claims to specific dis- 

 tinctness of A. odoratus are rather small." But Professor Hackel, 

 who has, as stated before, written a monograph on Andrqpogonece, as 

 late as 1889, by far the best work we have on the subject, in a letter 

 written to Mr. Duthie, says : — " As to Andropogon odoratus, Lisb., 

 of which you sent me a specimen, I believe that it can be maintained 

 as a species, though the differences from A. intermediatus are slight 

 ones, consisting chiefly in the amount of hairiness on the rachis 

 and outer glumes. But the fact of the plant containing points of 

 aromatic oil, which A. intermediatus is almost devoid of, indicates a 

 true specific difference." The well-known botanist, Dr. Trimen, 

 Superintendent of the Gardens in Peradenyia, Ceylon, in a letter 

 written to Dr. Lisboa, says : — "I have to thank you for the specimens 

 of your grass, Andropogon. oeloratus, which is a very interesting plant. 

 So far as I can ascertain here, you are quite justified in describing 

 it as new. It is possible, however, that it may prove to be the 

 A. Kuntzeaniis, recently described in Hackel's monograph of the 

 Andropoganece, but his description does not quite fit it in all parti- 

 culars, nor does he mention it as being scented. It came from 

 Asirghar, Central India." 



I am glad that Professor Hackel and Dr. Trimen support the 

 view I had taken of the grass. The following characters led me to 

 think that it is distinct from A. intermedins. The leaves are com- 

 paratively short and broad, cordate at the base, scabrous and scented, 

 with long hairs, sparingly sprinkled here and there. Nodes, always 

 covered with long white hairs, the rachis and the spikelets being 

 also very hairy, and the whole plant, the leaves and inflorescence, 

 especially the latter, highly scented. 



