•210 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1S91. 



A. Bladhii, Retz obs. 11. 27. A. obtusus. Nees in Hook, and 

 Arn. Beechys voy. 243, exchcs. syn. Roxb. 



It it said to be a variety of the last mentioned species of Andropogon, 

 and is distinguished from it by the outer glumes being 3-dentate and 

 the spikelets being loose and more remote from each other. It is 

 named Loari in Bengal. Found all over the Presidency ; Roxburgh 

 says "It is a native of hedges and roadsides, but chiefly of old 

 pasture ground." 



Like A. annulatm, Forsk., it is a good fodder grass. 



A. laniger, Desf. Fl. Atl. II. 379, A. eriophorus, Willd. Sp. 

 IV. 910, A. Olwieri, Bois. Diagn. PL Or. V. 76. 



Ver. Iaramkush, Azkhir, Khari, Qaridel, Ritna, Dabsulo, Khair. 



It is rare in the Bombay Presidency ; grows in Baroda, Sind, 

 North Kanara and the Deccan. Also in the Punjab, Rajputana, aud 

 parts of the N.-W. Provinces, and in all arid mountainous places 

 such as Afghanistan, Himalaya Occid., Tibet, Morocco, Arabia, aud 

 Persia. 



It is not esteemed as a good fodder ; eaten only when young aud 

 green by cattle, to whose milk it imparts its scent. 



" This is one of the sweet-scented grasses, the roots of which are 

 sometimes used like Khas kJias in the manufacture of tatties. It is 

 common on uncultivated land in Sindh, the Punjab, Rajputana, and 

 parts of the N.-W. Provinces; it is also recorded from Tibet at an 

 elevation of 11,000 feet. As a fodder grass it does not rank high in 

 reo-ard to its nutritive qualities. It is, however, largely made use of 

 by cattle when it is young and tender. Its scent is said to affect the 

 flavour of the milk. It is often stacked, and forms a useful supply in 

 times of scarcity. Mr. Coldstream says that it will keep good in 

 stack for upwards of 10 or 12 years. For horses it is not to be 

 recommended. Mr. J. B. Hallen tells me that the natives of Chattar 

 in Baluchistan state that the cattle eat it with impunity, but that 

 horses suffer from colic after feeding on it. Col. Strong also 

 mentions the same circumstance. In the Jhang Settlement Report it 

 is stated that the Khair grass grows in hollows where water collects, 

 and seems to prefer kaMdr ; that cows graze upon it if hard pressed, 

 but not otherwise ; also that the housewives use wisps of this 

 crass to clean out ws-vls used for churning and holding milk A 



