212 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1891. 



A. nardoides, Nccs, Fl. Afr. Austr. 116 ; Dalz. and Gibs. Bomb. FL 302, 

 A. Calamus aromaticus, Royl. Must. Him. Bot. 97. 



Ver. Rosa, Rosha, Rose ; Ginger grass of Europeans, very common 

 all over India, Australia, Ceylon, China, Macao, and Africa. 



In this Presidency it ascends as high as Panchgunny, rare on the 

 *op of Mahablcshwar. Of all the scented Andropogons, this is the 

 best known, and an aromatic oil, called Rosha oil, is distilled from it 

 at Khandeish. The cattle cat it, especially when young, the scent of 

 which is said to be imparted to the milk. The dry grass is used by 

 natives for thatching the roofs of their huts, and occasionally for 

 making tatties. It appears from the Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. 12, that 

 in Khandeish people distinguish two varieties, one with bluish and 

 the other with white flowers. The oil produced from the first is of a 

 green colour and is called Sophia, that from the other is white, and is 

 called Motia. It is stated by Mrs. Lisboa in her paper read at the 

 Bombay Natural History Society's Meeting held on 7th August, 1889, 

 that the same plant bears infloresence bluish, white, and red at differ- 

 ent stages of its growth, and that the colour and density of its oil 

 may vary according to the process of distillation employed or accord- 

 ing to the age at which the plant is cut and used. Dr. Dymock says 

 that a large quantity (above 40,000 lbs.) of the Rosha oil is annually 

 exported from Bombay to Red Sea Ports and to Europe. It is much 

 used by Arabs and Turks as a hair oil, and by people of this country 

 in rheumatism. But the most remarkable use made of this oil is 

 that of adulterating A Mar of roses in European Turkey. The Bombay 

 dealers know nothing of its thus being employed to adulterate Altar 

 of roses. In India sandal wood oil is used for the purpose. Sec 

 Dr. Dymock's "Vegetable Materia Medica," and Mrs. Lisboa's paper 

 above alluded to. 



Chrysopogon. 



C. Grt/lls, Trm. Fundam., 188. 



This presents several varieties ; I have seen only the variety kno'W n 

 as C.glabratus, Trin. in Mem. Ac. Pctursb., A. glabrats, and A. Roy- 

 luinus, Steud. Syn. PL Glum. 395 and 397. I received specim 

 from N. Kanara sent by Mr. Talbot. It is reckoned to be a good 

 fodder in Australia* 



