BOMBAY GRASSES 



Found m Guzerai and the Deccan. Makes excellent fodder for 

 cattle and horses, and is believed to be useful in increasing the milk 

 of cows. In certain parts of India it is credited with having the 

 property of giving a semi-intoxicating effc-t to the milk of buffaloes 

 grazing on it. 



P. lanuginosum, Hochst. Rich. Fl. Abyss. II. 385. 



Found in the Deccan and Guzerat, 



P. aweum, Link. Hort. I. 215; Dalz. and Gibs. Bo. Fl. p. 294. 



Vern. Mooltom. 



This grass has not been seen by me, though the authors of the 

 Bombay Flora state it to be ''common all over the Deccan and almost 

 unknown to botanists." 



P. typhoidemn, Rich, in Pers. Syn. 72; Pennicillaria spicata, Willd. ; 

 Ilokus spicatus, Linn.; Dalz and Gib. Bo. Fl., Suppl. 99. 



Vern. Bafri, 



Figured in Church's " Food Grains of India,'' and in " Field and 

 Oar den Crops of N.-W. Provinces." 



Bajri is too well-known a grain to require description. It forms 

 the staple article of food of the poorer classes in the Deccan, Khan- 

 deish and Guzerat. It is also used in the Koncan on account of its 

 being cheaper than rice which is exported. It is cultivated in 

 various parts of India and Ceylon. The stalks and leaves are used 

 as fodder. 



*>pinifex, Linn. 



S. squarrosus, Linn., Kunth. Enum., Plant I. 175. 



Vern. Saranto (Goa name). 



Common along the Coast; also in Ceylon and Hongkong. Mr, 

 Ferguson says: — "This is one of our most remarkable grasses, form- 

 ing in some places belts along the sea-shore several miles in length. 

 It is a truly littoral plant, and an excellent sand-binding one. 

 When burnt it makes a crackling noise like salt thrown in the fire. 

 When the seed is ripe, the large spherical head of the seed-bearing 

 plant is detached and blown about the sands by the wind, and is 

 supposed to illustrate in a remarkable manner 'the rolling thing 

 before the whirlwind' of Isaiah xvii. 13, and ' tin- wheel before the 

 wind' of Psalm Ixxxiii. 1'5." 

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