Note on certain Seedlings of Cymbopogon raised 



and examined by Mr. J. F. Jowitt, librar 



BY fEW Y()»<K 



_ BOTAMr 



R- H- LOCK. „^^„^^ • 



TN October, 1908, Mr. Jowitt published in these Annals a 

 -*- note containmg a criticism of Dr. Stapf s nomenclature 

 of Cymbopogon nardus Rendle and C. confertiflorus Stapf. In 

 this note exception was taken to the inclusion of the variety 

 of citronella grass known locally as Maha-pengiri in the species 

 C. nardus, and Mr. Jowitt brought forward strong evidence to 

 show that this variety is more distinct from either C. nardus 

 or C. confertiflorus than these two aggregations of types are 

 from one another. 



In the same note Mr. Jowitt put forward the suggestion 

 that the variety Lena-batu-pengiri may be a hybrid between 

 Maha-pengiri and one of the many wild varieties of mana 

 grass included in C. confertiflorus. A full account of the 

 characteristics of Maha-pengiri and Lena-batu is given in the 

 note in question. 



In order if possible to throw further light upon the nature 

 of these varieties, Mr. Jowitt has at my suggestion raised and 

 examined a number of seedling plants derived from two strains 

 of Lena-batu-pengiri, which were gro-un on his experimental 

 plots at Craig estate, Bandarawela, at an elevation of 4,500 

 feet. The seeds were sown on January 7, 1909, and the 

 seedlings transplanted on October 21 in the same year. The 

 accompanying table shows the result of Mr. Jowitt's exami- 

 nation of all the plants, which flowered before the close of 

 1910. These amounted to 31 out of a total of 56. 



Mr. Jowitt writes that both Maha-pengiri and Lena-batu 

 flower freely at the elevation of Craig. That Lena-batu 

 ripens its seeds, sparsely however, is vouched for by the obser- 

 vations here recorded. Mr. Jowdtt cannot afiirm the same 

 of Maha-pengiri, for owing to accidents and climatic conditions 

 he has never succeeded in collecting the seed of this variety. 



Annals of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, Vol. V., Part III., Dec, 1911. 



