229 



A. Nardus, van hiridus Hooker fil. ("Fl. Brit. Ind." vii. 206) dif- 

 lers from var. nilagiricus chiefly if not wholly, by its dark purplish- 

 brown spikes. 



A sub-species Cymhopogon hamatuhis, Hack. ("Mono, Androp." 

 606) is taken to be the A hamatidits, Nees (in Hook, and Arn. "Bot. 

 Beechey's Voy." 244), met with by various observers in several 

 places in China and in the Philippines. 



Sub-species marginatus var. Goringii, Hack. {loc. cit. 607 ; •' Bui. 

 Herb." Boiss. vii. 642, et ser. 3, 501 ; Patibin in "Act. Hort. Pet- 

 rop.," xix. 30, is taken as synonymous with A. Goringii, Steud. 

 (" Flor." xxxi. 22) and A. Schmmnthus, Miq. ("Ann. Mus. Bot. Lugd. 

 Bat." ii. 220 ; Franck. et Savat. " Enum. Ph. Jap." ii. 191)- It has 

 been found at various places in China, Luchu Archipelago, and 

 in Japan. 



WEST INDIAN CITRONELLA. 



The oils from these grasses (citronella and lemon-grass) show- 

 ing such marked differences from the East Indian, Ceylon, and Java 

 oils it became imjperative to learn something of them, and obtain 

 authentic and quite recent specimens. ' For this purpose the writer 

 described the requirement to Mr. Wm. Fawcett, Director of Public 

 Gardens and Plantations, Jamaica, and was kindly supplied by 

 him with fine specimens of both species. The citronella as com- 

 pared with the wild Maana grass of the Ceylon patanas, differs in 

 having wider leaves, longer spathes,and looser panicles; differences 

 which are probably due to climatic conditions and cultivation. 



LEMON GRASS. 



The large, coarse, glaucous grass commonly known by this 

 name is the Andropogon citratus of De CandoUe. It was founded 

 by him on a flowerless plant cultivated as a specimen in the Mont- 

 pellier Botanic Gardens. It is probably the plant figured and des- 

 cribed by Rumphius (" Herb. Amboinense," vi. t. 6, fig. 2). Wal- 

 lich figured it (" Plant. As. Rar." iii. t. 280) under the name A. 

 Schoenanthus, Linn. Hackel says, from the description, it may be 

 either A. Nardus or A. Schoenanthus, but describes the Ceylon variety 

 as A. citratus var. Thwaitesii, characterised by the spathes being 

 from one-half to twice as long as the peduncle, and having two 

 pairs of homogeneous spikelets and one heterogeneous in the long- 

 pedicelled spike. These characters are found constant by Henry 

 Trimen ("Handbook Flor. Ceylon," v. 246), and he finds the Cey- 

 lon plant has much narrower leaves than some Khasian growths. 



Ferguson ("Grasses Indigenous to Ceylon," 32, No. Il6) des- 

 cribes it as A. citratus, DC, cultivated for "lemon-grass oil." 

 Watt (" Diet, of Econ. Prod, of India," i. 242) cites for it A. Schoen- 

 anthus, Wall, which Hackel refers to A. Nardus var. grandis, and 

 says it is " largely cultivated in India, Ceylon, and the Eastern 

 Archipelago, rarely or never Jioivcriug;'" he adds that in Ceylon it is 

 called " Penguin." Dr. Trimen (in a MS. note found by Sir J. D. 

 Hooker) described it as bearing the name sera, " which is the Ma- 



