ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW. 



U L L E T I N 



MISCELLANEOUS INFOBMATION. 



I -PASPALUM DILATATUM, AN AMERICAN 

 FODDER-GRASS. 



Paspalum dilatatum, Poir., commonly known as "Hairy- 

 flowered Paspalum," " Large water-grass," and, in Victoria, as 

 " Leichardt grass," is indigenous in Brazil, Uruguay, and the 

 Argentine Republic. According to Doell (Flora Bmsiliensis) 

 the plant has also been collected in Chile, but it is improbable 

 that it is native on that side of the Andes. It is Avidely 

 distributed in the Gulf States of North America, and is said to be 

 one of the commonest species in the prairie region of Louisiana. 

 It is found along ditch-sides and in other wet places in Tennessee 

 and the littoral States from South-eastern Virginia to Florida, and 

 westwards to Texas. Throughout this region, in which it is pro- 

 bably naturalised, it is a highly valued fodder-plant, and is widely 

 planted in favourable situations. 



Introduced into Australia by Baron F. von Mueller, its culti- 

 vation was commenced in the Richmond River district, New 

 South Wales, in 1892. Thence it has spread to Queensland, 

 Victoria, and Western Australia, and is now regarded as one 

 of the best fodder-grasses in the country. From the Wollongbar 

 Experimental Farm (Richmond River) seeds were sent to India, 

 and the grass has been grown, with but moderate success, in the 

 fuel and fodder reserves at Nagpur, though it promises to do well 

 in the plains of the Central Provinces. The Agricultural and Hor- 

 ticultural Society of India report (Anmml Report, 1900) that it 

 grows vigorously at Mussoorie, in spite of "intense cold.'' The 

 roots of a clump grown there measured over 3^ feet m length. In 

 the Annual Rep(yrt of the Superintendent of the Royal Botanic 

 Garden, Calcutta, for 1900-1901, occurs the following statement :- 



« The use as a f odder-grass of Paspalum dilatatuni, a native of 



America, which has proved very valuable in Australia owing to 



1375 Wt89 3/06 D^S 29 24020 A 



