139. GRAMINEM. [2. Dendrogalamus. 



upper dorsally rounded eciliate. Lodicules or rare. Stamens 6, 

 filaments free. Ovary hairy above, often depressed, stigma usually 

 simple. Grain small, pericarp coriaceous or crustaceous. 



A. Spikelets hard, spiuescent, crowded in heads, which are inter- 



ruptedly spicate on the panicle-branches. Leaves narrow : — 

 Spkts. pubescent or hairj^ anthers apiculate .... 1. sfrlcfus. 

 Spkts. silkily hairy or hirsute, anthers obtuse .... va^r. sericeus. 



B. Spikelets in large soft con<?ested heads : — 



Leaves large broad, culms very large 2. Hamiltonii. 



1. D. strictus, yees. Buru-madh or mat", K., S. ; Salimbo, Saliabans, 

 Or. 



A gregarious, more or less csespitose bamboo with culms 20-50 ft. 

 high and 1-3" diam., the central cavity usually comparatively small, 

 sometimes 0. Lower stem-sheaths 3-12" oblong, top rounded or 

 waved, not or only slightly auricled, blade lanceolate not very dis- 

 tinctly differentiated on the outside, the striae passing continuously 

 into the sheath, on the inside with a very narrow ligule. Leaves 

 narrowly oblong slightly narrowed from the rounded base (where it 

 suddenly conti'acts into the short petiole) to the twisted subcuspidate 

 tip, pubescent beneath, nerves 3-6 each side of midrib, transverse 

 nervules reduced to pellucid dashes rather obscure when dry, sheath 

 striate hairy or glabrous. Spikelets •25--5" long forming globose 

 spinescent heads at intervals along the branchlets, fertile and smaller 

 sterile spkts. intermixed, empty glumes 2 or more ovate spinescent 

 or muticous, many-nerved, fig. gls. about 2 ovate spinescent and pubes- 

 cent at tip ; palea of lower (5 -7 -nerved between the ciliate keels, 

 anthers apiculate. 



The commonest wild bamboo in the province but confined to the hills where it 

 is sometimes gregarious to the exclusion of all else. Kymore Hills! Rajmahal 

 Hills ! Throughout the hill forests of Chota Nagpur, especially Porahat ! Puri 

 (Bhainsgot Hill, etc.) ! Angul (common in Durgapur forests especially) ! 

 Sambalpur, common ! It flowers nearly every year sporadically in Nov. 

 Deciduous in the hot season. 



A most useful bamboo and very 8troug*but the culms in Behar and Orissa are 

 not as solid as in dryer provinces and have not been marketable for lance-shafts. 

 The new shoots are eaten. It is easily raised from seed. The best culms are 

 always found where the bamljoos have been least cut. 



Var. sericeus. Syn. D. sericeus, Munro (sp.). 



Characters of the type but spikelets silkily hairy or hirsute, anther- 

 tips obtuse. 



Hazaribagh, summit of Parasnath 4000 ft. J.D.H., etc. 



The heads are only •6-"7" diam. and those of D. strictus usually 1'2" but smaller 

 heads are very often found in strictus and the pubescence is also variable. 



2. D. Hamiltonii, Nees ct- Am. 



A very large bamboo with stems up to 80 ft. high and 4-7" diam. 

 much branched above and often rather straggling, the nodes often 

 with rootlets or root-scars, internodes 12-20" long with relatively 

 thin walls only -5" thick and large lumen. Stem sheaths glabrous 

 or nearly so, truncate with acute auricles, blade lanceolate acute with 

 a small glabrous triangular point on each side, often 12" long with 

 incurved margin and black bristles at base within. Leaves large or 



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