139. GRAMINE.E. [Oxytenanthera. 



lower 2-sexual upper male with 2-3 uppermost imperfect, keels of 

 palea ciliate, anthers yellow obtuse -2" long. 



l<]ssentially a bamboo of inoi^^t valleys, foi-mii\^ flense gresraiious crops in the 

 vicinity of some rivers, often planted in the open. Singbhum, wild along ravines ! 

 Very common in some of the Orissa States (e./^. Athmallik) ! Pnri (common in 

 Aran.g and other forests) ! Angul, very common, often covering large areas ! 



It flowers more or less gregariously but those in the immediate vicinity of 

 streams will sometimes flower some years after the ones in less favourable localities. 

 It flowered and seeded in Puri and Angul from 1896-1899 and ae-ain in 1913-1915. 

 In the former case the larger better liamboos in the damper localities are said not 

 to have flowered ; it was these however w-hich flowered in the latter period. 



There are three separate varieties recorded by Mr. Gamble .- — 



<i, arundinacea prooer, rhachis of infl. glabrous hard shining, spikelets few long 

 G-12-ttd., rhachilla evident hirsute, leaves smooth, sheath hairy. 



/3. spinosa, rhachis striate hard not shinino-, spikelets many shorter 4-6-fld., 

 rhachilla obscure, leaves glabrous above, hairy beneath, sheath \m\vy then 

 subglabx-ous. 



7, orientalis, rhachis glaucous-green angled almost soft, spkts. membranous 5-8- 

 fld., leaf-sheath hairy with white cilia, petiole hairy. 



A Khurda (Puri) specimen collected in 1893 (perhaps one of the first to flower in 

 the 1896 flowering) is named by Gamble xpinosa. but the rhachilla is very evident 

 with swollen ciliate nodes, the spkts. are few-fld., the leaf sheaths have long 

 bristles and are hairy. 



No specimens are to hand of the later flowering in Angul. 



The usefulness of this bamboo is marred by the terril)le cost of extraction due to 

 the interlacing thorny branches which also rendei* it one of the worst forms of 

 forest to cross after dusk that I know of. 



4. OXYTENANTHERA, Miinw. 



Unarmed bamboos, sometimes scandeut, with a stout usually creep- 

 ing and stoloniferous rootstock. Leaves large or small, shortly petioled. 

 Panicle large, branches with few or many heads of whorled or capitate 

 spikelets. Spikelets elongate, cylindric or conical, 1-3 -fid. : terminal 

 fl. usually fertile ; empty glumes 1-3 ; fl. gls. elongate, mucronate. 

 Palea of lower fls. 2-keeled, of uppermost convolute, keel or obscure. 

 Lodicules 0. Stamens 6, filaments connate into a short thick at 

 length elongate membranous tube. Ovary ovoid, style slender, 

 stigmas 1-3 more or less plumose. Grain elongate, beaked, smooth. 



As in most other of the bamboos the description of the inflorescence has been 

 taken almost verbatim from Gamble in the Flora of Brit hh Jwrf/a. which again is 

 abbreviated from his work in the Annals of The Calcutta Botanic Gardens. 



1. 0. nigrociliata, Munro. Bolanji, Or. 



Stems 30-40 ft. high, -5-2" diam., sometimes striped with yellow, 

 internodes scabrous. Stem-sheaths about 6"-10" long slightly nar- 

 rowed to the truncate tip, auricles small oval or oblong rounded 

 ei'ect glabrous, when young hairy, blade lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate 

 deciduous on old culms. Leaves 6-12" by 1-2", lanceolate, tip subu- 

 late often twisted, base unequal and rounded then suddenly narrowed 

 to the short petiole, or more or less cuneate, young pubescent beneath, 

 margins scabro-ciliate towards base or smooth, nerves 9-12 each side 

 of midib : sheath stiff, at first hairy, margins ciliate, auricles rounded 

 naked. Panicle large, compressed. Spikelets 1", gls. fringed with 

 black or purple cilia, many-nerved, empty gls. 2-3-ovate acute and 

 mucronate, flg. gls. 2-3 perfect and a terminal lanceolate -acuminate 



951 



