o4. Sacchabum.] 139. GRAMINEJE. 



of "7", callus hairs only llSh times as long as spkt. ; and (3) an intermediate form, 

 the loam form. 



Used for thatchingr and brooms, and the panicle for decorating the hair at the 

 Kol dances. The long callus hairs spread when ripe and waft the seed to immense 

 distances ; they may often be observed hanging together in large masses. 



2. S. Officinarum, L. Uk, ak, ik, Vem. Also Katari (Behar). The 



Sugar-cane. There are numerous vernacular names for different 

 varieties. 

 A gigantic grass with the solid lesbiy stems often 15 ft. high and 

 1-1 '5" diam. ; internodes shining polished yellow or purple. Leaves 

 3 ft. or more by 2-3" or more wide, cutting, glaucous beneath. Panicle 

 2-3 ft. long, rhachis glabrous below the panicle, silky higher up, 

 branches fascicled as in ^S*. arundinaceum ; ultimate spikes with inter- 

 nodes little longer to one and half times as long as the spikelets, bases 

 of internodes and spikelets with a ring of long villi, longer than the 

 spkt., ends of the internodes and pedicels cupular glabrous. Spikelets 

 sessile and pedicelled exactly similar, •13-- 16" long, glabrous. 



Nowhere known either wild or feral. The sugar-cane is widely cultivated to the 

 north of the Ganges and to a less extent in the Irangetic plain on the south. It is 

 also cultivated in Balasore and other plains districts to a small extent but hardly 

 at all on the central tableland. Our only specimen is Prain's from Dalsing Serai, 

 Tirhut, from w^hich the description of the flowers, etc, is drawn. 



Mouth of sheath silky inside otherwise glabrous, ligules very short, ciliate. 

 The spikelets have a jointed callus, the lower joint only bearing the long cilia, the 

 upper is glabrous. Gl. i, 2-keeled acuminate; ii equal narrowly cj'mbiform, 

 sharply acuminate, glabrous in- both spikelets or ciliolate towards tip; iii nearly 

 as long, lanceolate, finely acuminate, 3-nerved, sometimes with minute palea; 

 iv : there is a narrowly lanceolate or subulate hyaline ciliate or fimbriate body 

 "09" long which is apparently regarded as the fourth glume bj^ Sfapf, but in our 

 specimens it is on the same side as gl. iii and would appear to be the p'alea of gl. iv; 

 on the opposite side is a very short truncate membranous glume or "palea 

 wrapping, and not longer than the ovary. These organs require further 

 investigation in more specimens. 



3. S. arundinaceum, Refz. Syn. S. procerum, Roxb. ; Kagra, Veni. ; 



Ekra (when cut) ; Teng, Beng. (fide Roxburgh). 

 A gigantic tufted grass, the leaf}^ stems somewhat with the habit of 

 the sugar-cane, branched, often 15 ft. high, the flowering culms 

 sometimes nearly 30 ft. high and over -75" diam. ; stem glabrous 

 smooth or slightly rough with very long internodes. Leaves attain 

 C ft. and width 2". Panicle 2-4 ft., pink, white or silvery, diffuse 

 while floAvering with smooth glabrous axis, main branches tufted on 

 the axis, tufts alternate or sub-verticillate. Spikelets -1 — 13" rarely 

 •15" long, much shorter than the internodes of the spike. The rest 

 much as in aS^. munja. 



In the w^et savannah tracts of the Duars spreading westwards into the Sikkim 

 Tarai and Purneah ! where, however, it does not attain its full development. 

 Fl., Fr. Nov. -Dec. 



Leaves (according to my notes) with rib stout and as broad as the lamina at 

 base, keeled below, villo\is with long silkj' hairs above, margins cutting. Hole, 

 however, says in basal leaves midrib at base occupies one-thii'd or less of the 

 width of the lamina and he says nothing of its being villous. Upper cauline 

 leaves becoming folded and filiform. Sheaths glabrous, ligule truncate with a 

 ring or tuft of long silky hairs one-quarter to one inch distance from its base. 

 Internodes of spike filiform aiul often three times as long as spkt. {Hole says 

 usually longer, from three-fourths to 1-^tlis sessile spkt.\ rather sparselj^ villous 



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