G9. Vetiveria.] 1S9. GRA3IINE.^. 



rounded back and snb-infiexed margins ; ii cymbiform keeled up- 

 wards, Mith broad hyaline ciliate margins sometimes aristulate ; 

 iii hyaline empty 2-nerved : iv hyaline minutely 2-toothed, muticous 

 mncronvilate or aAvned from the sinus, palea minute, nerveless ; lodi- 

 eules glabrous. Stamens 3. Grain oblong, top slightly oblique. 

 Pedieelled .spkt. dorsally compressed, glumes thinner than in the 

 sessile, usually awnless, male. 



1. V. zizanioides, S'tapf. 8yn. Phalaris zizanoides, L.; Andropogon 

 squarrosus, Hack.; Andropogon muricatus, Eetz. ; Khatra, Th.; 

 Sirom, K., S. ; Kas-kas, H. ; Bena, Or. ; Kus-kus, Eng. 



A stout tufted often gregarious rigid grass. Leaves closely dis- 

 tichously imbricate at base, suberect, conduplicate below and often 

 hairy (ahvays ?, they are usually described as glabrous) within, 

 glabrous upAvards, 1-2 ft. long on the stem (radical much longer), 

 rarely over -3" Avide, margins distantly setulose-scabrid, larger nerves 

 about 6-8 each side of depressed (above) midrib, ligules a mere rim. 

 Panicle 0-12" oblong or pyramidal. 8pikelets muricate and muricu- 

 late, linear to linear-lanceolate, sessile •13--17", pedieelled shorter. 



Open damp or almost swampy ground, often gregarious. Cluimparan! 

 Purneah, very common ! Santal Parg. ! Monghyr, Mokim I Cliota Nagpur, all 

 districts on low ground, not common on the plateau, sometimes found in forest 

 glades! Fi\vi,Mnlshl Angul ! Sambalpur ! Mo douljt therefore in all districts. 

 Fl.. F]-. Aug.- Jan. Perennial. 



Lower panicle branches (with the raceme) up to 4" long, erecto-patent or 

 suberect. Raceme with fiexuons rhachis. Joints as long as or usually much 

 longer than the sessile spkts., tips truncate or slightly oblique, minutely or 

 scarcely ciliolate. Callus unequally shortly bearded on one side. 



The dried roots are well known, being the material of which kns-kus tatties are 

 made and yield a delightful fragrance when wetted. The fresh root is only 

 slichlly odorous. 



70. SORGHUM, Pers. 



Annual or perennial, often robust grasses. Leaf-blades usually 

 flat and large, convolute in bud. Panicles erect or nodding with 

 scattered, fascicled or verticillate branches, often large (in cultivated 

 forms frequently very dense). Spikelets 2-nate, those in each pair 

 differing in form and sex, one sessile, the other pedieelled or reduced 

 to its pedicel, on the articulate fragile or (in cultivated forms) tough 

 rhachis of panicled few- (sometimes only 1-, rarely up to 0-8-) jointed 

 spikes. Glumes 4 ; i and ii equal coriaceous, rarely permanently 

 chartaceous, muticous, i Avith a broad flattened or convex back Avith 

 the margins narroAvly inflexed near the tips and elscAvhere iuA^olute ; 

 ii cymbiform Avith narroAA' hyaline usually upAvards ciliate margins ; 

 iii empty hyaline ciliate ; iv oblong to ovate 1-3-nerved, 2-lobed or 

 -dentate Avith an aAvn or mucro from the sinus, lobes sometimes 

 adnate to the aAvn. Palea hyaline, often minute or 0. Lod. glabrous 

 or ciliate. 8t. 3. 8t3des terminal or subterminal. Grain (in the 

 Avild species) mostly obovoid, dorsally compressed. Ped. spkts. if 

 l^resent much narroAver than the sessile, male or neuter, sometimes 

 reduced to 1 or 2 glumes, permanently herbaceous ; iii and iv if 

 i>resent 1-2-nerved hyaline ciliate aAvnless. 



1032 



