S2. Manisuris.] 139. GR AMINE. E. 



spkts. green distichous •09--r' long, gl. i and ii subequal with winged 

 keels. 



Common in wet fields. Monohyr, Mokim ! Santal Parg'., very common ! 

 Hazaribagh (ascendinsj to top of Parasnath;, Clarke, etc. ! Manbhum, Avderf, etc. ! 

 SJngblnim, on clay soils. Mayiirbhanj, J/oo^;e>- ! Probably in all districts. FI., 

 Yv. Ang.-Dec. 



83. OPHIURUS, Gaertn. 

 Tall or medium erect grasses usually branched upwards. Leaves 

 linear to broadly linear, often convolute, ligules verj^ short membranous. 

 ►Spikes solitary or fascicled in the axils of leaves or spathes, their 

 structure as in Rottboellia but the pedicelled spikelets completely 

 suppressed or very rudimentary, the pedicels completely fused Mith 

 the internodes. Gl. 4, i thickly coriaceous, convex, obtuse ; ii almost 

 membranous, keeled ; iii elliptic, obtuse, hyaline, faintly 2-nerved, 

 margins infolded, paleate, male ; iv as long, oblong, obtuse, 2-nerved 

 or nerveless, 2-sexual, palea narrow, lodicules 2 cuneate. St. 3. 

 Grain oblong free. 



A. Spikes very numerous from the axils : — 



L. ensiform, very hairy. Robust 5-6 ft 1. megaphyllKs. 



L. linear, glabrous. Slender 2-i ft '2. corymho^us. 



B. Spikes subsolitary: — 



L. linear, hairy. Very slender 1-2 ft 3. moyiosfnchi/Hs. 



1. 0. megaphyllus, Staj)/. Sjni. 0. corymbosus, F.B.I, (in part). 

 A large stout grass 5-6 ft. high, very leafy to the top. Leaves 



narrowly ensiform, tapering- from base to apex, upper •4--75" wide, 

 lower much wider, flat, very hairy as are the sheaths, but more or 

 less glabrescent with age, hairs with small tubercle bases, margins of 

 sheath hirsute. Spkts. •12-- 18", slightly shorter or longer than the 

 joints, in very numerous peduncled spikes 3-4" long (perhaps longer 

 but very fragile), from the leaf axils. Peduncles 3-5" sheathed at 

 the base, finally far exserted, each solitary on a branch Avith a villous 

 node, often geniculate at the node. Gl. i oblong glabrous with rounded 

 tip, smooth or with few lines of small pits. 



In marshy places Tarai and Duars ! probably in Purneah. Fl. Dec. 



The spikes are -Oo-OQ" diam. The lowest pedicelled spkts. are sometimes free «t 

 the top and bear a small brown free appendage. Gl. i of sessile spkt. does not 

 become recurved, it also sometimes bears a small appendage; ii is white and 

 becomes inclined forward quite free from the rhachis when the spkt. opens. 



2. 0. corymbosus, Gaertn. Sjm. Rottboellia corymbosa, L. 



Stems very numerous glabrous erect slender 2-4 ft. high bulbous 

 at the base, the bulbous bases connected into a horizontal rhizome. 

 Leaves linear glabrous up to -2" broad, margins minutely tubercled at 

 base, the tubercles bearing cilia when young. Spikes very slender, 

 2-5" long, only -04" diam. sometimes ending in a small tail like that 

 of a rattle-snake, spikelets -1" equalling the joint. Gl. i glabrous 

 with many longitudinal lines of small pits, narrowly-oblong, tip 

 rounded, finally recurved. 



Chiefly on cotton soil in the Central Provinces. Purneah. Kurzl It is, however, 

 I believe, common but seldom collected. Fl. Aug. -Nov, Perennial. 



Gaertiier gives no description of the leaves (nor does LinncEi(») and he shows the 

 glumes too pointed, but there seems little doubt that this is the plant intended. 



105S 



