319 
in Ceylon have generally been put down as Andropogon Nardus, 
whilst from the north of the area it first became known through 
Hohenacker's collection as ' Androimgon riiimjiriciis, Hochst.' 
This name has remained, however, a ' nomen nudum,' for when 
Steudel* described the grass from Hohenacker's specimens 
in 1855, he called it Andropogon confertiflorus. On the other 
hand, Hackelf in his monograph of the Andropogoneae, has 
revived the name ' nitagiricus,' but merely as that of a variety of 
Andropogon Nardus. 
Compared with Citronella grass, this differs in the normally 
developed (therefore on the whole "fuller") and awned spikelets. 
It is a coarse, erect grass with long, tufted, rather broad and 
internally reddish, persistent sheaths, very long stiff blades, 
erect, dense, though often interrupted, panicles, brownish or 
sometimes purplish-brown sheaths which are as long as the 
racemes and rather conspicuous, and pale or dark, closely-set 
spikelets. Nothing is known of the conditions under which it 
occurs in the Nilgiris, Anamallai and Palni Hills; but in 
Ceylon we know it to be one of the most conspicuous elements of 
the vegetation of the patanas ; here, according to Pearson,! it "is 
found abundantly from 5,000 feet downwards, and frequently 
forms a belt at the edge of the patana parallel with the forest 
boundary ; it attains a height of five feet or more. In strong sun- 
shine it emits a sickening and almost overpowering odour of 
Citronella oil." Tennent, in " Ceylon " (vol. i., p. 25), also mentions 
the oppressive perfume of the grass, which he calls " lemon-grass 
indropo S M us ." and adds that the odour makes it 
"distasteful to cattle, which will only crop the delicate braird that 
springs after the surface has been annually burnt by the 
Kandyans." According to Willis, ir yields a good oil, but in small 
quantities, and there is no evidence that it is used com 
The Singalese name is "Mana," whilst Hohenacker gives " Bfimbe ' 
as the Nilgiri vernacular. He also observes, on the label, that it is 
used for thatching. 
5. Cymbopogon flexuosus, Stapf. 
(Andropogon flexuosus, Nees ex Steud.) 
Malabar or Cochin Grass. 
Early History and Foundation of the Species.— 
Rheede,<§ in his Hortas Malabaricus, figured and described under 
the name * Kodi-pidlu' a grass of which he says that it has 
aromatic leaves, and that a drink is made of its roots to stop 
salivation in certain fevers. Lamarck|| referred it under y to 
'And,;,,,.,;,,,, S.f,.„„.nit/ I u*' : bur most botanists ignored it or 
quoted it without am further remark under ' Andropogon bchoen- 
anthus' or « Andropogon Iwarancusa,: Yet the plate is a 
very faithful representation of a grass evidently very common 
* Steudel, Syn. PI. Glum., vol. i. (1855). p. 385. _ 
t Hackel, Aadi ^'Zt^SP' P " 
X Pearson, in Journ. Linn. Soc., vol. xxxiv. (1899) p. 326. 
§ Rheede, Hort. Malab., vol. xii. (1703), p. 107, t. 57. 
II Lamarck. Em-yd.. vol. i. (.17SS), P- 375. 
