140 
8000 ft., Dec. 27, 1848, Vern. ‘ Pummoon’ Lepcha, Hook. Le & EE 
(leaves) ; Vern. ‘ Phyong’ Bhutia, Oct. 5 1868, Kurz ee 
also at various other places in Scie sh Sikkim, G. A. Gammie, 
J. 8. Gamble and others, in leaf only. 
Thus, it will be seen that the se be of Sikkim species of the 
comes very near to A. Pantlingi, and at one time I thought they 
might be identical, but the latter species has long loose much branched 
panicles, longer and narrower spikelets, glumes with more con- 
spicuous awns and strongly ciliate leaf sheaths, while in A. Maling 
the panicles are quite short and compact, the spikelets broad, the 
glumes less awned and the leaf sheaths glabrous at the margins. I 
have made an attempt to give in an analytical key a guide to ‘the 
ten Sikkim species, which may perhaps be of use to botanists in 
the Eastern Himalaya. I would have liked to base the key chiefly 
or even wholly upon the leaves, but the difficulty is that the leaves 
are so variable according to whether they are taken from upper 
branches or from new shoots and so on , that mere size goes for 
very little. In some species the culm sheaths afford excellent 
characters, but they are not always available. 
_ Leaves with conspicuous transverse veinlets. 
renee branches without conspicuous broad sheathing 
Dwart ‘tanta reaching scarcely 4 ft. in height ; spikelets 
co asec g. 6, in a short raceme with narrow sheaths 
A, racemosa, 
Culms tall, reaching 12 or even | sometimes 30 ft.in height ; 
spikelets many, more or less paniculat 
Panicles compact, terminal, ioe: ni a6 long with 
10-20 spikelets . A. Maling. 
Panicles loose, terminal and “deal with many 
spikelets— 
Culm-nodes without spines ... gle A, Pantling?. 
Culm-nodes spinous A. Griffithiana. 
Inflorescence branches with conspicuous broad sheathing 
bracts, each ae 3-5 spikelets with conspicuously 
aristate glume 5, A. aristata. 
Leaves with no or Wily “few transverse v einlets — 
Inflorescence branches without sheathing bracts— 
Culms tall, aa leaves rather oy ; spikelets of 
only 1 flower... Ne . A. Hookeriana. 
© lilnis rather small — 
Leaves soft, rather large ; spikelets 4- to 6-flowered 
in a tall close panicle ; leaf sheaths not ciliate 
iz olystachya. 
Leaves stiff, moderately large ; spikelets 3-5-flowered 
in slender panicles ; leaf sheaths sary) 
A. intermedia. 
peer ae branches with pps Oe: ; ' spikelets 2-4- 
ered ; leaves soft 9. A. Falconeri. 
ssGeneeeey not hewn: leaves very narrow, linear 
. A, suberecta. 
