186 STUDIES IN INDIAN SUGABCANES 



(8) Bami patcJies. These are well and tyi^ically formed in most of the 

 Saretha series, often consisting of closely parallel, curled or crisped patches 

 of shining white hairs, on each side of the lower part of the bud. They are, 

 with few excej)tions, poorly developed in the Suimabile series, where they are 

 often indicated by a pubescence or roughness in which it is difficult to make 

 out individual hairs. In one or two varieties, however, they are well developed 

 and conspicuous, as in Putli Khajee and, to a less extent, in Bansi. 



(9) Minute black hairs. These were first observed when comi)aring 

 Katlia with Dlmulii of Gurdasj3ur. Their presence or absence is found to be a 

 general character for the two groups of which these varieties are the prototypes. 

 They are practically absent in the Katha section, generally present in small 

 numbers in the Mesangan group, and usually abundant in all parts of the bud 

 in the Sunnabile series. 



The study of the buds ui the Saretha and Suimabile varieties has led us 

 into a series of minute and apparently miimportant characters. It should 

 here be emphasized that the bud is practically an epitome of the vegetative 

 shoot of the cane, and there is httle doubt that the descrij)tions given err, not 

 on the side of the minuteness, but in being less microscopic than they ought 

 to have been. The excuse for this is that there has not been sufficient time to 

 carry the observations further, and that, perhaps, the more general descriptions 

 recorded above will serve the purpose of this paper. We have seen in each 

 character examined that differences have been recorded, whether in bursting, 

 size, colour marks, origin, flanges^ or hairs on the bud, and this has justified the 

 large amount of time spent on this part of the cane plant. 



Leaf Sheath. 



The leaves of the sugarcane offer a perfect mine of characters whereby 

 the different varieties may be distinguished, an.d there is httle doubt that many 

 more would reward a patien.t study in other directioias. There is evidence that 

 microscopic features such as the siHceous protrusions from the epidermal cells, 

 the numbers and arrangement of the stomata, and so forth, would offer differ- 

 ences and, doubtless, a study of the anatomy of the leaves would add to these. 

 The characters dealt with here are macroscopic and hardly requii'e the use of 

 a low-powered hand lens. With the exception of the detailed measurements 

 given later, most of them can be readily observed in the field. The leaf sheath 

 is treated separately from the lamina and the hgule and hgular processes are 

 included in it. The following are its more obvious characters. 



(]) Colour. This is comj)hcated by the fact that a large portion of the 

 leaf sheath in the growing shoot is covered by those lower down on the stem. 



