92 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XI. 



by requiring that the fruit of the Banyan, which falls to the 

 ground, may rarely germinate, although it is well matured „ 

 as may be proved by sowing on crushed bricks kept moist. 

 If the seed germinated under the parent tree a forest of 

 weakly plants would appear on a soil exhausted by producing 

 the parent. 

 CYPEKACE-iE by Cyperus rotimdus. Mariscus microcejphalus, 



Presl., and Scirpus maritimus, Linn. 

 Gramine^e by Paspaium distichum, Linn., a littoral grass 

 remarkable for its variability in habit under different condi- 

 tions ; the specimens exhibited would scarcely be believed to be 

 the produce of the same species ; one simple stem grows up- 

 right and bears long leaves and flowers ; another spreads on 

 the ground, branches freely, and bears very short leaves. It is 

 to this grass that the great beauty of newly-formed lawps 

 in Bombay is due ; it has a deep green colour and a dense 

 velvety growth, but as it grows in its native habitat in 

 company with " Hariyali " the two species are mixed in 

 making a lawn and Paspaium distichum, Linn,, either does not 

 get enough salt or does not bear lawn treatment well. It 

 grows well for a time, but soon abdicates in favour of the 

 hardier " Hariyali." The lawn at the rear of the Municipal 

 Building at first had a predominance of this grass, but now 

 it has little else than li Hariyali," which has a greyish 

 green tint. 

 The vernacular name of this grass has not been ascertained ; it is 

 easily distinguished from il Hariyali " by the infloresence having only 

 two divergent branches, while the other grass has from one to five 

 branches. 



Paspaium sanguinale, Lamk., occurs on this land sparsely and looks 

 happier on the roadside out of reach of the salt. 



Eriochloa polystachya, H.B. & K. The many-stemmed woolly grass 

 as we may translate its name is as glabrous as a grass may be. It 

 is abundant and vigorous on this land. 



Panicum punctatum, Burm., is probably the most abundant of all 

 plants on the land under consideration, occupying generally the higher 

 parts of the banks ; it is decidedly vigorous. 



