Andropogon.~\ Graminece. 243 



long, oblong-ovate, obtuse or subacute, callus short, obtuse, 

 bearded; glume I thin, flat, acute or minutely 2-toothed, 

 glabrous, obscurely veined, margins inflexed, obscurely 

 winged and scaberulous above the middle, II obovate-oblong, 

 acuminate, 1-3-veined, keeled, margins ciliate, keel with a 

 short ciliolate wing above the middle, III oblong, hyaline, 

 ciliate, veinless, IV hyaline, linear, bifid, ciliate, awned or not 

 between the acute lobes, awn rarely more than twice the 

 length of the spikelet, slender, palea o or very minute, ciliate; 

 lodicules cuneate, retuse with one angle produced into a tooth; 

 anth. narrow; styles and stigmas short; pedicelled spikelet 

 oval-oblong or obovoid, obtuse, glabrous, glume I convex, 

 many-veined, II membranous, not keeled, 3-veined, III and 

 anth. as in the sessile spikelet, IV o or rudimentary ; grain 

 fusiform. 



Central Province, covering considerable areas at elevation of 2-4000 ft- 

 (Thwaites). 



Temp, and Subtrop. Asia, Africa, and Australia. 



The best known and one of the most remarkable grasses in Ceylon. 

 It covers thousands of acres of the patanas of the interior, up to 5000 ft. 

 (Ferguson). 



There are two principal forms of it in Ceylon, a wild and a cultivated. 

 The wild is the Maana Grass of the patanas, C. P. 2733, of which the 

 only specimens in the Peradeniya Herbarium are from low elevations, Galle 

 (Thwaites), Maoya, Peradeniya (Trimen). It sometimes forms a stout, 

 erect, scarred caudex several inches long and as thick as the thumb, the 

 infl. is contracted, the spikelets larger than in the cultivated form, and 

 the glume of the sessile spikelet is sometimes, but rawly, depressed in 

 the central line as in A. Schcenanthus, or presents a shallow pit. It is 

 the var. nilagiricas of Hackel. It is not used for the manufacture of 

 Citronella oil. 



The other form, only known in cultivation, is A. Nardus genuinus of 

 Hackel, and the A. Nardus of the Linnaean Herbarium. It is a tall 

 robust plant with broader leaves, an effuse panicle with zigzag branches, 

 divaricate bracts, smaller spikelets, and no well-developed awn. The 

 only specimen in the Peradeniya Herbarium is from Dr. Trimen, labelled 

 ' Pangiri Maana, cult, for Citronella oil, near Deyandera, and Mawendelle, 

 S. Prov.' The very long, broad, flat, coriaceous, shining sheath of the 

 lower 1., 6 in. long and §— § in. long, appear to be peculiar to it. 



Var. luridus, Fl. B. Ind. vii. 206, differs from var. nilagiriats chiefly 

 if not wholly by the dark purplish-brown spikes. The only specimens 

 are collected by Gardner and Maxwell. Mr. Lewis informs me that 

 Citronella oil is very useful in combating the attacks of jungle leeches. 



18. A. Thwaitesii, Hook.f. 



A. dzstans, Thw. Enum. 367, non Nees. C. P. 3784. 



Perennial ; stems 2-3 ft, densely tufted, slender, as thick 

 as a crow-quill below, smooth, polished, internodes much longer 

 than the l.-sheaths; 1. 10-14 in. by x^— j in. broad about the 

 middle, narrowed to a capillary tip, and petioled base, flat, 

 minutely scaberulous on both surfaces and on the margins, 



