777 



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Abinsi, Katagum, Sokoto in Northern Provinces and Aguku, 

 Agolo and Obu Districts, S. Provinces, Nigeria; also known in 

 Tropical Africa from Bagirmi and district of Lake Fittri, 

 Abyssinia, British East Africa, Belgian Congo, Angola, Portu- 

 guese East Africa, Zanzibar, Nyasaland, etc. Introduced to 

 the West Indies. In China, Malaya and AustraHa. 



A horse fodder — a tall, harsh-leaved grass — Abinsi and 

 vicinity (Dalziel, Herb, Kew; Hausa Bot. Voc, p. 46) ; cultivated 

 as a forage plant, preferred by cattle, West Africa (Chevalier, 

 Forage PL W. Africa, Journ. d'Agric. Trop., 1911, p. 97 : Bull. 

 Bur. Agric. Inst., Rome, June 1911, p. 1318); but said by 

 Welttitsch to be '' much dishked by cattle '' (Fl. Trop. Afr., I.e.) ; 

 feed for goats, Aguku District, S. Nigeria (Thomas, Herb. 



Kew). 



Annual; culms up to 12 ft. high; found at edges of a marsh, 



Abinsi, Nigeria (Dalziel, No. 870^ Herb. Kew). 



Imperata, Cyr. 



Imperata cylindrica, Beauv. ; FL Trop. Afr. IX. p. 87. 



Ill, — Beauvois, Agrost., t. 5, f . 1 ; Duthie, Indig. Fodder Gr. 



N.. India, t. 15; 



Afr 



p. 189, f. 133; Notizbl Bot. Gart. BerUn, App. xxii. 7th Nov. 

 1909, p. 48 ; Brown & Hunter, PI. Uganda, p. 76 (/. arundinacea) . 

 Vernac. names. — Lalang or Alang Alang (Malaya, Beccari) ; 

 Mao Tsao (Ssuchuan, China, Hosie) ; Blady Grass (N. Australia, 

 Maiden) ; Spear Grass (S. Nigeria, Johnson — specimen in Herb. 



Kew) 



Hunter) 



var. Thunbergii, Durand cfe Schinz ; FL Trop. Afr. I.e. p. 88. 



Vernac, names, — ^Toha or Tofa (Hausa, Dalziel) ; Ekan (Lagos, 

 MacGregor) ; Sulunji, Kalat (Sierra Leone, Thomas). 



Lagos, Nupe, Lokoja, Yola, Okuni, Inkum (Cross River) in 

 Nigeria and widely distributed in Tropical Africa. 



var. Koenigii, Durand S Schinz [/. arundinacea, Hook, f., 

 Fl. Br. India, vii. p. 106, partly] ; Fl. Trop. Afr. I.e. 



Vernac, name, — Ekan (Lagos, MacGrego 



Africa and warm 



countries. Although there are several varieties, it is proposed 

 to consider them here as one for practical purposes. Used for 

 roofing houses, Lagos (MacGregor, Herb. Kew) ; for thatch 

 [culms] and stuffing cushions [the white cotton-like floss of the 

 flower-spike] in Hausa land (Dalziel, Hausa Bot, Voc. p. 93 — . 

 /, arundinacea) ; for thatching in Siam, where the Natives cut 

 the grass yearly for the purpose (Kew Bull. 1912, p. 429 



Agri 



material in the Malay 



!. Bull. F.M.S., Jan. 1917, p. 135) ; for thatching, Lidia and 

 Ceylon (Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. India — I. arundinacea). It is 

 reported to be of Httle use as a fodder — except when quite young, 

 or when no other forage can be obtained (I.e.); it produces after 

 being burnt a large quantity of succulent feed, reUshed by stock. 



