96 



Sub-tribe v. — Tristeginese. 

 35. ARUNDINELLA. 



Spihelets with one terminal hermaphrodite flower and often a second 

 male one below it, in a loose terminal panicle. 



Glumes four, the three outer ones often pointed but not awned, the 

 third with a palea or a male flower in its axil ; terminal flowering 

 glume smaller, thinner, with a fine awn twisted in the lower part and 

 bent back at or below the middle. 



Palea smaller. 



Styles distinct. 



Grain enclosed in the more or less stiffened glume and palea, free 

 from them. 



1. Arundinella nepalensis, Trin. 



Botanical name. — Arundinella, diminutive of arundo, a reed, the 

 grass being like a thin reed; nepalensis, adjective for Nepal, India, 

 the country whence it was originally recorded. 

 Where figured. — Hackel (after Trinius) . 



Botanical description (B. EL, vii, 545) . — An erect glabrous perennial, 

 attaining 6 to 8 feet. 

 Leaves narrow. 



Ligula short, minutely ciliate. 



Panicle narrow, dense or loose, erect or slightly spreading, varying from 4 to 6 inches 

 in the smaller specimens to above 1 foot in luxuriant ones, the lower branches 

 densely clustered. 

 Spihelets all or mostly pedicellate, narrow, about 2 lines long, the three outer glumes 

 usually five-nerved, tapering into short points, the lowest rather shorter than 

 the others, the third rather thinner, with a male flower in its axil. 

 Terminal flowering glume smaller and thinner at the time of flowering, slightly 

 notched with minute obtuse or acute points on each side of the awn not pro- 

 duced into bristles. 

 Palea auriculate on each side near the base. 



Value for fodder. — When mature this is a harsh, rush-like or cane- 

 like grass which stock cannot eat. When young they nibble it in 

 conjunction with other and better grasses which are also available at 

 a similar period of their growth. I give three opinions of it, remarking 

 that it is better known in Queensland than with us. Duthie remarks that 

 nothing definite is known in regard to its value for fodder in India. 



" Usually a dry grass, particularly when grown on poor land, but 

 affording better fodder in the tropics and on better soil."" (Bailey.) 



" Commences its growth in the spring weather, and continues to 

 increase during the whole summer, forming a dense mass of foliage, 

 which grows as fast as it is fed off or cut." (Mueller.) 



" It is useless for thatch, uninteresting to the settler, it being one 

 of those grasses which cattle of every description appear to reject." 

 (O'Shanesy.) 



Habitat and range. — Found in New South Wales and Queensland. 

 In our own Colony from Windsor, Hawkesbury River, northwards. 

 Bailey says, " Met with usually on poor land, such as ironbark ridges," 

 while O'Shanesy states that it is chiefly confined to inundated places, 

 bordering on creeks and rivers, where it grows to a height of 5 to 6 feet. 



It is also found in Asia and South Africa. 



