288 Jour., Bom. Nat. Hist. Soc, Vol. XXXII, No. 2. [Oct. 20, 1927. 



culm from 20 cm. long and 6 mm. wide, linear and tapering from base, to 75 

 cm. long and 16 mm. wide with greatest width about the middle ; lower leaves 

 usually l'2-l*5m. long and 25 mm. wide, but also attaining a length of 1*8 m. 

 and width of 38 mm., broadest about the middle, sometimes in upper third, dark 

 green, midrib white, apex acuminate, narrowed towards the base, in basal leaves 

 the concave midrib occupies \ or more of width of lamina at base, often the 

 entire width of the leaf, densely villous above towards the base with bulbous- 

 based hairs, more or less scaberulous along nerves, margins scabrid. Ligule a 

 narrow membranous rim not longer than 175 mm., entire, rounded or deeply 

 2-lobed. patently hairy dorsally with stiff white hairs, ciliate. Panicle 30-90 cm. 

 long, lanceolate, dense or somewhat lax and lobed, silvery silky, with a tinge of 

 grey and purple, or quite white ; primary rhachis sulcate, glabrous, smooth below, 

 scabrid on the ridges ; branches slender, solitary from the distant nodes, divided 

 from the base, up to 20 cm. long, branchlets unequal, divided again, glabrous 

 except at the nodes. Racemes sessile or the lower more or less peduncled, 

 narrow to oblong ; joints and pedicels filiform, long ciliate, with thickened tips, 

 the latter shorter than the joints- Callus-hairs shorter than to subequal to 

 length of spikelet, purplish or brownish. Sessile spikelet : Lower involucral glume 

 lanceolate with 2 lateral keels, dorsally flat or depressed between the keels, apex 

 2-mucronulate, one or both margins incurved, dorsally scabrid on keels, 

 otherwise glabrous, or more or less villous dorsally, villi not overtopping the 

 glume, or overtopping by less than \ the length of the glume, 2-nerved, some- 

 times with 1-2 additional faint nerves between the keels- Upper involucral 

 glume subequal to the lower, with a central keel, mucronate, margin incurved, 

 ciliate, dorsally scabrid on keel, otherwise glabrous or more or less villous 

 dorsally, villi not overtopping the glume, or overtopping by less than \ the 

 length of the glume, 1-nerved and sometimes 1 or 2 partial lateral nerves. 

 Lower floral glume slightly shorter than upper involucral glume, oblong-lanceo- 

 late, hyaline, apex mucronate or acute, dorsally glabrous., margin incurved, 

 ciliate above, 1-3-nerved- Upper floral glume usually f the length of the lower, 

 ovate-lanceolate, hyaline, margin incurved, ciliate, longf-awned, awn 2*5-6 mm. 

 long, 3-nerved. Pale about f the length of the upper floral glume, ovate- 

 lanceolate, hyaline, glabrous, nerveless. Lodicules 2, cuneate, glabrous. Anthers 

 3, yellow streaked with purple- Stigmas yellow- Pedicel led spikelet like the 

 sessile, but involucral glumes often strongly 3-nerved and hairy. 



Can easily be distinguished from Saccharum munja by its distinctly awned 

 spikelets, the broader dark green leaves and hairy leaf -sheaths- (Hole). 



Locality : Sind—L,%k\ (Bhide !) ; Khairpur Mirs, sandy plain (Sabnis 

 B226 !) ; Sehwan (Sabnis B36 !, B664 !) ; Larkana (Sabnis B444 !, Cooke) ; 

 Pad-Idan (Sabnis B498 !, B509 !) ; Sukkar (Sabnis B552 !) ; Nasarpur, sandy 

 plains (Sabnis B1049 !) ; Umarkot, sandy plains (Sabnis B1211 !) ; Sanghar 

 (Sabnis B900 !) ; Jamesabad (Sabnis B968 !) ; Phuleli Canal, on banks (Sabnis 

 B195 !) ; Mirva Canal, sandv banks (Sabnis B258 !) ; Khairpur forests (Sabnis 

 B329 !) ; Sita Road (Sabnis B367 !) ; Sehwan to Laki, foot of hills (Sabnis B60! , 

 BUI !) ; Mirpur Sakro (Blatter and McCann D694 !) ; Chuar Chemali (Blatter 

 and McCann D695 !) ; Indus Delta (Blatter and McCann D696 !) ; Karachi 

 (Cooke, Woodrow). — Deccan : College Garden, Poona (Garade !)- 



Distribution : Western Himalaya, Punjab, Upper Gangetic Plain, Sind, 

 extending westwards to the Mediterranean. 



Uses : The culms are used for making screens, etc. The leaves quickly 

 decay and are therefore useless for thatching. 



7. Saccharum fastigiatum, Steud Syn. Gram. (1855), 409; Haines Bot. Bihar 

 and Orissa, 1014. Erianthus fastigiatus, Nees ex Steud. 1. c. ; Hack. Monogr 

 Androp. 150 ; Hook. f. in P. B. I., vii, 125 ; Cke. ii, 949. 



Description ; Cke. 1. c. 



Locality : S. M. Country :— Belgaum (Ritchie 792). 



Distribution : Sikkim, Khasia, Assam, Bengal, Chota Nagpur, Orissa, 

 W. Peninsula. 



23. Spodiopogon, Trin., Cke. ii, 947. 



Spodiopogon albidus, Benth. in Journ. Linn. Soc 19 (1881), 66 ; Hackel 

 Monogr. Androp, 185 ; F. B. I. vii, 108 ; Cke. ii, 947- — Andropogon rhizophorus 

 Steud. Syn. Gram. 381 ; Dutbie Fodd. Grass. N. Ind. 26. — Andropogan petiolatus, 

 Dalz. Bomb. Fl. (1861), 30,3. 



Description : Cke ii, 947. 



[8] 



