415 Journ., Bom. Nat. Hist Sac, Vol. XXXII, No. 3. {Jan. IS, 1928. 



scar and dense beard. Lower involucral glume laterally compressed, narrow- 

 oblong, embracing the margins of the upper, chartaceous 2-4-nerved, hispidly 

 ciliate dorsally on keel towards the apex or almost glabrous, often scabernlous 

 dorsally on nerves and minutely pubescent with appressed hairs dorsally near 

 margin, apex subtruncate or 2-dentate. Upper involucral glume laterally com- 

 pressed, broader than lower, obtusely keeled, subcoriaceous, 3-nerved, margins 

 broad, hyaline, membranous, ciliate or not, very variable with regard to its 

 hairiness, sometimes almost glabrous, at other times hispidly ciliate dorsally on 

 keel with long white or rufous hairs more or less from base to apex, sometimes 

 also pubescent, or minutely villous dorsally on keel and lateral nerves, awned, 

 awn 2 - 5-6 mm. long, apex entire or 2-lobed. Lower floral glume \ the length 

 of to subequal the upper involucral glume, linear, hyaline, ciliate, nerveless or 

 indistinctly 1-3- or more- nerved, apex obtuse. Upper floral glume consisting of 

 the narrow 3-nerved base of the awn, basal \ or § hyaline, membranous, 

 upper portion chartaceous, awn geniculate, 10-18 mm. long, but also reaching 

 37 mm. (including the twisted column) , margins ciliate or not, apex entire or 

 2-lobed. Pale sometimes present, very narrow, 1*25 mm. long. Lodicules 2, 

 cuneate, glabrous. Anthers 3, up to 3 mm. long, yellow or purple. Stigmas 

 2, laterally exserted at base of spikelet, yellow. Pedicelled spikelet dorsally 

 compressed, subequal the sessile spikelet; pedicel less than half the sessile 

 spikelet, usually about \ the spikelet, densely ciliate on both margins with stiff 

 rufous or white hairs, the upper of which are shorter than to subequal the 

 spikelet. Lower involucral glume lanceolate, membranous, 5-7-nerved, 

 minutely pubescent with appressed hairs dorsally, especially towards the apex, 

 or almost glabrous, sometimes ciliate dorsally on midrib and marginal neives, 

 especially towards the apex acute or shortly awned. Upper involucral glume 

 subequal to the lower, 3-nerved, margins incurved, long ciliate, apex acute or 

 mucronate, glabrous dorsally. Floral glumes linear, hyaline, ciliate, nerveless 

 or indistinctly nerved. Pale sometimes present, as in sessile spikelet, but 

 slightly longer, very narrow. 



The flowers are much visited by small bees. 



Locality: Gujarat: Mahal-Dangs, elevation 800 ft., rainfall 100" (Sedgwick 

 and Bell 5391 !) —Khandesh: Tapti River (Blatter and Hallberg 5476! ); Bhusawat 

 (McCann 5224 A!); Nandgaum, Bori River (Blatter and Hallberg 3827!); 

 Bori, Tapti Island (Blatter and Hallberg 5146!) ; Amalner, Bori River (Blatter 

 and Hallberg 4455 \).—Konkan : Sion Creek (Sabnis A 231 !) ; Matheran 

 (D 'Almeida 9958 \).—Deccan : Khandala to Karjat (Blatter and Hallberg 

 A 232 !) ; Kirkee (Talbot !) ; Pashan (Garrmie !) ; Mangiri, Smiles E. of Poona 

 (Gammie !) ; Katraj (Gammie !) ; Pasarni Ghat (Blatter and Hallberg 

 B 1209 \).—S. M. Country : Dumbai (Talbot 2317 !) ; Badami (Talbot 2926 !) ; 

 N. W of Dharwar (Sedgwick 3141 !) ; Dharwar, dry pasture land, elevation 

 2,400 ft., rainfall 34" (Sedgwick 1817 !) ; Konankeri, elevation 1,800 ft., rainfall 

 35" (Sedgwick and Bell 4439!); Haveri (Talbot 2189 \).—Kanara : Jog to 

 Siddhapur, open grass land (Hallberg and McCann A274 !). This species 

 forms patches of many individuals, or combines with other individuals to form 

 associations of a few species'. 



Distribution .- Throughout India, especially in hilly tracts, from the N.W. 

 Himalaya southwards, ascending to 6,000 ft., extends to Ceylon, Burma, 

 Afghanistan, Tropical and S. Africa, Madgascar. 



Uses : In Bihar and Orissa this grass is considered to be a valuable fodder, 

 and Hole, writing of the Siwalik Division, calls it one of the most valuable 

 fodder grasses. In Mount Abu, according to Lisboa, it is reckoned as a good 

 fodder grass and the grain is used as food by the natives. But the same writer, 

 under the name of Andropogon serrulatus, Trin. (— Chrysopogon montanus 

 var. Tnnii) remarks : • Said to be good fodder, used much in Poona, but 

 reports from other places unfavourable.' (J. C. Lisboa, List of Bombay 

 Grasses, Bombay (1896), 81). 



The last statement might find an explanation by a suggestive note made by 

 Hole (1. c. Ill) : ' So far as the local (Dehra Dun) plant is concerned speci- 

 mens with the more hairy glume II tend to occur in localities where there is a 

 scarcity of available moisture, both on the dry ridges and slopes of the Siwalik 

 Hills and also (rarely) on water-logged soil, and the writer believes that the 

 characters which have been utilized to define these varieties vary in response to 

 the factors of the habitat and particularly in response to the available water 

 supply. Provided that the development of the plants has not been interfered 



[8] 



