\From the Journal of the Bombay Natural Hist. Soc, October 20, 1927.] 



REVISION OF 

 THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 



BY 



E. Blatter, s.j., ph.D., f.l.s. 



PART IV 

 GRAMINE^S 



BY 



E. Blatter and C. McCann 



( Continued from page 33 of this volume) 



21. Imperata, Cyr. 



Species 5 or 6, nearly allied. In the warm regions of both hemispheres. 



Imperata cylindriaca, Beauv. Agrost. 165, t. v, fig. 1, Explan. planch. 5 ; Cyr. 

 PI. Rar. Neap. Fasc. ii, 26, t. ii ; Hack. Monogr. Androp. 92 ; Boiss. Fl. Or. 

 v, 452 ; Duthie Grass. N. W. Ind. 14 ; Indig. Fodd. Grass t. 15 ; Fodd Grass. 

 N. lad. 22 ; F. B. I. vii, 106 ; Cke. ii, 946 ; Haines Bot. Bihar and Orissa, pt. 

 v, 1015; Stapf in Fl. Trop. Afr., ix, 87.--/. Koenigii, Beauv. Agrost. 165.— 

 Saccharum cylindricvm, Lam. Encycl. i, 594 ; Roxb. Fl. Ind. i, 234 ; Grah. 

 Cat. Bomb. PI. 239 ; Griff. Notul. iii, 80. — 6". europaeum et S. indum, Pers. Syn. 

 i, 103.— 5. Kavennce, Bieb. Fl Taur. Cauc. iii, 51. 



Some authors distinguish varieties and subvarieties which scarcely seem to be 

 justified. Stapf who mentions two varieties (var. Thunbergii, Durand & Schinz, 

 and var. Koenigii, Durand & Schinz) says in a note (1. c. 89) : ' The 

 varieties and the type, although on the whole pretty distinct within their areas, 

 often pass into each other, chiefly along the confines of their areas, or they 

 possibly lose their distinctive characters under particular local conditions, when 

 the separation becomes almost impossible.' This does not speak in favour or 

 good varieties. Hackel (1. c. 93-95) has 3 varieties and several subvarieties, and 

 Anderson (in Oefvers, K. Vet. Akad. Forh. Stockh. 1885, p. 157) is still more 

 liberal with his subvarieties. Hook, f. makes one variety latifolia (F.B.I. 

 1. c.) and remarks about one of Hackel's varieties : 'Hackel distinguishes the 

 Indian form as var. Koenigii having villous nodes and broader, less rigid 

 leaves, but some of the Indian specimens appear to me quite like the Western 

 Hackel's division depends chiefly on such characters as hairiness of the leaf- 

 insertions, width of the leaves and height of the ligule. The height and shape 

 of the ligule, however, seems, according to Hole's investigations, more or less 

 correlated with the width of the lamina, while the other characters appear to 

 vary with the locality and do not define forms of any constancy. Hole's 

 treatment of Imperata arundinacea (On Some Indian For. Grasses and their 

 Oecology, 1911, p. 95) appeals to us much more. Amongst the material 

 observed at Dehra Dun he distinguishes 3 forms which are more or less clearly 

 defined : — 



(a) The depauperate form common on lawns or areas where the grass is 

 continually cut or grazed, with minute, almost filiform, culms and small leaves. 

 Leaf-insertions usually long-bearded. Glume IV and pale usually glabrous. 



(b) The ordinary savannah form which usually attains a height of about 

 90 cm. with leaves up to 17mm. wide. Leaf-insertions bearded or glabrous. 

 Pale and glume IV ciliate. 



(c) A robust form found in swamps or marshy soil where there is an abun- 

 dance of available moisture more or less throughout the year. This plant 

 attains a height of 2*8 m. and probably more. Leaves up to 26 mm. wide, leaf- 

 insertions glabrous. Pale and glume IV ciliate. This is identical with var. 

 latifolia, Hook. f. 



F orms of this kind could be multiplied according to various localities. As 

 we are not going to distinguish any varieties we give a description of the species 

 including all the variations that so far have been observed. 



P] 



