Jan. 15, 1928.] Revision of the Flora of the Bombay Presidency 432 



genuinus, Hack. Monogr. Androp. 599. — A I. stibsp. Jwarancusa proper, 

 Hook. f. F. B. I. vii, 203.— A. laniger, Duthie Fodd. Grass. N. Ind. t. 23. 



Vern. Names : Jwarankusa (i.e. fever-restrainer) (Sanskr.), khavi (Hindust.) 



Description: Usually a tall grass, up to 1*8 m. high, with very aromatic 

 roots, densely tufted, the stems from clusters of firm, persistent, finally loose 

 and open and tortuous leaf-sheaths, more or less widened below. Leaves flat, 

 up to 60 cm. long and 5 mm. broad, narrowly linear, filiform above and ending 

 in a long capillard tip, ligule - 5 mm. long, membranous. Panicles long, 

 narrow interruptey, with very compressed, short, fascicled branches bearing 

 spathes about 5 cm. long and spatheoles 6-18 mm. long. Racemes 14-L8 cm. 

 long, often 5 joined, joints half as long as the uppermost villi. Spikelets 3-4 

 pairs, green, half hidden by the 5 mm. long villi, on the joints and pedicels. 

 Sessile spikelets 5 mm. long ; lower involucral glume flat or concave 

 between the keels, which are neither winged nor margined (omitting 

 of course, the ordinary inflexed margins of the glume common to the genus) 

 or sometimes narrowly margined, scabrid or ciliolate, nerves 2-4 or between 

 the keels. Joints of rhachis and pedicels subclavate, with toothed tips. 

 Pedicelled spikelets equal or rather longer than the sessile, narrowly lanceolate, 

 purplish ; lower involucral glume 7-9 nerved. 



Note.— This species is nearly related to C Schcenanthus and the two, as 

 pointed out by Hackel (1. c. p. 600), are not always distinguishable with cert- 

 ainty. v At high altitudes, ' says Stapf (1. c. 314), ' as in Kumaon and Spiti, or 

 in the dryer parts of the Punjab, it (C. Jwarancusa) becomes dwarfed 

 and narrow-leafed and forms a " transition state " to C. Schoenanthus The 

 latter is a characteristic desert plant, able to exist with a minimum supply of 

 water. On the other hand, C. Jwarancusa is dependent on an, at least 

 temporarily, abundant supply of water, and prefers the neighbourhood of 

 rivers, or actually grows in the beds of torrents. It is not impossible, that the 

 distinguishing characters of C Jwarancusa as compared with C. Schoe- 

 nanthus, that is the robust state, the long, flat and relatively broad leaves, and 

 the more composite panicles, are mainly due to eolaphic conditions.* 



Locality : Sind: Karachi (Dalzell and Gibson); Bholari (Bhide !); Shikarpur 

 (Bhide !); Umerkot, sandy plains (Sabnis B1082!); Gharo (Blatter and McCann 

 D669! D670!) ; Gholamalla (Blatter and McCann D671!).— Gujarat : Ahmeda- 

 bad (Dalzell and Gibson). 



Distribution : Outer hillzone of the United Provinces, Kumaon, Garhwal 

 (up to 3,000 m. or over) and westwards as far as Peshawar, Jodhpur and Jais- 

 almer States, Sind ; Bihar. 



Uses : Stapf is of opinion that this grass is very probably used along with 

 C. Schcenanthus. See also Stapf (1. c. 313-314). 



*3. Cymbopogon citratus, Stapf in KewBull. (1906), 357 in Prain Fl. Trop. Afr. 

 ix, 282.— Andropogon Schoenanthus, Linn. Syst, ed. x (1759), 1304, not of Sp. 

 PL; Roxb. Fl. Ind. ed. Carey and Wall, i (1820), 278.— A. citratus DC. Cat. 

 Hort. Monsp. (1813), 78 ; Nees in Allgem. Gartenz. iii (1835), 266.— A. citriodo- 

 rum (sic !) Desf. in Tabl. Ecole Bot. ii (1815), 15.-^4. Roxburghii, Nees in 

 Wight Cat. (1833), no. 1699 (nomen tantum) ; Steud Syn. PI. Glum. i. 

 (1855), 395— A. ceriferus Hack, in Mart. Fl. Bras ii, pt. iii (1883), 281.-^4. 

 nardus, var. ceriferus, Hack. Monogr. Androp. (1889), 605. Sehcenanthus 

 amboinicum, Rumph. Herb. Amboin. v, 181, t. 72. 



For the taxonomic position of this species see Stapf in Kew Bull. (1906), 

 330-333. 



Vern. Names'. Oleu cha, hirva cha (Mar.), lili cha (Guj.), vasane-hullu, 

 kavance hullu, majjige hullu (Canarese). 



Description : A tall perennial, throwing up dense fascicles of leaves from a 

 short, oblique annulate, sparingly branched rhizome, usually barren, but 

 occasionally giving rise to a stout erect culm up to over 1*8 m. high, 7-8-noded 

 and simple below the panicle. Leaf-blades linear, long -attenuated towards the 

 base and tapering upwards to a long setaceous point, up to over 90 cm. long by 

 16-18 mm. wide, very firm, glaucous-green, glabrous, smooth or more or less 

 rough upwards and along the margins ; midrib somewhat stout below, 

 whitish on the upper side ; primary lateral nerves 4-6 on each side, raised 

 particularly above with 2-4 secondary nerves between them- Ligules very 

 short, scarious, rounded or truncate. Sheaths terete, those of the barren 

 shoots much widened at the base, and tightly clasping each other, narrow and 

 separating upwards, with rounded shoulders at the mouth, 10-30 cm. long, 



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