■x^r. 



623 Jour., Bom. Nat. Hist. Soc, Vol. XXXI I, No. 4 [May 31, 1928. 



B. More than 40 cm. high 



I. Lower involucral glume dorsally deeply 



grooved ... ... ... 3. M. insignis. 



II. Lower involucral glume not dorsally 

 grooved 



1. Ligule of several narrow membranous 



segments ... ... ... 4. H. Ritchiei. 



2. Ligule truncate, ciliolate ... ... 5. H- contortus. 



1. Heteropogon oliganthus, Blatter & McCann, nov. comb— Andropogon 

 oliganthus, Hochst. ex Steud. Syn. Gram. 368 ; Hook. f. in F.B.I, vii, 201. 



Description : A dwarf annual. Stems 7-15 cm. high, tufted, slender, some- 

 times creeping below, geniculate. Leaves 5-7' 5 cm. long, quite flat, subensi- 

 form, acuminate, softly hairy, margins thickened, cartilaginous, sheaths 

 compressed ; ligule very short, membranous. Spikes usually very shortly 

 exserted from the long, narrow, glabrous spathes ; peduncle curved, puberulous. 

 Spikes 8-16 mm. long, with 3-6 pairs of glumes, lower spikelets neuter. Joints 

 and pedicels about half as long as the sessile spikelet, long-ciliate. Sessile 

 spikelet 5 mm. long, oblong ; callus short, obtuse. Lower involucral glume 

 obtuse, chartaceous, dorsally villous toward the base, not dorsally channelled, 

 shining, faintly nerved, with narrowly involute margins, ciliolate towards the 

 truncate tip, callus bearded, upper involucral glume obtuse, apicnlate. Lower 

 floral glume very short, broadly oblong, ciliate, upper with a shining awn 3-4 cm. 

 long, column of awn glabrous. Pale very small. Anthers 1 mm. long. Pedi- 

 celled spikelet, neuter, larger than the sessile, ovate-oblong. Lower involucral 

 glume herbaceous, obovate-oblong, truncate, distinctly 9-13-nerved, subemargi- 

 nate, keels scabrous, margins ciliolate, hardly incurved, upper shorter by £, 

 membranous, oblong, obtuse, 1-3-nerved, ciliate. Pale of upper floral glume 

 very small. 



Hackel, l.c, is of opinion that this species is intermediate between Dichan- 

 thium and Heteropogon, but comes nearer the Heteropogons, because the 

 sessile spikelets differ from the pedicelled ones in shape, nervation and the dorsal 

 furrow. 



Locality: Deccan : Kalsubai (Patwardhan !) ; Mahableshwar, open edge 

 above the precipices looking from Dhobi's Waterfall path to Elphinstone Point, 

 elevation 4,500 ft., rainfall 270 inches (Sedgwick & Bell 4608!); Panchgani 

 (Blatter & Hall berg B1221 \, McCann !). 



Distribution : Nilgiris. 



2. Heteropogon polystachyos, Blatter & McCann. comb, nov .—Andropogon 

 polystackyos, Roxb. Fl. Ind. i (1832), 261; Steud. Syn. Gram. 367; Hook. f. 

 in F.B.I, vii, 989 ; Dalz. and Gibs. 301 ; Cke. ii, 989.— A. pumilus, Roxb. Ic. 

 ined. t. 2021 (ex Hook. f.). 



Description : Cke. l.c. 



Locality : Deccan : Khandala (Woodrow) ; Mahableshwar, western side of hill 

 (Dalzell & Gibson). We have not seen this species. 

 Distribution : Peninsular India. 



3. Heteropogon insignis, Thw. Enuin. PI. Zeyl. 437 ; Benth. Fl. Austral, vii. 

 517. — Andropogon triticeus, R. Br. Prodr. (1810), 201 ; Hack. Monogr. Androp, 

 588; Steud. Syn. Gram. 368; Hook. f. in F.B.I, vii, 200 ; Cke. ii, 989.— A. 

 ischynanthus et liananthus , Steud. l.c. 367. 



Description : Cke. l.c. 



Locality : Konkan : Above Kenery Caves (McCann 9634 !). — Deccan : Around 

 Vital Hills, Poona (Bhide 782!); Chattarshinji Hill, Poona (Ezekiel!); 

 Khandala, very common on open hillside composed of rock fragments (McCann 

 9425 !) ; Igatpuri (McCann 4338 !) ; Mawal, Poona District (Woodrow).— 6". M. 

 Country. Manoli (Talbot 3978 \).—Kanara : Anmod, bare hillsides, elevation 

 2,000 ft., rainfall 200 inches (Sedgwick 3324 !). 



Distribution: India (Burma, C. Provinces, W. Peninsula), Ceylon, Malaya, 

 Australia. 



4. Heteropogon Ritchiei, Blatter & McCann, comb. nov. -Andropogon Ritchiei, 

 Hook. f. in F.B.I, vii, 201 ; Cke. ii, 990. 



Description : Cke. I.e. 



[2] 



