485 Jour., Bom. Nat. Hist. Soc, Vol. XXXIII, No. 3 [May 31, 1929. 



11. Sporobolus arabicus, Boiss. Diagn. PI. Or. ser. i, xiii, 47 ; Hook. f. in 

 F.B.I., vii, 252 ; Cke. ii, 1020.-5. pallidus, Boiss. Fl. Or. v, 514 {non Lindl.); 

 Aitchis. Cat. Panjab PI. 165 {excl. syn.).— Vilfa pallida, Nees ex Trin. in Mem. 

 Acad. Petersb, ser. vi, Sc. Nat. ii (1840), 62; Steud. Syn. Gram. 155.— 

 V. arabica, Steud. I.e. 241. 



Hook f . calls the synonymy of this plant a perplexing one, ' owing to the 

 double use of the specific name pallidus, and to the fact of Vilfa being now 

 regarded as a synonym of Sporobolus. This name {pallidus) was applied by 

 Nees in 1840 to the Arabian plant described above, under Vilfa; and by 

 Lindley in 1848 to a very different Australian one, under Sporobolus. Bentham 

 {Fl. Austral, vii, 623) assuming that Nees had referred his plant to Sporobolus, 

 renamed Lindley's S. Lindleyi. Lastly, Boissier, when he founded his 

 5. arabicus, was not aware that it was Trinius's Vilfa pallida, which he erro- 

 neously cites in Fl. Orient., under Sporobolus pallidus, Trin. In this case the 

 proper course appears to me to be to retain the name Sp. pallidus, Lindl., for 

 the Australian plant, and Sp. arabicus, Boiss., for the Arabian and Indian.' 

 Personally we are inclined to call this species S. pallidus, Boiss., as Vilfa 

 pallida, Nees is the oldest name for the Indo- Arabian species. 



Description : Cke. ii, 1020. 



Locality: Sind : (Burns!); Laki (Bhide !) ; Mirpur Sakro (Blatter & 

 McCann D672 !, D677 !, D678 !) ; Gharo (Blatter & McCann D673 !, D676 !) ; 

 Tatta (Blatter & McCann D674!, D675 !) ; Jamadar ka Landa near Karachi 

 (Stocks 663) ; Karachi (Woodrow) ; between Karachi and Magar Peer 

 (Wykeham Perry). 



Distribution : Punjab, Waziristan, Rajputana Desert, Afghanistan, Balu- 

 chistan, Arabia. 



12. Sporobolus scabrifollus, Bhide in Journ, & Proc. As. Soc. Beng. new. ser. 

 viii (1912), 312, pi. xxv. 



Description : Stems erect, 20-75 cm. high. Nodes glabrous. Leaves 2*5— 

 12 cm. long, 3-9 mm. broad, lanceolate, rounded or subcordate at the base, 

 hairy on both surfaces with bulbous based hairs, margins slightly thickened 

 and spinulosely serrulate ; sheaths glabrous ; ligule a fringe of hairs. Panicle 

 7*5-17'5 cm. long, 2*5-9 cm. diam. ; branches whorled or fascicled, a few 

 solitary ones or twins intervening. Spikelets about 1 mm. long. Glumes 3, 

 involucral ones empty, ovate, acute, membranous, 1-nerved, the lower one f 

 the size of the upper ; flowering glume just a little shorter than the upper 

 involucral, ovate, acute, membranous, 1-nerved, paleate, bisexual : pale 

 shorter than the glume. Stamens 3 ; styles 2 ; stigmas plumose. Grain 

 rounded, slightly beaked at the extremities ; lodicules minute. 



Locality : S.M. Country : Ranibennur (Bhide !) ; Haveri (Talbot 2176 !). 



Distribution: So far endemic. 



13. Sporobolus coromandelianus, Link. Hort. Reg. Berol. i (1827), 89 (in nota). 

 Kunth Rev. Gram, i (1829), 68 ; Dalz. & Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 296 ; Hook. f. in F.B.I. 

 vii, 252 ; Cke. ii, 1021 ; Haines Bot. Bihar & Orissa (1924), 975.—Agrostis coro- 

 mandeliana, Retz. Obs. iv, 19 ; Vahl. Symb. i, 10 ; Roxb. Fl. Ind i, 316.— 

 A. indica, Forsk. Fl. Aeg.— Arab. 104.— Vilfa coromandeliana, Beauv. Agrost. 

 15 ; Trin. Sp. Gram. Ic. t 11 {omittens glumam involucri inferiorem) ; Steud. 

 Syn. Gram. 153. — V. commutata, Trin. Diss, i, 156. — V. discosPora, Trin. in 

 Mem. Acad. Petersb. ser. vi, Sc. Nat. ii (1841), 59. — V. Roxburghii, Nees ex 

 Trin. I.e. — V. Roxburghiana, Nees ex Wight Cat. No. 1742 ; Steud. Norn. ed. 

 ii, ii, 59.— Sporobolus commutatus, Kunth Enum. i. 214 ; Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. iii, 

 376 {excl. syn. pulchello) ; Boiss. Fl. Or. v (1S84), 513 ; Aitchis. Cat. Panjab 

 PI. 165 : Duthie Grass. N. W. Ind. 29.-5. discosporus, Nees Fl. Afr. Austr. 

 158. — Triachyrum cordofanum, Hochst. ex Steud. Syn. Gram. 176. 



Description : Cke. ii, 1021. 



Locality: Sind: Jamadar ka Landa near Karachi (Stocks). — Gujarat : 

 Shady places at DhansuraMadasa-Petha (Sedgwick \).—Khandesh : Bor, Bori 

 River (Blatter & Hallberg 4426 ! ) — Konkan : Kennedy Seaface, Bombay 



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