May 31, 1929.] Revision of the Flora of the Bombay Presidency 496 



Involucral glumes subequal or unequal, oblong, lanceolate, or almost linear- 

 lanceolate, 1-nerved ; lower and other flowering^" glumes ovate when unfolded, 

 subacute or obtuse, 3-nerved, 1 nerve in the keel and usually 1 near each 

 margin, nerves usually hairy ; pale shorter, 2-nerved. Lodicules 2, cuneate, 

 Anthers 3, short. Styles free. Grain subglobose, oblong, obovoid or 3-gonous 

 closely invested by the glume or pale. 



Species probably 20, in the warmer regions. 



This genus is not represented in Cooke's Flora. 

 Key : 



1. Spikes 1-75, rarely 10 cm. long, Spikelets 



2-3-flowered, under 2*5 mm. long ... 1. L. filiformis. 



2. Spikes 5-10 cm. long. Spikeletes 4-6- 



flowered, 2*5 mm. long ... 2. L. chinensis. 



— L- . AV*^ 



1. Leptochloa filiformis, Roem. & Schult. Syst. ii, 580 ; Kunth Ennm. PI. i, 

 270, Suppl. 220 ; Steud. Syn. Gram. 209 ; Duthie Grass. N. W. Ind. 192 ; 

 Aitchis. Cat. Panj. PL 167 ; Hook. f. F.B.I, vii, 298 ; Haines Bot. Bihar & 

 Orissa(1924), 972,—Eragrostis chinensis, Duthie Fodd. Grass. N. Ind. 59, t. 

 71.— Aira filiformis, Roxb. Fl. Ind. i, 326.— Poa malabarica, Klein ex Steud. 

 Nom. ed. ii, 303, 60. -P. contrecta et panicea, Retz. Obs. iii, 11.— P. virgata, 

 Roth Nov. Sp. 66. 



Description : A very slender grass, 30-70 cm. high. Stems tufted and 

 geniculately ascending. Leaves flat, flaccid, 10-25 cm. long, finely acuminate, 

 Sometimes sparsely hairy on the nerves and on the sheaths ; ligule short, erose 

 or setosely lacerate. Panicle 10-20 cm. long, contracted or diffuse. Spikes 

 1-7*5 or up to 10 or even 12*5 cm. long, exceedingly filiform with 2-nerved 

 rhachis. Spikelets about 1 mm. long, 2-3-flowered, distant nearly their own 

 length on the rhachis on very short pedicels. Involucral glumes "linear-or 

 oblong-lanceolate. Flowering glumes 2-3, broadly ovate, rather shorter than 

 the upper involucral glume, with median nerve and sub-marginal nerves 

 microscopically hairy ; pale rather shorter, reduplicate. Grain fusiform- 

 oblong, pericarp adherent, but slightly produced each end. 



Locality: Gujarat: Surat, near Athwa Farm (Bhide!); Ahmedabad in 

 garden (Sedgwick!). — Konkan : Parel, Bombay Island (Talbot!); Victoria 

 Gardens, Bombay Island (McCann 5351 ! , 5568!); Bycull a, Bombay Island 

 (McCann A40!). 



Distribution: Throughout India and Burma, Ceylon, tropical Asia, Africa 

 and America. 



2. Leptochloa chinensis, Nees in Syll. Ratisb. i (1824), 4, Agrost. Bras. 432 ; 

 Benth. Fl. Hongk. 430, Fl. Austral, vii, 617 ; Duthie Grass. N. W. Ind. 35 

 {excl. syn.), Fodd. Grass. N. Ind, 59, t. 71 ; Lisboa in Journ. Bomb. Nat. Hist. 

 Soc. vii (1893), 372 {excl. syn. tenerrima) ; Hook. f. F.B.I, vii. 299 ; Haines 

 Bot. Bihar & Orissa (1924), 972.- Poa chinensis, Linn. Sp. PI. 69 {excl. syn. 

 Burm.) ; Roxb. Fl. Ind. i, 332.— P. malabarica, Retz. Obs. v, 19.— P. asthenes, 

 Roem. & Schult. Syst. ii, 574.— P. decipiens, R. Br. Prodr. 181. 



Description : Stem tall, stout, 60-120 cm. high, erect or geniculately ascend- 

 ing. Leaves 15-45 cm. long, flat or convolute, scaberulous ; sheaths loose ; 

 ligule short, lacerate. Panicle 15-25 cm. long. Branches numerous, slender, 

 simple, opposite or alternate, suberect or spreading, 5-10 cm. long. Spikelets 

 4-6-flowered, about 2"5 mm. long, alternate, short-pedicelled, distant or 

 approximated, narrow. Involucral glumes somewhat unequal, lanceolate, 

 acute or subulate. Flowering glumes broader, lower apiculate with pilose 

 nerves ; nerves of pale pilose. Grain loose, obtusely trigonous, subrugose. 



Locality: Gujarat: (ex Lisboa).— Konkan : Parel, Bombay Island (ex 

 Lisboa.— 5. M. Country : Kilgerry Tank (Talbot !). 



Distribution : Throughout India and Burma, Ceylon, Malaya, China, Japan, 

 Australia. 



Note : Haines thinks that the two species are scarcely more than varieties. 

 We can't say how far this view is correct as we have seen only a few specimens. 



{To be continued) 



[17] 



