Oct. 15, 1929.] . Revision of the Flora of the Bombay Presidency 767 



TRIBE XIV. ORYZE^ 



96. Oryza, Linn. (Cke. ii, 1042). 



The spikelet of Oryza has been variously interpreted. Hook. f. has the 

 following description : ' Glumes 2-3, i and ii much the smallest, empty, scale 

 or bristle-like, rarely ; iii chartaceous, obtuse, actute or awned, strongly 

 3-5-nerved ; palea as long as the glume.' 



Cooke speaks of 5 glumes, * the 2 lower involucral glumes below the articu- 

 lation of the spikelet minute, scale-like (rarely absent) ; the 2 next involucral 

 glumes, above the articulation of the spikelet subulate ; floral glume solitary, 

 dimidiate-oblong, coriaceous or chartaceous, 5-9-nerved, awnless or with a 

 short or long straight terminal awn ; palea linear or lanceolate, as long as the 

 glume, 3-5-nerved.' 



Stapf thinks that the usual 2 outer empty involucral glumes are absent, that 

 the next 2 (scales or bristles) are empty florets (valves). He also takes the 

 ivth-glume to be a pale. 



Species about 17.— Tropical. — 2 species in the Bombay Presidency. 



1. Ligule very short, scarcely longer than broad, 



fringed with short hairs ... ... 1. O. coarctata. 



2. The lower ligules very long, up to 4 cm., 



always much longer than broad ... 2. O. sativa. 



1. Oryza coarctata, Roxb. Hort. Beng. (1814), 87, Fl. Ind. (1832), 206 ; Griff. 

 Notul. iii, 8, Ic. PI. Asiat. t. 142, f. 1 ; Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. iii, 371 ; Hook. f. in 

 F. B. I. vii, 93 ; Prain Beng. PL 1184 ; Cke. ii, 1042 ; Prodoehl Oryzece in Bot. 

 Arch, i (1922), 232.— O. triticoides, Griff. Notul. I.e. - Sclerophyllum coarctatum 

 Griff. I.e. 



Description ; Cke. ii, 1042. 



Locality : Sind : Karachi, in Herb. Kew without collector's name ; covering 

 large flats at the mouth of the Indus River (Blatter & McCann !) ; Shikarpur 

 (Dr. King's collector) ; Keti (Blatter & McCann D666 !) ; after Keti (Blatter & 

 McCann 0665!).—^^™; Sul^eri (Sedgwick & Bell 4241 !). — Forming 

 dense mats and covering miles of flat land at the mouth of the Indus river 

 within tidal influence, being covered at high tide. 



Distribution : Sundribuns, W. Peninsula. 



2. Oryza sativa, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 333 ; Gaertn. Fruct. ii, 5, t. 80, f. 5 ; 

 Host. Gram. Austr. iv, t. 325 ; Lamk. Encycl. t. 264 ; Kunth Enum. PI. i, 7, 

 Suppl. 4 ; T. Nees Gen Fl. Germ. Monocot. i, 2 ; Roxb. Fl. Ind. ii, 200 ; Griff. 

 Ic. PI. Asiat. t. 139, f. 149; Duthie Grass. N. W. Ind. 12, Field and Gard. 

 Crops 15, t. 4, Fodd. Grass. N. Ind. 20 ; Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. iii, 368 ; Doell in 

 Mart. Fl. Brass, ii, ii, 7, t. 1 ; Benth. Fl. Austral, vii, 550 ; Hook, f . in F. B. I. 

 vii, 92; Cke. ii, 1043. — (9. communissima, Lour. Fl. Cochin (1790), 267.— 

 O. glutinosa, Lour. I.e. 267.— O. montana, Lour. I.e. 267.— O. montana, Ham. 

 in Wall. Cat. (1828), 8633.— O. praecox, Lour. I.e. 267.— O. perennis, Mnch. 

 Meth. (1794), 197,—O.palustris, Hamilt. Prodr. (1796), 25.— O. latifolia, 

 P. Beauv. Agrost. (1812), 27 {non Desv.).— O. parviflora, P. Beauv. I.e.— 

 O. denudala, Desv. ex Steud. Nomencl. ed. i (1821), 577. — O. elongata, Desv. 

 ex Steud. I.e. — O. marginata, Desv. ex Steud. I.e. — O. mutica, Lour, ex 

 Steud. I.e.— O. pubescens, Desv. ex Steud. I.e. — O. rubribarbis, Desv. ex 

 Steud. I.e.— O. emarginata, Steud. Nomencl. ed. ii (1841), 234. — O. putnila, 

 Host, ex Steud I.e. 234.— O. rufipogon, Griff. Not. iii (1851), 5.— O. glumcspa- 

 tula, Hochst. ex Steud. Syn. PI. Glum, i (1854), 3. — O. nepalensis, Don ex 

 Steud. I.e. 3. — O repens, Herb. Ham. ex Steud. I.e. — O. segetalis, Russ ex 

 Steud. I.e. — O. sorghoides, Desv. ex Steud. I.e. — O. caudata, Trin. ex Doell in 

 Mart. Fl. Bras, ii, 2 (1871), 8. 



Description: Annual. Stems creeping or floating, 60 cm. to 3 m. high. 

 Leaves 30-60 cm. by 6-8 mm. or more, striate, scaberulous, 1-nerved ; sheaths 

 smooth ; ligule long 2-partite. Spikelets loosely panicled, not imbricating, 

 awn 7—13 cm. long, yellow or reddish, shining. Involucral glumes i-% the 

 length of the floral glume, lanceolate ; floral glume hispid above, dorsally 

 spinescently ciliate, awn very long. 



This is Hook, f.'s description prepared from the plant which Roxburgh and 

 other Indian writers consider to be the indigenous Rice. 



