86 INDIAN FOREST MEMOIRS. 



normal rate of growth is, as noted above, 10 short internodes the first season, with 6 long 

 internodes and the panicle the second season. The season of flowering is also very constant. 

 Exceptions of course occur and some flowering culms may be found with 20, and some- 

 times even more, short basal internodes, thus apparently indicating that they have persisted 

 for at least 3 seasons. 



Such cases however appear to be undoubtedly abnormal and are probably due to 

 exceptionally unfavourable conditions of light, competition by neighbouring shoots, 

 damage by insects, fungi, and so on. In some of these cases periods of normal development 

 are found to be succeeded by periods of exceptionally feeble growth and these are almost 

 certainly caused by damage to the leaves by grazing, fire, or grass-cutting, 

 susceptibii- 62. During the cold and beginning of the hot 



Pamage. season, when the forest grasslands are chiefly exposed to fire damage, the aerial portion of 

 this species consists of — ■ 



(a) The dead flowering culms. 



(b) The immature short leafy culms which vary in size from those which have 



enjoyed a full season of vegetative activity to the young buds which have only 

 recently commenced development. 



The flowering culms are, as already noted, situated in the interior of the clump and 

 the young leafy culms at the periphery. In old plants, also, there is usually a more or less 

 considerable hollow space in the centre caused by the disappearance of previous generations 

 of flowering culms and in fire-protected areas this space is more or less filled with dead 

 leaves and inflammable debris. 



The shoots which are most exposed to damage are the one year culms which carry on 

 their lower internodes a number of large, more or less dry and inflammable, leaves and 

 which are situated in the immediate neighbourhood of the dead flowering culms and any 

 debris which may have collected in the interior of the clump. The youngest culms on the 

 other hand carry far less inflammable material and are situated on the exterior of the clump, 

 while the terminal buds of the branches of the rhizome are on the extreme outer periphery, 

 protected by hard scale-like leaves and as a rule below the growth surface. See Plate XXV, 

 fig. 15. 



The principal cause responsible for mitigating the damage done by fire to this species 

 in this locality appears to be the fact that it occurs in comparatively moist soil with a 

 considerable admixture of clay. Owing to its compact nature the soil resists the denuding 

 action of rain and effectually protects the buds of the rhizome branches and also to a 

 great extent the base of the one year culms, the apex of which is usually situated below the 

 surface. 



An early fire, therefore, as a rule does very little direct damage and is generally not 

 sufficient to prevent the production of flower and seed, as would be the case if the apical 

 bud of the one year culms was destroyed. On fire-lines and small grasslands where the 

 soil is more or less sheltered by the adjacent trees and thus kept moist, and also in large 



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