102 



INDIAN FOREST MEMOIRS. 



References. 



Distribution. 



trade * * The results obtained from the chemical analysis show that the grass is capable 

 of yielding a good quality of cellulose, suitable in every way for the manufacture of 

 paper." 1 



The value of the leaf for paper manufacture probably depends mainly on the existence 

 of the well developed groups of sclerenchymatous fibres which form the girders of the 

 vascular bundles. 



The leaves are largely used for thatching. 



Triraphis madagascariensis, Book f. ex Prain in Bengal Plants, II, 1219. 



(Plates IV and XXXI to XXXIII.) 



F. B. I., VII, 305. (Under Neyraudia madagascariensis.) 



P., II, 1219. 



Tropical Himalaya and Sub-Himalayan tract from Punjab to Assam, Burma. 



Extends to China, Java, Africa and Madagascar. 



Vernacular 



Name. 



Culm. 



Leaf-sheath. 

 Lamina. 



Ligule. 



Inflorescence. 



A. — Description. 



Bansi (Dehra Dun). 



Erect, slender, attains a height of 10 ft. (Prain gives 15 ft.) and diameter of 0-25 in. 

 (F. B. I. gives 0-5 in.). 



Usually solid above and fistular below. Sometimes solid throughout. 



Glabrous, striate, green in colour, pruinose when young, polished when old. Secondary 

 culms are often produced from the upper nodes. 



These are frequently poorly nourished and may show a diameter of only 0-05 in. 



Glabrous. 



Of uppermost leaf of flowering culm usually well-developed and attaining a length of 

 2 ft. and width of 0-25 in. 



In depauperate culms it may be only 4 in. long with a width of 0-05 in. 



Of lower leaves attains a length of 2-| ft. and width of 0-5 in. (F. B. I. gives width of 

 1 in.). 



Linear, long acuminate, slightly narrowed near the sub-amplexicaul base. Greatest 

 width attained within the basal eighth, or within 3 inches from base. Usually jointed to, 

 and deciduous from, the sheath. 



Scaberulous on margins and also on the nerves on both surfaces, especially towards the 

 apex (F. B. I. gives smooth). A few long hairs on margins and inside at base. 



A villous ridge. 



Spikelets solitary, pedicelled, on the fascicled or whorled branches of a terminal panicle 



Primary rachis glabrous or scaberulous. Branches and pedicels scaberulous. 



1 Agricultural Bulletin of the Straits Sf F. M. States, Vol. VII, No. 12, December 1908, p. 586. 



[ 102 ] 



