NOTES ON GRASSES GROWING IN CEYLON. 



9 



This is one of the most common roadside grasses in Ceylon, 

 and can be easily recognized by its 3 to 6 digitate terminal 

 spikes, with a single one always some distance below the 

 others. It is so coarse that cattle scarcely ever touch it. It 

 is a most troublesome weed on roadsides, and will spring up 

 from its roots after being cut down several times. 



162. Eletjsine Coracana, Gcert. Eox. Fl. Ind. l.p. 342. 

 E. striata, Rox. 1. c. p. 343 ? Cynosurus coracanus, Linn. 

 Kurakkan, Sinhalese. Hermann, Mus. Zeyl. p. 58. Linn. FL 

 Zeyl. No. 458, p. 208. Knox's Ceylon, p. 22 ; Kay vara and 

 Kelwaragn, Tamil. Natch ne, Ragee, Hind. Raggi, of Madras. 

 I can find no explanation of the meaning of the specific name 

 adopted by Linneus and Gartner, but can scarcely doubt that 

 it is derived from the Sinhalese Kurakkan, under which it 

 has been known to and cultivated by the natives time out of 

 mind. There is no record of its having been found in a wild 

 state. This is cultivated extensively by the Sinhalese from 

 the coast up to several thousand feet in the Kandyan country, 

 especially in the ckenas, a word having the same meaning as the 

 Kumari in the Madras Presidency. " This is the most prolific 

 of cultivated grasses, forming the chief diet of the poorer 

 classes in some parts of India, as Mysore, North Ci rears, slopes 

 of the Ghauts, &c. It is considered by the natives to be the 

 most nourishing and invigorating of cheap food. On analysis, 

 Raggi has been found to contain, on an average 6*53 per cent, 

 of nitrogenous matter, whereas rice contains 7*40, and wheat 

 13-42. In this respect Raggi stands last among the cereals of 

 India. But Dr. Forbes Watson thinks that the want of nitrogen 

 is more than compensated by the mineral constituents of Raggi. 

 It is rich in iron required for the blood corpuscles, and in potassa, 

 lime, and phosphoric acid, essential to various tissues of the 

 body. On. the whole, Raggi thus stands high in food value." 

 See a very full account of this grain in the supplement to the 



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