April, 1912.] 



859 



Correspondence. 



BARBADOS SOUR GRASS. 



Bolton Mansions Hotel, 

 Bolton Gardens, 



Scuth Kensington, S.W., 



28th January, 1912. 

 Dear Sir,— Whilst reading the Bulle- 

 tin of the Imperial Institute, Vol. IX., 

 No, 1, I came across a review of 

 Mr. Maemillan's Handbook of Tropical 

 Gardening. In this review it is stated 

 that "The reference on page 104 to 

 Paspalum conjugatum as "Barbados 

 sour grass is inaccurate ; this valuable 

 plant is Andropogon pertusus, men- 

 tioned on page 462 without a common 

 name." I looked up the Flora Zeylanica 

 at the South Kensington Museum, and 

 found as I thought that Barbados sour 

 grass was given by the late Sir Joseph 

 Hooker as the popular name of Paspalum 

 conjugatum with the authority of 

 Ferguson, also, in the History of Bar- 

 bados by Sir R. H. Schomberg, the 

 vulgar name is given " Broad-leaved 

 Savannah grass"— "sour igrass" 



I wrote accordingly to Professor Duns- 

 ton (privately), saying I thought his 

 reviewer was in error, and quoted the 

 above authorities. I added that tor as 

 long as I could remember Paspalum 

 conjugatum had been known in Ceylon 

 as "The sour grass of Barbados." 



To my letter he sent me the accom- 

 panying reply, and I have received his 

 permission to send you a copy. 



Yours, etc 



JOHN F. JOWITT. 



Imperial Institute. 

 London, S.W., 16bh January, 1912. 



Dear Jowitt, — With reference to your 

 letter of the 12th December regarding 

 "Barbados sour grass," I have looked 

 carefully into this question and have 

 also consulted the Director of Kew. 



It appears that the name " sour grass " 

 has been applied indiscriminately to 

 more than one species, and as its use 

 may consequently lead to confusion, it 

 would be better to avoid it altogether, 



In Barbados, Andropogon pertusus 

 has been known as "sour grass" for 

 at least forty years, and specimens of 

 this grass, under the name of "sour 

 grass," have been received at various 

 times at Kew during that period. No 

 specimens of Paspalum conjugatum have 

 ever been received at Kew from Bar- 

 bados under the name "sour grass." 

 Andropogon pertusus was introduced 

 into the West Indies from India. 



The statement which you quote from 

 the Flora of Ceylon that P. conjugatum 

 is the sour grass of Barbados, rests 

 apparently on the authority of Ferguson, 

 but the Director of Kew has not been 

 able to verify this. Duthie in his 

 "Fodder Grasses of India" does not 

 quote the name " sour grass " at all. 

 Both grasses are common in Bengal, 

 Andropogon pertusus as a native, and 

 Paspalum conjugatum as an introduced 

 grass, but neither species is known 

 there as " sour grass." 



P. conjugatum is referred to as "sour 

 grass of Jamaica" in Kew Bulletin, 

 1894, p. 385. 



I am, yours sincerely, 

 WYNDHAM R. DUNSTAN. 

 J. F. Jowitt, Esq., : 

 Bolton Mansions Hotel, 

 Bolton Gardens, S,W. 

 [We are informed by Mr. Macmillan, 

 on the authority of Mr. Piper, the ex- 

 pert agrostologist of the [7. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, who has recently 

 been deputed to make a special study 

 of the grasses of the Philippines, that 

 Paspalum conjugatum is commonly 

 known in the Philippines as "Sour" 

 or "Bitter grass," also occasionally as 

 " Carabao grass."— Ed.] 



