October i, 1890.' 
THE TR0P10AL A«fR1t301.TUmST. 
241 
Next comes the grass which is even of more 
importance than Guinea grass, inasmuch as it is, 
though not so saccharine or nutritious, far 
more easily cultivated, growing readily in 
swampy lands in the lowcountry and in ravines 
on estates amongst the hills. Like all vegetation 
which is frequently cropped, this “ Mauritius ” or 
“ water grass” requires to be liberally manured. Its 
cultivation in the swampy parts of the Cinnamon 
Gardens and in and around Colombo generally 
has DOW attained dimensions of very considerable 
magnitude, bundles of the grass being carried 
about in carts and sold as fodder for cattle and 
horses. Its history as recorded by Mr. W. Ferguson 
is very curious, thus : — 
Panicum barbinode Trin. Sp. Gr. 3 t. 318. P. sarmen- 
tosum, Eox. fl-ind. I. p. 308. This ia the grass so well 
known, but very erroneously, as Mauritius Grass. It 
is not given in Bojer’s Hortus Mauritianus dated 1837, 
and Moon does not give it a place in his Catalogue 
dated 1824. By whom and when introduced to Ceylon 
I do not know. — It has been a well known fodder grass 
for several years past, grown in ravines and on the 
sides of streams in Cofiee estates, but in Colombo the 
cultivation and supply of this grass were nearly con- 
fined to the Firm of Wilson, Bitchie & Co., until their 
failure some years ago, when the natives, Tamil and 
Sinhalese, began to cultivate it extensively and now 
supply Colombo with this most useful grass. Unlike 
the Guinea Grass, this one grows best in swampy or 
low grounds, but which must he well drained and 
manured to produce good crops. The owners of 
Mauritius Grass fields near Golomho send their carts 
into town and carry out a large portion of its scaven- 
ging refuse as manure for this grass, and a very con- 
siderable trade is carried on by the sale of this and 
Guinea Grass in Colombo. 
Trinius gives Brazil as its native place, but as far 
as I know Roxburgh’s description is the first given 
of this grass, and that it originally came to the Botani- 
cal Gardens at Calcutta from Sumatra upwards of 
seventy years ago there can be no doubt, though I 
notice that it is referred to by one Botanist as a native 
of Behar and the mountains of Parasnatb. That it has 
spread from the Calcutta gardens to the various places 
in which it is now cultivated is very likely. Roxbourgh’s 
account of its introduction is as follows: — “A native 
of Sumatra, and from thence introduced by Dr. Charles 
Campbell into the Botanic Garden in 1804, where it 
grows luxuriantly and blossoms throughout the year.” 
Of Pencillaria spicata the record is : — 
Introduced from India to Ceylon many years ago. 
This plant is extensively cultivated in various parts 
of India and Egypt, and is said to be the staff of life 
in the Deccan, Eandeish and Gujarat. It is grown by 
the Tamils in Ceylon and springs up in rubbish heaps 
about Colombo. Its grain is so like Canary seed, that 
it is sold as such, and small birds seem to thrive on 
it. The late Dr. Elliott used it in feeding Carrier 
Pigeons, so successfully employed in carrying news 
from Galle to Colombo for many years before the 
telegraph was introduced. Cattle are fond of the straw. 
Of Steiiotaphrum complanatum it is stated : — 
Mr. Moore, of the Sydney Botanic Gardens, told me 
that this was the Kangaroo Grass of Australia, but 
that is generally given as the Anthistiria australis 
and now said to be identical with the A. ciliata 
Retz. The Stenotaphrum is a very common grass near 
Colombo covering moist banks and sometimes forming 
the entire sward of lands on the banks of rivers and 
under the shade of coconut and other trees. It is 
an excellent fodder grass and cattle are fond of it. 
Arundinella nervosa is one of the poor patana 
grasses we referred to. Of it we are told 
This is a very common grass in the Patnas in the 
higher ranges, but I do not think cattle csre for it, 
though when out and dry amongst other grasses it 
forms a good fodder. 
Apluda aristata when out and dried amongst other 
grasses is a good fodder. Of Ischocmum muticum ,we 
are told 
Large quantities of this grass are colleoted by (he 
grass women for horse food in Colombo, but it is a 
coarse fodder. 
Spodiopogon ohliquivalvis is one of the most important 
of our native grasses, and of it we have a full 
record : — 
Common throughout the island. A very variable 
plant, and the extreme forms of it very different in 
appearance, but, from the examination of a large num- 
ber of specimens, I feel satisfied they may be safely 
arranged under one specific name. The larger hairy 
form ocoora at a considerable elevation on the bills. 
One form of this grass reserved in fields and under 
the shade of coconut trees in and near Colombo, and 
extensively brought into town as fodder for cattle, is 
well known as the Rat-tana, literally red grass, of the 
Sinhalese. This grass, the .^tora (Panicum repens, 
Liti.), Guinea, and Mauritius grasses, are the four 
grasses sold separately in cart loads as fodder 
grasses in Colombo, and perhaps the best known to 
the natives. I am, quite familiar with several forms 
of this grass from the dry sand of the Cinnamon 
Gardens in Colombo up to an elevation of 6,000 
feet in the plain of Nuwara Eliya, and if all 
these are one species it may be considered one of 
the moat protean of grasses in existence as far as I 
know. 
Details are given of the varieties, and of one it 
is said : — 
It affects damp shady places from the coast up to the 
Kandyan country, and is very seldom found in flower. 
It is an excellent and abundant fodder. 
We now come to the principal grass of our upland 
prairies or patanas, Anthisteria ciliata, regarding 
which we quote as follows ; — 
This is a very abundant grass in many parts of Ceylon 
but especially in the patnas in Upper Dimbula, in many 
of which it is the principal grass, and is often out and 
dried for fodder for cattle. This was especially done 
by Mr. William Smith on the patnas near the group 
of estates at Mattakellie. It is perhaps in this res- 
pect the best substitute for hay of all the grasses found 
in Ceylon. Several years ago large quantities of this 
grass used to come from Bombay with batches of 
horses for sale. In tbe Bombay Flora, Dalzell states 
that this species, and A. cymharia. Box. are generally 
found together in tbe same field ; and that they form 
tbe greater part of the best specimens of hay in the 
country, whilst he thought that the A. ciliatus, which 
is also a native of South Africa, differed scarcely, if 
at all, from the famous Kangaroo Grass of New Hol- 
land the A. australis of Brown. I notice that Mr. 
Morris refers to the A. australis having been intro- 
duced to Ceylon as a distinct species from A. ciliata, 
but the following extract from Baron Ferd. Von 
Mueller’s Introduction to the Botanic Teachings of the 
Schools of Victoria, p. 125, show that this eminent 
Botanist considers the Kangaroo Grass identical with 
A. ciliata ; — “ Every one is acquainted with our Kan- 
garoo Grass (Anthistiria ciliata), long known before 
Australia became colonised in South Asia, and all Africa. 
Why the younger Linne should have connected the 
flower-festival of Bacchus with this plant, if really the 
name was changed from Authesteria, is difficult to 
conceive.” 
Another, but a creeping patana grass is Anthistiria 
heteroclita, ” an excellent fodder in a green or dried 
state.” 
We now come to the citrus-scented, great 
and prevalent grass of the patanas, known as mana. 
Its scientific name is Andropogon martini, and Mr; 
W. Ferguson gave the following details regarding 
it ; — 
I refer here to the best known and most remarkable 
grass in Oeylon, which covers thousands of acres of the 
patnas of the interior of the island up to 5,000 feet al- 
titude, and which are snpposed to have resisted tbe en- 
croachment of the forests upon them time out of mind. 
The Rev. Mr. Abbay, the late Mr. Nietner and oihers 
have written fully on these patnas, and their soil. In 
the open exposed patnas it grows to a height of 6 to 7 
feet, but in moist shaded places and amongst trees and 
small clumps of jungle it grows tall enough to conceal 
