]22 A^'NALS OF THE ROYAL COTAKIC GAEDEM, CALCUTTA,
sheatlis -which occupy -J of the length of the interuode, -walls "2 in. thick. Ciihn-sheaths
4 to C iu. long, purplish-greon, hairy -v\'hen young, smooth striate -when old, ciliate
on the edges, rounded and tnmcato at the top and bearing 2 small falcate, long-ciliate
auriclcs; imperfect blade subulate, acuminate, hairy -within at the base; Ugule short, ciliate.
Leaves linear-lanccolate, 4 to 10 in. long, -4 to 1-2 in. broad, the smaller ones most
f r e q u e n t : rounded at the base into a very short petiole; long-setaceous, scabrouspointed
above; sn^ooth on both surfaces, except near the margins above whore fui-nisbod
with scabrous points, scabrous on one edge; main vein narrow, secondary veins o to 10
pairs, intermediate 6 to 7; leaf-sheaths smooth, furnished at the top with two falcat«j
auricles fringed with stifi deciduous bristles; ligiiU very short. Inflorescence a short
terminal or axillaiy spike or spicate panicle on l e a f y ba-anchlets; fertile spikelets few,
sub-solitary; sterile in heads, smaller; rachis smooth. Spikelets cylindric, sterile '5 to "7
in. l o n g ; fertile 1 to V'Z in. long, both acute glabrous; empty glumes 2 to 3, many-veined,
broadly ovate, acute, mucronate; floioering glume larger, sub-acute; palea convolute, not
keeled, long-mucronate, membranaceous at the base. LocUeiiles many, about -3 to -5 in.
long, oblanceolate or spathulate acute, glabrous, 1—7-ncrved, persistent. jStamens many
(15 to 18 or more), e s s e r t e d ; filament free, slender; anthers mucronate. Ovary oblong,
surmoiinted by an enlarged perigynium containing the style which is cleft at the
apes into 3 plumose stigmas. Cargopsis oblong, large, beak long. BEESHA, Van liheede
Ilort. Mai. V. 119, tab. 60, (1G85) ; BEESHA RUEEDII, Kunth Enum. i. 434 (1822)
(excluding syn. except Rheede); Riiprecht Baml. 65 (1839); Munro in Trans. Linn. Soe.
xsvi. 144; Beddome Flora Sylv. ccxsiv. MEI.OCASNA RUEEDII, Uteiidcl Syn. 333. BAMCUSA
scRirTOKiA, Schleiis., fide Dillioyn in Index Hort. Malab.
"West Coast of India in Slalabar, Cochin and Travancore. Collected by White,
Johnstone (1836), F. W. Bourdillon, etc. Said by the latter to be " f o u n d only on river
" banks in the wetter districts of Travancore."
'J'liis species, although it is two centuries since it was first described and
excellently iigured by Van Rheede, is very little known indeed, and I have not been
able to secure fertile spikelets for examination, so that the plate only shews sterile
ones. Van Rheede says that the culms were used in his time for making arrows,
baskets and writing pens, and the leaves as a specific for toothache. Bourdillon
says it is used for mat-making, and that it flowers annually, not dying down after
tlowering.
VAR. sivagiriana. Spikelets rather larger, stamens many (up to 50 to 60),
leaves much larger generally. Sivagiri Hills, 4,000 to 4,500 ft., also
Pulncy Hills, 1873 (Beddome). (It is possible that this should have
been described as a species.)
PLATE No. 107.— Ochlandra Bheedii, Bth. and Hook. fil. 1, leaf- and flower-branch
bearing sterile spikelets; 3, culm and culm-sheath natural size; 3, spikclet ;
4 & 5, empty glumes; 6, flowering glume; 7, palea; 8, lodicule; 9, fruit-bearing
spikclet; 10 caxjo^sis—enlarged. (No. 9 is from Van Rheede's figure; No. 3 is from
Bourdillon's specimens; the rest after Johnstone's specimens.)
PLATE No. 108.—VAK. sivagiriana. I, leaf- and fruit-branch; 2, part of flowering
b t a n c h - o / « « W sise; 3, spikelet ; 4, 5, 6, empty glumes; 7, flowering glume; S,
INDIAN BAMBUSEiE; GAMliLIi;.
palea; 9, lodicules; 10, anther; 11. o v a r y ; 12, caryopsis—cwfa^irerf (All f r om Beddome's
2. OcHLANDRA STEiDULA, Thivaites Emm. Plant. Zegl. 376.
A close-growing gregarious shi-ub. Cuhm erect, 6 to 18 ft. high, about -5 to '7
in. in diameter, light green; nodes slightly marked b y a ring, geniculate; internodes 12
to 14 iu. long, with persistent sbeatha, scabrous. Vulm-f.hraths cylindric, glabrous, purple
when young, rounded at top and furnished on either side with small falcate auricles
set with stiQ white bristles; imperfect Hade subulate, recurved, in small new shoots very
l o n g ; ligule short. Leaves broad, oblong-lanceolate, 8 to 12 in. long by 1-5 to 3-5 in.
broad; rounded at the base into a short broad petiole; ending above in a long,
setaceous, scabrous point; smooth above, except near the margins, somewhat rough
beneath; scabrous on one edge, edges somewhat cartilaginous and reflcxed; main
vein thin, secondary veins 10 to 12 pair, intermediate about 7, transverse veinlets
none, but many pellucid glands having the appearance of oblique transverse veinlets
on the under sm-face; leaf-sheaths striate, smooth when old, hirsute when young, ciliate
at the edges, ending in a narrow callus and produced beyond the insertion of the
petiole into round falcate auricles tipped with long, stiff, deciduous bristles; ligule
narrow, glabrous. Inflorescence a laxly spicate teiininal panicle, usually a leaf-bearing
branclilet, the spikelets verticillate, few fertile, many sterile; rachis long, in joints,
rough, glaucous above the joints. Spikelets 1 in. long, -2 in. broad, cylindro-conical,
with few scattered stifE haii's, one fertile flower; empty glumes 2 to 3, '3 to '5 in.
long by as much broad, convolute, mucronate, ciliate on the edges; flowering glume
similar ,but larger; palea membranaceous, truncate, not keeled, '8 in. long, manyveined
and with transverse veinlets. Lodicules 6 to 13 or more, lanceolate, various
in breadth and with I, 3, 5 or more veins (even 13 occiu-), convolute, appressed to
the filaments, afterwards persistent around tho fruit. Slamens very many, often 30;
filaments free, flat, wavy in the upper half; anthers finally exserted, -5 in. long,
bifid at the apex and mucronate. Ovary narrow, smooth, the beak of the perigynium
produced into a trigonous point enclosing the style, which is surmounted by 4 to 5
short plumose stigmas, at first twisted. Caryopsis ovoid, about 1 in. long, surmounted
b y a long 1 in. beak, smooth or wrinkled, supported by the persistent glumes, palea
and lodicules. BEESHA STEIDULA, Munro in Truns. Lin". Soe. xxvi. 145; Beddome Flora
Sylv. ccsxxiv.
Ceylon, very common in the low country in the south of the island.
Tliis species is said by Dr. H. Trimen to flower annually and regularly. Thwaites
says it is very abundant in Suffragam district, that the leaves make excellent
thatch, and that it is callod Batta gass. It is tho C.P. No. 241. Tiimen's specimens
are from Deyandcra; and in the Journal of Botany, 1885, he gives the name as
Rana batali, and says that the species "covers hundreds of square miles of country in
" the south and west of Ceylon."
PLATE NO. 109.— Ochlandra stridula, Thwaites. 1, , leaf- and flower-branch • 2
leaf-branch -^\'ith sterile spikelets—of natural size 3, base of leaf and leaf-sheath enlarged-,
4, young shoot with culm of natural size-, 5, apex of culm-sheath (under-surface);
C, spikelet; 7, spikelet and stamens; 8 & 9, empty glumes; 10, flowering glume; 11,
palea; 13, lodicule; 13, ovary, style and stigma with stamens and appressed lodicules-
Ax.v. ROY. BOT. GAKD. CALCUXTA, VOL. V I I.