R E I N W A R D T I A

Published by Herbarium Bogoriense — LBN, Bogor
Vol. 9, Part 2, pp. 183 — 185 (1975)

A NEW SPECIES OF CYMBOPOGON SPRENG. (GRAMINEAE)
FROM BURMA

SOEJATMI SOENARKO

Department of Botany, University of Beading, Reading, England *

ABSTRACT

An illustrated description of the new species Cymbopogon manda-
laiaensis S. Soenarko is presented and it is compared with the closely
related species C. nervatus (Hochst.) Chiov. and C. clandestinus (Steud.)
Stapf.

ABSTRAK

Suatu pertelaan bergambar daripada jenis baru Cymbopogon manda-
laiaensis S. Soenarko disajikan dan jenis ini dibandingkan dengan kerabat
dekatnya C. nervatus (Hochst.) Chiov. dan C. clandestinus (Steud.) Stapf.

During my study on the systematics of the genus Cymbopogon
Spreng. (Gramineae) in the Department of Botany, University of
Reading, Reading, and in the Herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens,
Kew, England, I have found some specimens from Burma which were
Wrongly identified as C. nervatus (Hochst.) Chiov. They are considered
to belong to a new species which is described below. I am grateful to
Prof. V. H. Heywood (Reading) and Dr. W. D. Clayton (Kew) for
supervising my study and in helping with the Latin description.

Cymbopogon mandalaiaensis S. Soenarko, sp. nov. — Fig. 1

C. clandestinus (Steud.) Stapf affinis, sed spiculis glabris et gluma
mferiore spiculae sessilis longitudinaliter profunde sulcata, vitulis
oleiferis in lateribus utrisque sulci praedita, differt.

TYPUS: U Thein Lwin 94 (K).

Perennial or annual; culm erect or geniculate, up to 120 cm high,
often solitary, glabrous, nodes swollen, with stilt roots at the lower nodes.
Leaf-blades rigid, 9 mm wide, smooth, rounded at the base. Leaf-sheaths

Present address: Herbarium Bogoriense, Bogor, Indonesia.

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184 R E I N W A R D T I A [VOL. 9

Fig. 1. Cymbopogon mandalaiaensis S.Soenarko inflorescences (holotype, K).

1975] SOENARKO: Cymbopogon mandalaiaensis 185

glabrous. Ligule subchartaceous, 5 mm long. Spathate panicle erect,
narrow and often interrupted, about 50 cm long, with loose branches;
spatheole 27 mm long, subchartaceous, glabrous; peduncle slender, stout.
Racemes 22 mm long; lower raceme-base and lowermost pedicel more
or less swollen, almost glabrous; rhachis internodes and pedicels pilose
along the margins, glabrous on the back. Sessile spikelet 4.5 mm long;
lower glume lanceolate, 0.8 mm wide, subchartaceous, with deep median
groove, nerveless or 2-nerved, with brown oil-marks along the nerves,
broadly winged, glabrous; upper glume glabrous, membrano-chartaceous,
rounded on the back; awn more or less 22 mm long. Pedicellate spikelet
4.5 mm long, glabrous; lower glume narrowly ovate-lanceolate, 1.2 mm
wide, acuminate, glabrous; upper glume membrano-chartaceous.

HABITAT : Grasslands in dry places.
DISTRIBUTION: Endemic to Mandalay, Burma.

This species was identified by Bor (in J. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc. 52:
150. 1954) as C. nervatus (Hochst.) Chiov. from East Africa. It has the
lower glume of the sessile spikelet similar to that of C. nervatus, having
oil-marks along both sides of the median groove, and stilts roots at the
base of the culm. However it differs from C. nervatus in small but
numerous characters. In C. mandalaiaensis the median groove is deep,
corresponding to a keel inside similar to that of C. martinii (Roxb.)
Stapf, whilst in C. nervatus it is very shallow. The leaf-blades in this
new species are rigid and rounded at the base; the lower glume of the
sessile spikelet is broadly winged; and the awn is much longer than that
of C. nervatus, which is only 14—15 mm long.

In appearance it closely resembles C. clandestinus (Steud.) Stapf,
but the latter has hairy spikelets and no oil-marks. Both species are
endemic to Mandalay District of Upper Burma.

BURMA. Mandalay. Tatkon, 7.XI.1928, D. Rhind 928 (K); ibid., 28.XI.1921,
U Ba Thein I (K) ; Allanmujo, 3.XI.1939, U Thein Lwin 94 (K, holotype); Mimbu
Steamer Ghat, Dec. 1908, J. Mckenna & I.H. Burkill 31551 (K); Maklaing, 17.XI.1928.
E.B. Minus (K).


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