Table Of Content.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
REFERENCES
Bandyopadhyay, S. (2001): On the numberoffertile stamens in flowers ofBauhiniapurpurea L. (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae).J. Bombay
Nat. Hist. Soc. 98: 315-316.
Reddi, C.S. & C.B. Rao (1993): Pollination ecology ofBauhiniapurpurea (Caesalpiniaceae).J. Palynol. 29: 115-124.
33.ONTHEOCCURRENCEOFDIMERIACONNIVENS HACK.INANDHRAPRADESH
During a floristic survey of the Eastern Ghats, we
collectedagrassfromY. Ramavaram, EastGodavari district,
whichwasidentifiedasDimeriaconnivensHack.Thespecies
has not been mentioned in literature (Pullaiah 1997) as
occurring in Andhra Pradesh, hence the present report is a
new distributional record. D. connivens has been reported
earlierfromOrissa(SaxenaandBrahmam 1996),Bihar(Haines
1921)andKerala(SreekumarandNair 1991). Thespecimen
has been deposited in the Herbarium ofthe Department of
Botany, Sri Krishnadevaraya University (SKU), Anantapur.
Citation,adetaileddescriptionand illustrationofthisspecies
areprovided here.
Dimeria connivens Hack, in DC., Monog. Phan. 6:
689.1889;Hook.f. inFI. Brit. India7: 104. 1896;Haines, Bot
Bihar&Orissa 1016(1062). 1924;Mooney,Suppl. Bot. Bihar
&Orissa192. 1950;Bor,inKewBull. 1952; 577.1953&Grass.
BurmaCeylonIndiaPakistan 140. 1960.
Annual grass, culms tufted, erect or geniculate, up to
30 cm long, terete, smooth; nodes shortly and very sparsely
bearded. Leaves linear or narrowly linear-lanceolate,
ascending,2.5-5.5 cm,mostlybasal,apexacuminate,margins
withsparsetubercledbasedhairs, mid-ribwellmarkedonthe
lowersurface; sheath slightly keeled, broadly hyaline on the
margins, leafsheath longerthanthelowerinternodes, shorter
than the upper, upper sheath close to the culm, lower one
ratherlooseandslippingfromtheculms,smoothandglabrous,
striate; ligule ovate, membranous, shortly ciliate, less than
1 mm long, racemes2, erect, shortly divergent, 4.2 cm long,
lowerfloretsempty, upperfloretsbisexual, rachis flat,tough,
mm
0.75 wide,narrowlywinged,ciliatealongmargins;spikelets
mm
alternate,oblongoroblanceolate,greenish-yellow, 3.5-4
long,callusbasebearded,pedicelsveryshort,flat,lowerglume
mm
2.5 long, excluding the callus, chartaceous, apex acute
with a sharp point, keels covered all along the beak with
forwardly directed cilia; upper glume lanceolate or elliptic,
mm
3.5 long, acute, winged all alongthe keel, wings ciliate,
apical cilia 1 mm long, margin hyaline, lower lemma Fig. 1 DimeriaconnivensHack A Plant, B Rachis(part),C Lower
mm ,
oblanceolatetooblong,hyaline, 1.5-2 long,ciliatetowards glume. D & E Upperglume, F Lowerlemma, G. Upperlemma,
apex;upperlemmalinear-elliptic-acute,2-2.5mmlong,hyaline, H StamensandPistil
faintlynerved aristaorawn 7 mm long; short ciliate, column
mm mm
dark brown, 3 long, stamens 2, anthers 1.5-2 long, Status; Rare in grasslands.
bright yellow; ovary elliptic, c. 0.3 mm long, styles 0.5 mm, FI.& Fr.: September-December.
mm
stigmas plumose, 0.6 long. Caryopsis linear, slightly Specimens examined: Way to Y. Ramavaram, East
curved. Godavaridistrict,PullaiahandGayathri 12286.
478 J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 101 (3), Sep-Dec 2004
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
Note: Pullaiah (1997)reportsthreespeciesofDimeria June 18,2002 S. SANDHYA RANI
i.e D. avenacea, D ornithopoda and D. kanjirapaliiana in K. SRI RAMA MURTHY1
MURALIDHARA RAO
Andhra Pradesh. The present species differs from above in D.
havingwinged, unawned upper glume. T. PULLAIAH
DepartmentofBotany, Sri KrishnadevarayaUniversity,
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Anantapur515 003,AndhraPradesh, India.
The authors wish to express their gratitude to the 'PresentAddress: Department ofBotany,
DepartmentofScienceandTechnology,NewDelhiforfinancial AndhraLoyolaCollege,Vijayawada520008,
support. They also thank Mr. M.S. Kiran Raj, University of Andhra Pradesh, India.
Calicut, foridentifyingthe species. Email: [email protected]
REFERENCES
Haines, H.H. (1921): The Botany ofBihar and Orissa. London; rep. ed 1961. Calcutta.
Pullaiah,T. (1997): FloraofAndhra Pradesh. Vol. III. Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur.
Saxena, H.O. & M. Brahmam (1996): Flora ofOrissa, Vol. IV. Regional Research Laboratory and Orissa Forest Development Corporation Ltd.
Bhubaneswar.
Sreekumar, P.V. & V.J.Nair(1991): FloraofKerala- Grasses. Botanical SurveyofIndia, Calcutta.
34. POIKILOHYDROUS PLANTS IN NORTHERN WESTERN GHATS
Poikilohydry is a highly specialized adaptation shown start photosynthetic activity, flowering and fruiting occurs
by plants growing in conditions of periodic water stress. during October-December. The ability of these plants to
These species are more commonly known as desiccation withstand extreme dry conditions and high temperatures of
tolerantorresurrectionplantsowingtotheiruniqueadaptation uncovered rocky outcrops, and resume normal functions
for sustaining during dry periods. At the beginning ofa dry when water is available is ecologically interesting. Gaffand
spell, the tissues of these plants lose water and shrivel. Bole (1986) reported desiccation-tolerant grasses (e.g.
However, ifsmall amounts ofwater become available from Tripogon) from shallow soils in rocky areas ofIndia. This is
rainfall or streams, these plants absorb water and resume the first report of this peculiar adaptation in diverse plant
normal growth even duringthe dry period. groupslikefernsandaquaticangiospermsinIndia. Porembski
Afewsuch specieswerenoted in thenorthern Western and Barthlott (2000) have discussed global distribution of
Ghatsregionwheredryperiodisverylong,almost7-8months. desiccation-tolerant plants. They have pointed out that
ThemostcommonandtypicalexamplesarefernsCheilanthes Madagascar and African continent, esp. east Africa, are
farinosa (Forsk.) Kaulf., Selaginella spp., Microsorium particularly rich in desiccation-tolerant species.
membranaceum (Don) Ching and Pleopeltis nuda (Hook.) Phytogeographically, Indian and African flora are known to
Ching. These species grow in habitats where water stress is havemanycommonelements,butsofarthereisnosimilarity
severe. Cheilanthesfarinosa grows in rock crevices or is in poikilohydric taxa. The most well-known poikilohydric
anchored in moss on rock faces. Selaginella spp. are often speciesineastandwestAfricabelongtoCyperaceae,Poaceae
seen in disturbed forest undergrowth. Microsorium and Scrophulariaceae. None of the Cyperaceae or
membranaceum and Pleopeltis nuda grow as epiphytes Scrophulariaceaemembershavebeen describedfrom Indian
anchored inmossontreetrunksoronboulders. Mossspecies literature as poikilohydrous. It would be interestingto study
and liverworts such as Anthoceros spp., Riccia spp. also these families extensively in India to search for species with
exhibit this character. These plants can become fully similaradaptation.
functional evenwhen water isprovided artificially. Pokilohydry is a very interesting adaptation from the
In angiosperms, aquatic 1ithophytic members of ecological as well as physiological view. It can have many
Podostemaceae e.g Dalzellia ceylanica (Gardn.) Wight, scientific and agricultural uses in future, such as studying
Cladopus hookerianus (Tul.) C. Cusset, Polypleurum physiology of water uptake, establishing drought resistant
stylosum (Wight) Hall and Zeylanidium subulatum (Gardn.) crops etc. It is also of horticultural interest as these plants
C. Cusset also show this adaptation. During the dry period, can withstanddryconditionverywell. Owingtotheproperty
these plants appear only as greyish white marks on rocks in ofrejuvenation,CheilanthesandSelaginellaspeciesareoften
streambeds. Withtheapproachofrain inJune-July,theplants sold in tourist places as curiosities, as ‘sanjeevani.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 101 (3), Sep-Dec 2004 479
