Themeda arundinacea (Roxb.) A.Camus

2. Themeda arundinacea (Roxb.) A.Camus View in CoL

Themeda arundinacea (Roxb.) A. Camus (1922) View in CoL 363. — Anthistiria arundinacea Roxb. View in CoL ((1814) 6, nomen); (1820) 256. — Cymbopogon arundinaceus (Roxb.) Schult. (1824) View in CoL 457. — Anthesteria arundinacea (Roxb.) Roxb. ex Hassk. (1843) 118, pro comb. — Themeda gigantea (Cav.) Hack. View in CoL subsp. & var. arundinacea (Roxb.) Hack. (1889) View in CoL 674. — Anthistiria gigantea Cav. subsp. arundinacea (Roxb.) Hack. ex Hook.f. (1896) View in CoL 217. — [ Themeda gigantea (Cav.) Hack. View in CoL subvar.(Roxb.) arundinacea Roberty (1960) 89,nom. inval.]. — Type: Roxburgh s.n. (holo BM; BR, G; Icon . Ined. 1718: CAL, K).

Anthistiria subsericans Nees ex Steud. (1854b) View in CoL 401. — Anthistiria arundinacea Roxb. var. subsericans (Nees ex Steud.) Andersson (1856) View in CoL 245. — Themeda gigantea (Cav.) Hack. subvar. subsericans (Nees ex Steud.) Hack. (1889) View in CoL 674. — Themeda arundinacea (Roxb.) A.Camus var. subsericans (Nees ex Steud.) A. Camus (1922) View in CoL 364. — Themeda subsericans (Nees ex Steud.) Ridl. (1925) View in CoL 212. — [ Themeda gigantea (Cav.) Hack.subvar. subsericans (Nees ex Steud.) Roberty (1960) View in CoL 92, nom. inval.]. — Type: Herb. Wallich 8774­B (holo P; G, K, microfiche IDC 7394).

Anthistiria vulpina Andersson (1856) View in CoL 245. — Themeda gigantea (Cav.) Hack. var. vulpina (Andersson) Hack. (1889) View in CoL 673. — Lectotype: Cuming 1272 (W, fragm. in L; iso L), first step designation by Jansen (1952: 481), second step here, see note.

[ Themeda arundinacea Ridl. (1893) View in CoL 401, nom. nud. — Voucher: Haviland s.n. (SING)].

Themeda intermedia (Hack.) Bor var. intorta Jansen (1952) View in CoL 482. — Type: Van Loenen 16 (holo L sh. 950.264-084; BO1901669 ; SING), see note.

Themeda gigantea View in CoL auct. non Hack.

Plants perennial. Culms 1–6 m long, tufted. Nodes glabrous. Ligule c. 0.5 mm long, margin glabrous. Leaves 40–100 cm by 5–25 (or more) mm. Uppermost spatheoles glabrous. Peduncle 3–20 mm long, extremely short to c. 1/2 times as long as the spatheole, glabrous to golden hairy. Capitules long-persistent. Involucral spikelets conspicuous, pairs unequally inserted, sterile to male; lower glumes linear-lanceolate, 12–20 by 1–1.8 mm wide, acuminate, herbaceous, 11-nerved, densely brown to golden hirsute (hairs sometimes bulbous based); upper glumes 3-nerved. Fertile spikelets 1–2, 9–11.5 mm long (incl. callus), callus 2–3.5 mm long, hairs brown, 2–3 mm long; lower glumes yellowish to castaneous, apex truncate, surface hairy all over, hairs white to castaneous. Awn well-developed, usually perfect, 20–110 mm long, column 20–80 mm long (i.s.), straight, minutely puberulous (40 ×!) or scaberulous, hairs white (i.s.). Anthers 3.5–5.5 mm long, purple (i.s.). Pedicel glabrous. Pedicelled spikelets 2–3, male, 13–17 mm long; lower glumes apex acuminate, pilose. 2n = 40.

Distribution — N India ( Uttar Pradesh to Orissa) to S China (E to Guangxi), Thailand: (Northern: Chiang Mai, Lamphun; Northeastern: Loei; Central: Saraburi; Southeastern: Chantaburi; Peninsula: Krabi); Malesia: Sumatra (E Coast), Mal. Penins. ( Kelantan, Pahang, Perak), W Java (Cikampek (Karawang), fide Backer 1928, see Beumée 1694a in BO, L. Misidentified T. villosa var. caudata ), Borneo ( Sabah), Lesser Sunda Isl. (Bali, Timor), Borneo (E-, SE Kalimantan, Sabah), Philippines (Luzon).

Habitat — Sunny slopes, roadsides, open forest, pine forest, river banks, edges of rice fields, 150–1375 m altitude.

Collector’s notes — Culms 2–3.6 m, stramineous with tan hue, nodes blackish. Leaf 1 m long. Inflorescence pendent, axes pale tan-pinkish. ‘Fruits’ (= capitules) brown hairy, orange hairy, green. Awns dark brown. Anthers orange. Stigmas purple.

Notes — Andersson mentioned no provenance and no material for his Anthistiria vulpina . Hackel (1889: 673) cited Royle 234 or 240 ( B, not clearly separated) from Nepal, while he com- mented: Cuming 1272 ( W, fragm. in L) (from the Philippines) is annotated by Andersson himself and this is here accepted as the lectotype .

Themeda arundinacea Ridl. (1893) is not a new combination,but a new species, but it is a nom. nud. It is based on Haviland s.n., from the Malay Peninsula, Pahang, ‘Pekan, open country’. Ridley later (1925: 212) cited this sub T. subsericans , based on misidentifications of T. arundinacea .

The taxonomic position of T. subsericans is not quite clear. Because of its similarity to T. arundinacea it has been regarded as ‘a hybrid between T. arundinacea and T. villosa in which the spikelets are awned’ ( Bor 1960: 252). Jansen (1952: 481) retained it as a distinct variety of T. arundinacea , and Zhao (1998) and Noltie (2000: 820) as a distinct species. The latter thought it to be an ‘upland’ form of T. arundinacea . I see no good reason to maintain it.

Jansen described T. intermedia (Hack.) Bor var. intorta , but he correctly labelled the holotype as T. arundinacea ( var. intorta ).