SPECIES l REPORT

Species
22(70), 2021
Chrysopogon serrulatus Trin.
(Poaceae), an addition to the
Flora of Telangana State, India
Nagaraju Siddabathula1, Paramesh L2, Vijayabhaskar
Reddy A2

To Cite:
ABSTRACT
Siddabathula N, Paramesh L, Vijayabhaskar RA. Chrysopogon serrulatus Trin. was collected from Telangana State and reported
Chrysopogon serrulatus Trin. (Poaceae), an addition to here as an addition to the Flora of Telangana. A detailed description and
the Flora of Telangana State, India. Species, 2021, colour photographs were provided to facilitate identification.
22(70), 296-299

Key words: Ananthagirihills, Grass, New record, Poaceae, Wildlife

Author Affiliation:
1Botanical Survey of India, Deccan Regional Centre,
Room nos. 228–238, Kendriya Sadan, GPOA, Sultan
Bazar, Koti, Hyderabad-500095, Telangana, India. 1. INTRODUCTION
2Applied Palynology Laboratory, Department of The genus Chrysopogon Trin. of Poaceae, subfamily Panicoideae, supertribe
Botany, Nizam College, Osmania University, Andropogonodae tribe Andropogoneae (Soreng et al., 2017). It comprises ca. 47
Hyderabad-500001, Telangana, India. species worldwide (Tropical & Subtropical Old World to Pacific, U.S.A. to


Cuba), of which ca. 23 species exists in India (Prasanna et al., 2020; Kellogg’s et
Corresponding author:
al., 2020). Further, only 19 taxa distributed in southern India (Nagaraju, 2020)
Botanical Survey of India, Deccan Regional Centre,
Room nos. 228–238, Kendriya Sadan, GPOA, Sultan and they are good fodder sources for wildlife and domestic cattle. The genus
Bazar, Koti, Hyderabad-500095, Telangana, India. is characterized by panicle rather contracted, racemes many-nodded; spikelets
Email: nagaraju.siddabathula@gmail.com in groups of threes, one sessile and 2 pedicelled, awned (Nagaraju et al., 2020).
While exploring the Telangana State, under the project entitled “Grasses of
Peer-Review History Telangana state”, an interesting grass sample was collected from Ananthagiri
Received: 06 August 2021 hills, Vikarabad District, Telangana. Literature survey (Bor, 1960; Pullaiah,
Reviewed & Revised: 09/August/2021 to 03/September
2015 and Reddy & Reddy 2016) and consultation of herbaria revealed that, the
/2021
grass is Chrysopogon serrulatus Trin. (Figure 1). Authors reported as a new
Accepted: 06 September 2021
Published: September 2021 record to the Flora of Telangana and Identified specimen (BSID008937)
deposited at BSID, Hyderabad. This grass supports the local wildlife being a
Peer-Review Model source of fodder and also acts as a great soil binder.
External peer-review was done through double-blind
method.
2. TAXONOMIC TREATMENT
Chrysopogon serrulatus Trin. in Mem. Acad. Imp. Sci. Saint-Petersbourg, Ser.
6, Sci. Math. 2: 318. 1832; Bor, Grasses Burma Ceylon India Pakistan: 118. 1960;
Karthik. et al., Fl. Ind. Enum. - Monocot.: 198. 1989; Kellong. et al., Checklist of
the grasses of India 337. 2020; Prasanna & al., Poaceae in Mao & Dash (eds.) Fl.
Plants of India- an annotated checklist–Monocotyledons 341. 2020.
DISCOVERY Andropogon monticola Roem. ex Schult. var. trinii (Steud.) Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India
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SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY 7: 193. 1896.

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Page297

Figure 1: A. Habit; B. Inflorescence; C. Spikelets (2-pedicelled and 1-sessile); D-I. Sessile spikelet: D. Lower glume; E&F. Upper
glume; G. Lower lemma; H. Upper lemma; I. Lodicules, Stamens and Pistil; J–N. Pedicelled spikelet: J. Lower glume; K. Upper
glume; L. Lower lemma; M. Upper lemma; N. Lodicules and stamens.

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SPECIES l REPORT

Perennial, rhizomatous, tufted. Culms 25–110 cm high, erect, branched; nodes glabrous. Leaves mostly cauline; sheaths 5–18 cm
long, compressed, keeled, glabrous; ligule a rim of hairs; leaf blades linear–filiform 9–65 × 0.2–0.6 cm, base rounded to truncate,
margins bulbose based hairs below and entire towards above, apex acute, glabrous-hairy on both abaxial and adaxial surfaces.
Inflorescence panicle, 20–28 cm long (including peduncle), rachilla filiform, 1–3.5 cm long, Sessile spikelets lanceolate–elliptic, 4.5–6
× 1–1.5 mm, awned. Lower glume lanceolate-elliptic, 4–4.5 × 0.2–0.4 mm, coriaceous-chartaceous, green in color, margins
membranous, apex round to bifid, keeled; rounded on back, hairs on keel below the apex; 4-nerved, lateral nerves not reaches up to
apex. Upper glume boat shaped, 4–4.7 × 0.5–0.9 mm, coriaceous-chartaceous, green in color, margins ciliate; apex bifid, rounded
lobes; awned, 6–8 mm long, barbed; keeled, rounded on back, hairs on keel below the apex; obscurely nerved, retrorsely barbed
veins on abaxial surface. Florets 2, lower barren, upper hermaphrodite. Lower lemma lanceolate-linear, 1.5–2.5 × 0.1–0.3 mm,
hyaline, margins ciliate, apex acute and ciliate, nerveless. Palea absent. Upper lemma reduced to a hyline base of geniculate awn.
Lodicules 2. Stamens 3, 2–2.9 × 0.3–0.5 mm. Ovary oblong, 0.2–0.6 mm, stigma plumose. Pedicelled spikelets staminate or neuter,
lanceolate-elliptic, 5.5 × 0.9 mm; pedicels ca. 1 mm long, golden brown rufous hairy 1.5–2.8 mm long. Lower glume lanceolate-
elliptic, ca. 4.5 × 0.9 mm, 7-nerved, coriaceous-chartaceous, margins entire; apex with aristae 0.9 mm long; hirsute on abaxial
surface. Upper glume lanceolate-elliptic, ca. 4.8 × 0.85 mm, hyaline, chartaceous, margins ciliate; 1-nerved, at times obscured;
abaxial surface sparsely hairy and shallowly depression from base to apex. Florets 2, lower barren, upper male, epaleate. Lower
lemma elliptic-lanceolate, ca. 4.3 × 0.45 mm, hyaline, chartaceous, nerve less, margins ciliate, apex acute. Upper lemma elliptic–
lanceolate, ca. 3.5 × 0.45 mm, hyaline, chartaceous, nerve less, margins ciliate, apex acute. Palea absent. Lodicules 2. Stamens 3,
anthers ca. 2.2 × 0.4 mm.

Flowering & Fruits: July–December.

Distribution: Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh,
Uttarakhand.

Specimen Examined: India: Telangana, Vikarabad District, Ananthagirihills, (N 17.32260°, E 77.86613°, 607 msl), 30.11.2019, S.
Nagaraju 008937 (BSID).

Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the Director, Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata and the Scientist In-charge, BSI, Deccan Regional
Centre, Hyderabad for facilities and also grateful to forest officers and field staff for permission and logistic support.

Authors Contribution:
All authors have contributed equally to manuscript.

Funding:
This research received no external funding.

Conflicts of interest:
The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data and materials availability

All data associated with this study are present in the paper.

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© 2021 Discovery Scientific Society. All Rights Reserved. ISSN 2319–5746 EISSN 2319–5754 l OPEN ACCESS
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