RECENT STUDY ON HYDROPHYTIC GRASSES IN DISTRICT, , Prameela. R1, Venkaiah. M2 1Department of Botany, M.R.College for Women, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, (India) 2Department of Botany, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam (India)

ABSTRACT , one of the northern districts of Andhra Pradesh lies on the East Coast of India. The district is located between 17o-151-- 19o-151 N and 83o-001--83o-451 E. Agriculture is the principle occupation of the people of this district. Geographically vizianagaram district divided in to 3 regions. i.e. 1) The hilly region 2) The plains 3) The coastal. The present study is about the Hydrophytic grasses of the vizianagaram district. The plains cover major part of the district and within the network of the perennial rivers like Nagavali, Janjavathi, Suvarnamukhi, Vegavathi, Vattigedda, Champavathi and Gosthani. The tanks at Vizianagaram, (near Gajapathinagam), , , Parvathipuram, Venkamma peta (near ), Chinamerangi road, Seemalaguda road, Bhiripuram (Annamma cheruvu) and reservoirs at Vattigedda and Tatipudi with these hydrophytic grasses.

Keywords: Hydrophytic grasses, Threatened species, Fodder, Thatching, Soil binder, Vizianagaram.

I. INTRODUCTION

Vizianagaram district, one of the northern districts of Andhra Pradesh lies on the East Coast of India. The district is located between 17o-151-- 19o-151 N and 83o-001--83o-451 E and bounded on the south by the Bay of Bengal, on the north by Koraput district of Odisha and Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh. On the west by Koraput and Visakhapatnam districts and on the east Srikakulam district and Bay of Bengal. The district with the area of 6,537.9 Sq.Kms and in the density of population 23,44,000. Agriculture is the principle occupation of the people of this district. Geographically vizianagaram district divided in to 3 regions. i.e. 1) The hilly region 2) The plains 3) The coastal. The plains cover major part of the district and within the network of the perennial rivers like Nagavali, Janjavathi, Suvarnamukhi, Vegavathi, Champavathi and Gosthani. Apart from rivers there are many ponds, tanks, ditches, streams and few stagnant watery areas. As the vizianagaram district lies on the coast with good rainfall, good variety of aquatic vegetation occurs from algae to monocots. The tanks at Vizianagaram, Bondapalli (near ), Lakkavarapukota, Bobbili, Parvathipuram, Venkamma peta (near Makkuva), Chinamerangi road, Seemalaguda road, Bhiripuram (Annamma cheruvu) and reservoirs at Vattigedda and Tatipudi with few aquatic species like Arundo donax, exaltata, Paspalum, Sacciolepis interrupta, Vetiveria lawsonii. Hydrophytic grasses

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are used as food, fodder, paper making and thatching. They are also good soil binders. All the grasses are belongs to the family .

II. MATERIALS AND METHODS

Regular field trips have been undertaken into the aquatic regions of the district and collected the grasses. The collected grasses are identified with the help of regional floras and Herbarium, BSI, Coimbatore.

III. ENUMERATION

Arundo donax L. Sp.pl.81.1753; FBI 7: 302.1896; Bot. Bihar & Orissa 953.1924; Gam.Vol 3: 1805.1934. Bor. 413; GS.367. Perennials with creeping woody root stock, tall reeds, culms terete, nodes glabrous, ribbed; leaves distichous, blades 23 x 1.6 cm, linear lanceolate, caudate, cordate at base, glabrous, petioles sheathing, glabrous, ligules scarious, very narrow; panicles upto 50 x 7 cm, decompound, pale brown spikelets, elliptic lanceolate, lower glume keeled, acuminate, 3 nerved, glabrous, lower lemma upto 1 cm long, ovate lanceolate, 2 toothed, aristate, silky hairy below the lower half, palea hyaline 2 keeled, keels ciliate, stamens 3. Uses: Reed is used for making mats, baskets, trays, fishing rods, musical pipes and thatching. Stalks and leaves yield a pulp of high cellulose content used for rayon manufacture, also suitable for writing paper. Eragrostisjaponica (Thunb.) Trin.in Mem.Acad.Sci.Petersb.6.1:405.1831; Gam vol 3.1826; Bor 509.1960. Poa japonica Thunb.Fl.Jap.51.1784. Eragrostis interrupta Beauv.var.tenuissima Stapf in.FBI 7: 316.1896; GS.397. Perennial, tufted grass, culms 1-1.5 m high, geneculately ascending at base, glabrous, ligule membranous, leaf blade linear-lanceolate, tip acuminate, base cordate or rounded; panicle upto 50 cm long, branches whorld, lax, inturrepted, internodes long, spikelets 2-9 flowered, glumes subequal, narrow, 1-nerved, lemma 3-nerved, palea boat shaped, scaberulous, stamens 3 or 2, caryopsis obovoid. Uses: Fodder grass. Eragrostisunioloides (Retz.) Nees ex Steud.Syn.Pl.Glum.1:264.1854; Gam vol 3.1826; Bor. 515.1960. Poa unioloides Retz.Obs. Bot. 5: 19.1789. Eragrostis amabillis Stapf in FBI 7: 317.1896.non Wight & Arn.ex Nees 1838; HS.518; GS.400. Annual, erect herb, root fibres very long and silky, pinkish, young stolons white, mature stolons pink, stolons covered by scales, aerial stem geneculately ascending, smooth; leaf blade flat, mouth ciliate, base cordate or rounded; panicle terminal, effuse upto 15 cm long, branches distant, upto 9 branches, lower branch 7 cm long, branches and pedicels capillary, spikelets distant, pendulus, laterally compressed, numerous, triangular to ovate, often wider than long, purplish, lower 1-2 empty glumes, lemmas keeled, 3-nerved, pink at one side, other side white, palea setose, stamens 2, pink, lodicules 2, styles 2; seed brown, half the length of the lemma. Uses: Fodder grass. Eriochloa procera (Retz) C.E.Hubb.in Kew Bull.1930:256.1930; Gam vol 3.1767; Bor 312; AP Fl. 1202. Eriochloa polystachya Hook.f.FBI 7:20.1896; Maha Fl 494. Perennials, densely tufted, upto 1 m high, root stock short; leaves linear, base cordate, ligule rim of hairs. Uses: Fodder grass.

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Eriochloa fatmensis (Hochst. & Steud.) W.D.Clayton in Kew Bull.30:107.1975.Panicum fatmensis Hochst. & Steud. in Sched.Schimp.It.Un.806; Bor 312; Maha Fl 493. Annual, terrestrial, culms 30-60 cm high, geneculately ascending and rooting at lower nodes, ligule hairy; panicle of simple or branched racemes, 3-10 cm long; spikelets paired or rarely solitary, ellipsoid, hispid. Uses: Fodder grass. Echinochloa colonum (L.) Link Hort.Berol.2:209.1833; Gam vol 3: 1776; Bor 308.1960. Panicum colonum L. Syst.Nat. (ed.10) 810.1759; FBI 7:32.1896. An annual, tufted grass, culms upto 70 cm tall, branching from lower nodes, nodes glabrous, leafsheaths 5-15 cm long, glabrous, ligule obsolete, blade 5-25 X 0.3-0.6 cm, linear-lanceolate, base cordate, apex acuminate, glabrous; spike like panicle, racemes 8-20, appressed to the rachis, rachis angular, scaberulous, spikelets 2.5 cm, broadly ovate, acute or sub-cuspidate, crowded in rows, second, glumes unequal, lower glume half the length of the upper glume, broadly ovate-orbicular, upper glume broadly ovate, mucronate, puberulous, lower lemma broadly ovate, cuspidate, upper lemma broadly ovate, obtuse, palea oblong, stamens 3, stigmas plumose; caryopsis broadly ellipsoid. Uses: Used as food grain in times of scarcity, fodder grass. Echinochloa crusgalli (L.) Beauv.ess.Agrose.53.161.1812; Gam vol 3: 1777 (1231). 1934; Bor 310.1960. Panicum crusgalli L.Sp.Pl.56.1753; FBI 7: 30.1896. An annual, tufted grass, culms 70 cm tall, branching from lower nodes, nodes glabrous, leafsheaths 5-25 cm, glabrous, ligule obsolete, blades 5-20 X0.4-0.8 cm, linear-lanceolate, base cordate, apex, acuminate, glabrous; spikelike panicle 10 cm long, racemes spreading, rachis triquetrous, scabrid, spikelets broadly ovoid, 5 mm, crowded, acute-cuspidate, awned, lower glume broadly ovoid or orbicular, margin ciliate, half as long as the upper glume, upper glume broadly ovate-oblong, concave, cuspidate, hispid on back, lower lemma ovate- oblong, stamens 3, stigmas plumose, caryopsis broadly ellipsoid. Uses: Used as food grain in times of scarcity, fodder grass. Ophiuros exaltata (L.) O. Ktze. Rev. Gem.Pl.2:780; Gam vol 3.1758; Bor. 199. 1960. exaltata L.Mant. 2:575.1771. Ophiuros corymbosa Gaertn.F.Fruct.3.4, t. 181.1805; FBI 7: 160.1896; AP Fl.1221. Perennial, stoloniferous grass, culms tall upto 3 ft high, erect, nodes hirsute, leaves lanceolate, ligule membranous, , terminal spathaceous 4-5 racems from a spathe corymbose, spathe pink, 3 nerved, rhachis flat, spikelets 2 nate sessile and pedicelled, lower glume oblong, coriaceous, upper glume oblong, boat shaped, membranous, lower contains male floret, upper lemma and palea hyaline and contains bisexual floret, stamens 3, styles 2, ovary round. Uses: It is a good soil binder. Oryza rufipogon Griff.Notul. 3:5.1851; Bor 605.1960. A perennial, stoloniferous, aquatic grass, culms upto 1 m high, rooting at the nodes, spongy below; nodes glabrous, leafsheaths overlapping, glabrous; ligule membranous; blades 20-30 x 0.2-0.6 cm, linear, flat, base rounded, apex acuminate, scaberulous, panicle upto 15 cm long, drooping, spikelets linear-oblong, 7 mm, awned, glumes triangular, acuminate, 1-nerved, scaberulous, lemma boat-shaped, 3-nerved, scabrid on the outer surface, awned, coriaceous; palea linear, scabrid on the outer surface, coriaceous, stamens 6, stigmas plumose, caryopsis narrowly oblong, free within the lemma and palea. 240 | P a g e

Oryza sativa L.Sp.Pl.333.1753.var.sativa: FBI 7: 92.1896; Gam vol 3.1844; Bor 605.1960. An annual, cultivated grass, culms upto 1 m high, creeping or floating at base; nodes glabrous, leafsheaths 15-25 cm long, glabrous; ligule membranous, 2-partite; blades 20-50 x 4-7 cm, linear, flat, base rounded, margin scabrid, apex acuminate, glabrous, midrib prominent, panicle upto 30 cm long, lax, compound, spikelets 5 mm, linear-oblong, scaly, 1-nerved; lemma boat-shaped, coriaceous, puncatate, dorsally ciliate, 3-nerved; palea linear, scabrid on the outer surface, stamens 6, stigma plumose, caryopsis narrowly oblong, compressed. Panicum maximum Jacq.Coll.Bot.1:76.1786; Gam vol 3.1783; Bor 327. Perennial tufted grass, culms up to 1 m high, stout, nodes hirsute; ligule membranous, blades linear, flat, base cordate, margin scaberulous, apex acuminate, glabrous, mid rib prominent; panicle lax, spikelets linear-oblong, dense, lower glume orbicular, half the length of spikelet, 1-nerved, upper glume broadly oblong, margins incurved, 5-nerved; lower lemma oblong, 5-nerved, palea oblong, 2-nerved, male, upper lemma ovate oblong, 3- nerved, transversely rugose, it’s palea similar, nerve less, bisexual. Paspalidium geminatum (Forssk.) Stapf in Prain.Fl.Trop. Africa 9.583.1920; Bot. Bihar & Orissa 1001.1924; Gam vol.3.1774.1934; Susppl. Bot. Bihar & Orissa 176.1950; Bor.333.1960. Panicum geminatum Forssk. Fl. Heg-Arab.18.1775.P.paspaloides pers.Syn. 1.81. 1805; FBI 7: 30.1896; GS.420. Perennial, culms upto 50 cm high, creeping below, branches from the lowernodes, nodes glabrous, ligule a ciliate rim; panicle, spike like, racemes 10-15, alternate on the rhachis; spikelets solitary, 2- flowered, lower male, upper bisexual. Paspalidium punctatum (Burm.f.) Camus in Lecomte, Fl.Gen.de.1’Indo-chine 7:41.1922; Gam vol 3.1774; Bor 333.Panicum punctatum Burm.f.Fl.Ind.26.1768; FBI 7:29.1896; AP Fl.1233. A perennial, tufted grass, culms upto 1m tall, prostrate, rooting at lower nodes, spongy, leafsheaths 10 cm long, ligule a ridge of hairs, blades 10-15X 0.5-1cm, flat or convolute, apex acuminate, glabrous; spike like panicle 30 cm long, racemes 20 cm long, distant, sessile, compressed, appressed to the rachis, spikelets 3mm long, 18-40 per raceme, ovoid, lower glume truncate; upper glume broadly oblong; lower lemma acuminate, palea empty, upper lemma punctate, apiculate, palea coriaceous, margins incurved, stamens 3, stigmas plumose, caryopsis ovoid. Paspalum canarae (Steud.) Veldk.in Blumea 21:72.1973. Panicum canarae steud.syn.Pl.Glumac.1:58.1853. Paspalum compactum sensu FBI 7:12.1896, non Roth 1821; Gam.vol 3.1772; Bor 336.1960; GS. 421. Annuals, slender, tufted, culms decumbent glabrous nodes bearded, leaf blades ovate-lanceolate, obtuse, base rounded, hirsute with bulbous based hairs, margins ciliate ligule a rim of hirsute hairs, inflorescence racemose, rhachis angled, winged, hairy at the base of branches, spikelets 2-nate, plano convex, lower glume absent, lower lemma empty as long as the spikelet, 3-nerved epaleate, upper glume as long as the spikelet, broadly ovate, convex, 5-nerved, margins hyalime, upper lemma bisexual, chartaceous, apiculate, palea similar its lemma, 2- keeled, stamens 3, grain reddish-brown, plano convex, granulate. Saccharum spontaneum L. Mant.Alt.183.1771; FBI 7:118.1896; Bot.Bihar & Orissa 1011.1924; Gam.vol.3.1709; Suppl. Bot.Bihar &Orissa 183.1950; Bor 214.1960; V.Fl.209; GS. 430; HS.525; MV.207. Perennial, culms, slender, erect, leaf blade linear 3-40 long, 0.5 cm wide, flat, margins scabrid, ligule membranous, brown ciliate at apex, hairy at back with long white hairs, panicles upto 30 cm long, silky-white, peduncles silky-hairy, pedicels covered with long white silky-hairs, callus bearded with long white silky-hairs, spikeletes 2-nate, sessile & pedecelled, sessile spikelet, lower glume reddish-brown, thickened at base, 241 | P a g e

membranous at apex, margins inflexed, 2-nerved, lower lemma hyaline, margins ciliate, epaleate, upper glume similar to lower glume, margins ciliate, acuminate, 1-nerved, upper lemma hyaline, linear lanceolate, margins ciliate, epaleate, bisexual, lodicules 2, minute, cuneat, stamens 3, anthers yellow, ovary linear stigmas purple, pedicelled spikelets similar to sessile spikelets. Uses: This grass yields first class material for paper pulp. It is also a good soil binder. Sacciolepis interrupta (Willd.) Stapf in Prain, Fl.Trop.Afr.9:575.1920; Bor.358; Gam.vol.3.1787.1934; HS.526; H.3:1034. Panicum interruptum willd.Sp.Pl.1: 341.1978; FBI 7: 40; Hymenachne interrupta Buese in Miq.Pl.Jungh.1: 377.1854; GS 432. Hydrophyte, perennial, tufted, culms ascending from a creeping root stock, lower nodes bears roots; roots 25-28 cm long, shining, brown, smooth, culms divided dichotomously, culms spongy, robust, glabrous, lower leaf blades small, upper ones 10-14 cm long, 5 cm wide, margins scaberulous; ligule small, membranous; inflorescence terminal, panicles cylindric, spiciform, pedicels short, peduncles 14 cm long, spikelet interrupted, crowded fascicles, pedicel ¾ of the spikelet, 2 flowered, lower floret male, upper one bisexual, lower glume small, ¼ of the spikelet 5-nerved, membranous, lower lemma 7-9 nerved, green, its palea membranous, upper glume as long as spikelet 5-nerved, green; upper lemma, it’s palea membranous and containing a bisexual floret, lodicules 2, cuneate, stamens 3, filaments longer than styles, anthers purple, ovary ovoid styles 2, stigma plumose, purple. Vetiveria lawsonii (Hook.f.) Blatt. & McCann in J.Bombay Nat.Hist.Soc.32:409.1928; Bor 256.1960. Andropogon lawsonii FBI 7: 187.1896; Gam vol.3: 1732; AP.Fl.1271. Perennial, tufted, robust grass, culms upto 5 ft, nodes glabrous, leaf sheaths glabrous, leaf blade linear, base truncate, acuminate tip, ligule a small ring of fimbriate membrane, apex with long hairs; inflorescence panicle, racemes 8-10 whorled, capillary base of the raceme naked, spikelets 2 nate, sessile and pedicelled, lanceolate in shape, sessile spikelets: bisexual, bearded callus, glumes equal, boat shaped, crustaceous, keels spinulose, tip cuspidate, lemma aristate, boat shaped, keels ciliate, palea membranous, pedicelled spikelets, male, glumes unequal, cuspidate, boat shaped, keels spinulose, lemma aristate, glabrous, palea smaller, membranous, stamens 3, mature panicle purple, young panicle pale yellow. Uses: It is a good soil binder. Used for thatching.

IV. CONCLUSION

These grasses have both Eco and Economic importance. These are good soil binders and have the esthetic value. The fresh water bodies with their flora and fauna are getting threatened and some of them are disappeared due to manmade activities. The major findings in this study reveals that the following species are under threat. 1. Arundo donax. 2. Eragrostis unioloides. 3. Ophiuros exaltata. 4. Oryza rufipogon. 5. Paspalidium geminatum. 6. Paspalidium punctatum. 7. Sacciolepis interrupta.

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Measure for conservation of aquatic bodies. 1. Removing the silt from the water bodies 2. Making them recreation places. 3. Encourage the projects on aquatic bodies. 4. Inter connect the adjacent aquatic bodies.

REFERENCES

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