Narenga Bor
Sometimes referred to Saccharum
Habit, vegetative morphology. Robust perennial; stoloniferous. Culms 200–300 cm high; herbaceous. Culm internodes solid. Leaf blades broad to narrow; 4–30 mm wide (up to 1 m long); flat, or folded; pseudopetiolate; without cross venation; an unfringed membrane.
Reproductive organization. Plants bisexual, with bisexual spikelets; with hermaphrodite florets. The spikelets all alike in sexuality; homomorphic.
Inflorescence. Inflorescence paniculate; contracted (narrow, dense, woolly); espatheate; not comprising ‘partial inflorescences’ and foliar organs. Spikelet-bearing axes ‘racemes’; with very slender rachides; disarticulating; disarticulating at the joints. ‘Articles’ non-linear (clavate); not appendaged; disarticulating transversely; somewhat hairy (at base, ciliolate on the lower margins, glabrous above). Spikelets paired; not secund; sessile and pedicellate; consistently in ‘long-and-short’ combinations; in pedicellate/sessile combinations. Pedicels of the ‘pedicellate’ spikelets free of the rachis. The ‘shorter’ spikelets hermaphrodite. The ‘longer’ spikelets hermaphrodite.
Female-fertile spikelets. Spikelets 2–3 mm long; compressed dorsiventrally; falling with the glumes (pedicellate spikelets falling from the pedicels, sessile ones falling with the adjacent joint and pedicel). Rachilla terminated by a female-fertile floret. Hairy callus present.
Glumes two; more or less equal; long relative to the adjacent lemmas; free; hairless (shiny, brown); awnless; carinate (G2), or non-carinate (G1); very dissimilar (leathery, the G1 dorsally flattened, the G2 keeled). Lower glume not two-keeled; flattened on the back; not pitted; relatively smooth. Spikelets with incomplete florets. The incomplete florets proximal to the female-fertile florets. Spikelets with proximal incomplete florets. The proximal incomplete florets 1; epaleate; sterile. The proximal lemmas awned, or awnless; similar in texture to the female-fertile lemmas (hyaline); not becoming indurated.
Female-fertile florets 1. Lemmas truncate; less firm than the glumes; entire; blunt; non-carinate; 0 nerved, or 1 nerved. Lodicules present; ciliate (?). Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous.
Fruit, embryo and seedling. Fruit not noticeably compressed. Hilum short.
Phytochemistry. Leaves without flavonoid sulphates (1 species).
Cytology. Chromosome base number, x = 5 (?). 2n = 30. 6 ploid.
Taxonomy. Panicoideae; Andropogonodae; Andropogoneae; Andropogoninae.
Distribution, ecology, phytogeography. 2 species; Indo-Malaysia.
Paleotropical. Indomalesian. Indo-Chinese and Malesian.
Hybrids. Intergeneric hybrids with Saccharum, Sclerostachya.
Rusts and smuts. Smuts from Ustilaginaceae. Ustilaginaceae — Sphacelotheca.
Special comments. Anatomical data wanting.
Cite this publication as: Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M. J. (1992 onwards). ‘Grass Genera of the World: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval; including Synonyms, Morphology, Anatomy, Physiology, Phytochemistry, Cytology, Classification, Pathogens, World and Local Distribution, and References.’ http://biodiversity.uno.edu/delta/. Version: 18th August 1999. Dallwitz (1980), Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993 onwards, 1998), and Watson and Dallwitz (1994), and Watson, Dallwitz, and Johnston (1986) should also be cited (see References).