Polytrias indica (Poaceae: Andropogoneae): the name, species identity and its distribution in India

Abstract

Polytrias indica (Houtt.) Veldkamp is native to Java (Indonesia) but found outside its native range as a lawn grass or an escape. In India, it was first collected from Khasia (now Khasi) in Meghalaya and later reported as a garden escape in Indian Botanic Garden, Shibpur, West Bengal. Merrill created the confusion when he made the combination Ischaemum indicum (1938) for a taxon which is not an Ischaemum. The so-called Polytrias indica in certain Indian herbaria (e.g., PBL, BSID) is, indeed, Ischaemum ciliare Retz. (1791) to which name Ishaemum indicum has been misapplied in Indian grasses literature, and the IUCN assessment of Polytrias indica made in 2013 is not an exception.

Keywords

• identity
• india
• ischaemum indicum
• iucn assessment
• java grass
• nativity
• phleum indicum
• polytrias indica.