The best way to distinguish Arundo from Phragmites in the vegetative state is its leaf base. Arundo has amplexicaul or auricled leaf base (leaf base with ears almost encircling the stem), whereas Phragmites doesn't. Almost all the Phargmites found in water logged areas in the plains of India is Phragmites australis (P.communis) and not P.karka. Phragmites karka is a plant usually found in the hill slopes. The inflorescence is also different. I will post the picture soon. Usually, most taxonomists in the past have identified almost all Phragmites as P.karka, but the reality is that it is entirely different from P.australis (P.communis). Regards... Manoj Chandran
On Sunday, March 31, 2013 10:46:00 PM UTC+5:30, Gurcharan Singh wrote: > > *Please see the interesting discussion on this plant, a true example of > identifications get solved in this group* > > * > * > > * > https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/indiantreepix/Arundo$20donax/indiantreepix/yWA3N_sCwoA/JNY5jrmMcZoJ > * > > * > * > > * > * > > *Phragmites karka* (Retz.) Trin. ex Steud > > Syn: *Arundo** karka* Retz.; *Arundo** roxburghii* Kunth; *Phragmites** > maxima* (Forssk.) Blatter & McCann; *Phragmites** nepalensis* Nees ex > Steud.; *Phragmites** roxburghii* (Kunth) Steud. > > > Common name: Tropical reed > > > Perennial reed, with creeping rhizomes. Culms erect, up to 10m high. > Leaf-blades 30-80 cm long and 12-40 nun wide, glabrous, rough to the touch > beneath (at least in the upper half), the tips attenuate and stiff > (occasionally almost smooth or with filiform tips). Panicle 30-50 cm long, > 10-20 cm wide, the lowest node often many-branched in a whorl, the branches > bare of spikelets for some distance from their base. Spikelets 9-12 mm > long, the rhachilla-hairs 4-7 mm long, rather sparse; lower glume just over > half as long as the upper; upper glume narrowly elliptic to very narrowly > elliptic, 4-6 mm long, acute to subacute; lowest lemma very narrowly > elliptic, 7.5-12 mm long; fertile lemmas very narrowly lanceolate, 85-11 mm > long. > > > > -- > Dr. Gurcharan Singh > Retired Associate Professor > SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007 > Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018. > Phone: 011-25518297 Mob: 9810359089 > http://www.gurcharanfamily.com/ > http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ > -- --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "efloraofindia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
