Tropicos | Name - !Digitaria ciliaris (Retz.) Koeler

!Digitaria ciliaris (Retz.) Koeler

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Project Name Data (Last Modified On 6/2/2011)

Acceptance : Accepted

Project Data (Last Modified On 6/3/2011)

Flower/Fruit: Fl. & Fr. Per.: July-October.

Type: Type: China, Wennerberg (LD).

Distribution: Distribution: Pakistan (Sind, Punjab, N.W.F.P. & Kashmir); common throughout much of the tropics.

Comment/Acknowledgements: Paspalum sanguinale (Linn.) Lam. var. rottleri Hook.f. is typified by two sheets, Wight 3032 and Wight 3033, both at Kew. Of these, the former is Digitaria ciliaris and the latter Digitaria bicornis (Lam.) Loud. In the protologue to the variety, Hooker described the wings of the rhachis as being “two or three times broader than the midrib.” Since this character does not agree with Digitaria bicornis (including Wight 3033), the specimen Wight 3032 is selected as the lectotype of var. rottleri. This is included in the synomymy of Digitaria ciliaris because the spikelets are narrow and apparently lack the spiny protuberences on the nerves of the lemma.

Digitaria ciliaris is a polymorphic species showing at least four parallel series based on quite independent sources of variation. The rhachis may have long white hairs (rhachiseta) or not; in terms of indumentum the spikelets of a pair may be the same or different (biformis); the spikelets (independently in each pair) may be glabrous (nubica), long or short hairy (ciliaris, desvauxii) or conspicuously fringed (criniformis, fimbriata); one or both spikelets may be beset with stiff glassy bristles (chrysoblephara, willdenowii). None of these variants shows any indication of geographical segration, and since there are at least these four independent sources of variation the number of potential varieties is enormous, but none would be of any taxonomic significance. The sporadic occurence of the siliceous spines characteristic of Digitaria sanguinalis in spikelets otherwise typical of Digitaria ciliaris suggests that there may be some gene-flow between these two species in Pakistan.

Digitaria bicornis (Lam.) Loud. is often included in subsp. chrysoblephara (or vice versa, see Veldkamp 1973) by virtue of its possession of glassy bristles, but like Digitaria ciliaris it too shows several types of indumentum and quite frequently is perfectly glabrous (even to the exclusion of the glassy bristles). It is in fact a distinct species differing in a number of important characters. There are normally only 2, sometimes 3 racemes each with a slightly swollen base. The midrib is thick and the wings are usually extremely narrow. The pedicels are stout and straight and this, combined with the thick midrib, gives the spikelets the appearance of being sunk in the rhachis. The lower lemma is horny with much thickened, contiguous or closely spaced nerves. The first pair of interspaces, and the second where present, are reduced to deep V-shaped grooves. The lemma characters are best seen in the subsessile spikelets towards the base of the raceme. True Digitaria bicornis does not occur in Pakistan, being confined to the warmer parts of southern India, Sri Lanka and Burma.

Digitaria ciliaris is a widespread tropical weed.

Map Location: B-6 Chitral dist.: Lowari Top to Dir, M.A. Siddiqi & A. Rahman Beg 26744 (K, non RAW); B-7 Swat dist.: near Saidu Sharif Village, 3500', R.J. Rodin 5408 (K, RAW); 25 miles from Mingora on way to Jabba, M. Qaiser & A. Ghafoor 4767 (KUH); Hazara dist.: Kagan Valley, M. Inayat Khan 20340 (K); Balakot,2-3000', July 1954, Sh. Ali s.n. (RAW); 2 miles from Abbottabad on way to Mansehra, Sultanul Abedin & M. Qaiser 8625 (KUH); Kashmir: Garhi, Jhelum Valley Road, 2500', R.R. Stewart 10106 (RAW); Muzaffarabad, Sultanul Abedin & M. Qaiser 9186 (KUH); B-8 Kashmir: island in Dal Lake, 5200', R.R. Stewart 23074 (K); C-6 Kohat dist.: Oosterzai bala, 15 miles from Kohat on way to Hungu, M. Qaiser & Sultanul Abedin 6087 (KUH); C-7 Attock dist.: Khairabad, R.R. Stewart 27835 (K, KUH, RAW); Rawalpindi dist.: Topi Park, 1700', R.R. Stewart 21392, 23372 (K), 21894 (RAW); 16 miles from Rawalpindi on way to Kahuta, Sultanul Abedin & M. Qaiser 8594 (KUH); Gujrat dist.: Jhelum-Gujrat Road, between Kariaki and Kharian, B.L. Burtt B1157, 1161 (KUH); Sargodha dist.: Sakesar, A. Rahman Beg 24854 (RAW); Hazara dist.: Sarai Saleh, 1800', R.R. Stewart 27646 (K); Kashmir: Mirpur, 30 November 1966, Jan Mohd. s.n. (K); C-8 Sialkot dist.: 26 October 1958, R.R. Stewart s.n. (RAW); D-7 Lahore dist.: 4 miles from Patoki on way to Multan, M. Qaiser 3582 (K, KUH); Lyallpur dist.: Sangla Hill, August 1948, Sultan Ahmad s.n. (RAW); D-8 Sheikhupura dist.: Ladhar, Sultan Ahmad 8a (RAW); &b D.G. Khan dist.: 2 miles from Rajanpur on way to Mithankot, Sultanul Abedin & Abrar Hussain 9567 (KUH); Bahawalpur dist.: c.2 miles from Alipur on way to Sukkur, Sultanul Abedin & Abrar Hussain 9738 (KUH); G-4 Karachi dist.: Clifton,. S.M.H. Jafri 1543 (KUH); G-5 Hyderabad dist.: Agricultural College, Tandojam, 28 August 1959, Asghar Jalis s.n. (RAW); near Saran salt lake, M. Qaiser, A. Ghafoor & S. Abrar 3751 (K, KUH); Tharparkar dist.: 3 miles from Naokot on way to Diplo, M. Qaiser & A. Ghafoor 3672, 3673 (K); G-6 Tharparkar dist.: Nagar Parkar, M. Qaiser, A. Ghafoor & Abrar Hussain 4000 (KUH).