Themeda villosa var. polyantha, (Brongn. ex Buse) Veldk., 2016

Veldkamp, J. F., 2016, A revision of Themeda (Gramineae) in Malesia with a new species from Laos, Blumea 61 (1), pp. 29-40 : 37

c. var. polyantha (Brongn. ex Buse) Veldk. , comb. nov.

[ Androscepia gigantea (Cav.) Brongn. var. β Brongn. (1831) 78]. — Androscepia gigantea (Cav.) Brongn. var. polyantha Brongn. ex Buse in Miq., Pl. Jungh., preprint ( Feb. 1854) 24; 3 ( Aug. 1854) 364. — Themeda gigantea (Cav.) Hack.var. amboinensis Hack.(1889) 673,nom.superfl.— [ Themeda gigantea (Cav.) Hack. subvar. amboinensis (Hack.) Roberty (1960) 89, nom. inval.]. — Syntypes: Brongniart cited Ambon and Java ( d’Urville in Herb. de Ventenat; G), n.v.

Themeda gigantea (Cav.) Hack. subsp. & var. intermedia Hack. (1889) 675. — Themeda intermedia (Hack.) [Hack. ex T.Durand & B.D.Jacks. (1906) 424,in syn.] Bor (1938) 96;T.Durand & B.D.Jacks. ex Jansen (1952) 481,isonym;Bor (160) 251 (pro hybrid.). — [ Themeda gigantea (Cav.) Hack.subvar. intermedia (Hack.) Roberty (1960) 91, nom. inval.]. — Type: Hooker f. & T. Thomson s.n. ‘ Androscepia no. 4 ’ (holo W, fragm. in L; G, K, photo in BRI; L sh. 908.83-723, 957.58-303).

Themeda gigantea (Cav.) Hack. var. dubia Hack. (1889) 675. — [ Themeda gigantea (Cav.) Hack.subvar. dubia (Hack.) Roberty (1960) 90, nom. inval.]. — Type: Cuming 1609 (holo W; G, L sh.908.83-277 (sub Cuming 6019), S (sub Cuming 1437)).

Themeda gigantea auct. non Hack.

Plants perennial. Culms 2–5 m long, tufted. Nodes glabrous. Ligule 0.5–1.5 mm long, margin glabrous to ciliolate. Leaves up to 100 cm by 3–15 mm. Uppermost spatheoles glabrous. Peduncle 10–14 mm long, c. 1/3 to c. 1/2 times as long as the spatheole, white to golden hairy. Capitules long-persistent. Involucral spikelets conspicuous, pairs unequally inserted, sterile or male; lower glumes linear-lanceolate, 8–15 by 1–1.5 mm, acuminate, herbaceous, 11-nerved, more or less densely brown to golden hirsute (hairs sometimes bulbous based); upper glumes 3-nerved. Fertile spikelets 2–3, 8–11.5 mm long (incl. callus), callus 1.5–2.5 mm long, hairs brown, c. 2 mm long; lower glumes castaneous, apex truncate, surface laterally hairy to hairy all over, hairs castaneous. Awn absent to short, imperfect, 0–30 mm long, column straight or geniculate, puberulous, hairs rufous (i.s.). Anthers 3–6 mm long, purple (i.s.). Pedicel appressed hairy. Pedicelled spikelets 3–4, male, 11–14 mm long, lower glumes apex acuminate to aristate, minutely puberulous and pilose. 2n = 20.

Distribution — NE India (E from Assam) to N Queensland (Moa Isl., Torres Str.), Solomon Isl., Vanuatu; Thailand: Northern ( Chiang Mai), Malesia: Sumatra ( Riau), Malay Peninsula ( Pahang), Lesser Sunda Isl. (Alor, Flores, Sumbawa, Timor, Wetar), Borneo (Pontianak, Sabah, Sarawak), N Celebes, Talaud Isl., Philippines ( Bohol, Mindanao, Palawan), Moluccas ( Ambon, Halmahera), New Guinea (widespread).

Habitat — (Eucalypt) savannah, gravel bars in river, grass jungles, fire resistant, 0–1450 m altitude.

Uses — Sometimes grown as an ornamental.

Collector’s notes — Culms 3–3.5 m long. Internodes 35 cm long. Leaf sheath 13 cm long; blade 1 m long. Lemma (= lower glumes of involucre) with orange hairs. Palea (? = upper glumes of involucre) glabrous. Anthers orange, pendulous. Stigma purple, pilose.

Notes — Thought by Bor to be a hybrid between T. arundinacea and T. villosa in which the awn is missing ( Bor 1960: 251), but many specimens, incl. the type have at least some awns up to 30 mm long. Perhaps the notion that this would be a hybrid was possibly prompted by its morphologically intermediate position. I have found no reports on hybridisations in Themeda . Noltie (2000: 822) has suggested that it might be a form of T. subsericans , here regarded as a synonym of T. arundinacea .

The difference with var. villosa is slight, but apparently constant.