TAXONOMY AND SEEDLING MORPHOLOGY OF SIX SPECIES OF DIGITARIA (POACEAE) FROM VINDHYAN REGION, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA
AjaiKumar Singh, AyushKumar Singh, ManishKumar Srivastava
2016
International Journal of Advanced Research
The genus Digitaria Heist. Ez. Fab. (Panicoideae, Paniceae, Poaceae), commonly known as digit grass. The name Digitaria is derived from the Latin digitus (finger), alluding to radiating inflorescence branches (Watson and Dallwitz, 1992; Quattrocchi, 2006) . Hence, Digitaria species are collectively called "finger grasses". Heister (1748) gave the name Digitaria for the first time and separated it from the genus Panicum. Haller, in 1768, validated the genus and gave a detailed description
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... d, 1950) . Digitaria with around 218 species (Vega et al., 2009 ) is the third most speciose genera within tribe Paniceae (Clayton and Renvoize, 1986) . There is considerable diversity both between and within Digitaria species, which may be annual or perennial, with or without rhizomes, with or without stolons, and tufted (erect) or decumbent or sometimes prostrate (sward/mat forming). The genus is extremely variable with regard to inflorescence structure, relative length of spikelet scales, and spikelet indumentum types, with different combinations of appressed pubescence, glassy bristles and marginal cilia possible within the same species or even between the two members of a spikelet pair. Despite this, the overall facies of the spikelet is surprisingly uniform, and the genus is seldom difficult to recognise (Clayton and Renvoize, 1986) . Based on a recent study of phylogeny in the tribe Paniceae by Morrone et al. (2012) , the genus Digitaria appears to be monophyletic. Basic chromosome numbers in the genus Digitaria are x = 9, 15 and 17, the most frequent chromosome numbers being 2n = 18, 36, 54 and 72, but variants with 24, 27, 30, 34, 35, 40, 45, 60, 68, 70 and 76 have also been reported, as well as intra-specific variability in chromosome number (Pozzobon et al., 2006) . The species of Digitaria are meso-or xerophytic, generally growing in open habitats and in a wide range of environments, including sandy beaches. Some species are very weedy, e.g. the well known crab grasses D. ciliaris Int. J. Adv. Res. 4(8), 464-472 In the present study an attempt has been made to record the taxonomy of six congeneric taxa of grasses belonging to the genus Digitaria alongwith their seedling morphology, occurring in Vindhyan region of Uttar Pradesh, India. Key to the mature plants as well as seedlings and illustrations have been also been provided. Materials and method:- While working on Grass flora of Vindhyan Region, Uttar Pradesh, India, six taxa of the genus Digitaria have been collected at different growth stages along with their seeds. To workout the taxonomy of collected specimens authentic Floras and related publications have been consulted. The seeds of collected specimens have been grown in petri dishes (20 x 5 cm) on moist filter paper at 22-24 o C in permanent light and in sandy soil in the green house. Morphological features of seedlings have been described as per Singh et al., 2013, using Stereoscopic Binocular Microscope (Olympus-Magnus MSZ-Bi) .
doi:10.21474/ijar01/1236
fatcat:hjaeyqnchbgnrprwn64ub7ddaq