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On morphological basis the genus Pennisetum is characterised by the spikelets arranged in involucel of bristles and protogynous flowers. This genus appears to be highly heterogenous since the species it consists of are widely divergent from one another in growth, form, habit and morphological and anatomical characters. Hrishi (1952) while studying the various aspects of the genus has also studied the cytology of the six species of Pennisetum which form a polyploid series of the order 2n=18, 27, 36 and 54. In his material some of the karyotypes resemble each other and in others especially the karyotypes of P. orientale (n=36) and P. polystachyon (2n=54) when compared show heterogenity in the complements justifying their placement in different sections of Stapf (1934). In one another instance the similarity among the various complements of the species belonging to the same section have been reported by Hrishi (1952) and further instance has been given of the similarity among the complements of P. alopecuros and P. hohenackari including their number as 2n=18 even though the former of these two species show greater mean length of chromosomes than the latter. This may be because the former has two extra long chromosomes.The present authors while handling an international collection of P. typhoides observed diverse morphological varieties in the types of these species. With a view to ascer tain whether or not these morphological differences can be correlated with the cytological data in the available 36 types of P. typhoides, an attempt in this paper has been made to examine and report the findings of the authors in this regard. Thus new data are presented of the aforesaid types belonging to various parts of the globe. It is interesting to note that this one single species which includes forms from various parts of the world depict variations in chromosome morphology as is sometimes expected in a genus. Though P. typhoides is perhaps one of the few diploid species among the grasses having chromosome number 2n=14, it presents many morphological and cytological differences in its types. A further attempt will also be made to establish if the cytological characteristics can provide more clues to the true affinity of these types than did those in the past presented on the basis of the traditional system based on the gross morphological characters.

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Discussions Secondary AssociationThe association of bivalents at meiosis was first observed by Kuwada (1910) in Oryza sativa only in second metaphase. Ishikawa (1911) found secondary pairing also at first metaphase of Dahlia variabilis . Since then various authors have found this phenomenon in different genera. Darlington (1928) originally advocated the theory of secondary pairing in his studies on Prunus. It was put on a systematic basis by Lawrence (1931) who has discussed all the known cases of secondary pairing. Secondary associa tion can be used as a measure of distant relationship between the chromo somes present in a polyploid, and it will be so used in determining the basic composition of the chromosomes in genera Eleusine, Dactylocteniuin, and Setaria. Heilborne (1937) discussed his impressions on secondary association and considered that such associations have purely mechanical origin. Ac cordingly chromosomes of equal size are associated irrespective of homology. In genera Eleusine, Setaria and Dactyloctinium, however, it was noticed that the secondarily associated chromosomes were not identical in size in all cases. Alam (1936) in Brassica compestris, Riccharia (1937) in Brassica and Iyenger (1939) in Cicer also have recorded secondary associations between short and long bivalents. Thomas and Revell (1946) by their study on secondary association of heterochromatic attraction on Cicer arietinum have come to the conclusion that the fusion between the highly charged heterochromatic regions of dif ferent bivalents at pachytene is responsible for the characteristic inter-bivalent secondary association at metaphase. They however, find inter-bivalent con nections only in nuclei which were less diffused than usual. No such con nections were found by them between the affected bivalents throughout the meiosis. They further maintain that entirely satisfactory evidence of the persistence of the connections could not be obtained in C. arietinum but make assertion that confirmatory evidence of real connection from their work on turnip. This work has not been published yet since then and thus can not warrant any certainity of opinion. Nothing like any such physical con nections is noticed in the grass materials (microphotographs).Thus by studying the secondary association at metaphase I and II in genera Eleusine, Dactyloctinium and Setaria, assuming that structural changes Cytologia 24, 1959 11 150 R. P. Chandola Cytologia 24have taken place the haploid genoms can be represented as follows:-E. indica, E. verticillata and S. italica are usually regarded as diploids but the cytological data support the view that these are secondarily balanced species in nature.According to the opinion of the author the immediate wild progenitors of these are unknown and perhaps exist no more. E. coracana, D. aegepticum, S. glauca and S. verticillata are thus secondarily balanced polyploid species. Species differentiation in Chlorideae and PaniceaeAs regards the factors involved in the differentiation of species in the tribes Chlo...

Ethnic foods not only serve the dietary purpose but also offer a range of health and medicinal benefits. In the present era of urbanization and modernization, the age-old traditions and cultural practices are rapidly getting extinct. This is particularly true for a traditional knowledge system that has not been properly documented and scientifically studied. This article presents a comprehensive detail about various fermented and non-fermented food products locally made and consumed by the tribal community of Jaunsar-Bawar region of Uttarakhand state. The survey of the sites and interaction with local people revealed that the tribal community still follows their age-old custom of making various traditional food products. Aske, Chilra, Dhindki, Kadhiyiek, Sidde, Khenda, Pandheye, Mashyada bhaat, Sattu, Baari, Lemda are the local names of important non fermented ethnic foods made in this region. In addition, distilled and non-distilled alcoholic beverages are prepared through fermentation with local names as Ghandhie Gaingti, Mava, Gaingti, Soor/Daru and Paakuyi.