taxonID	type	description	language	source
E51E87EF7A60D60A109BFC7C0592FA93.taxon	description	Flowering & fruiting: Flowering and fruiting from August to April. Habitat: Occasional in open areas of dry deciduous forests. It grows in association with Adenosma indiana (Lour.) Merr. (Plantaginaceae), Mitracarpus hirtus (L.) DC. (Rubiaceae), and Osbeckia zeylanica L. f. (Melastomataceae). Distribution: India, Myanmar, and Thailand. Specimens examined: INDIA, Bihar, Monger, September 1811, Wallich 3764 (Wallich cat. No 8883 IDC, microfiche at MH). Jharkhand, Chota Nagpore, Ramghur ghat, 19.10.1883, C. B. Clarke 33908 (CAL). Telangana, Bhadradi Kothagudem district, Kinnerasani Wildlife Sanctuary, Allapally Range, Venkatapuram section, Yerragutta Beat, N 17 ̊ 51 ' 37.008 '', E 80 ̊ 33 ' 55.583 '', 208 m. a. s. l., 30.09.2019, J. Swamy 009805 (BSID). Uttarakhand, Jim Corbett National Park, 11.11.1970, P. C. Pant 43141 (BSD). Conservation status: The species is recorded from four states in India. The field observations in Telangana state revealed that the population had about 50 mature individuals within a 100 m 2 (AOO) area in open grasslands. Forest dwellers of the area bring their cattle for grazing in this area, which is one of the major threats to the species. As this grass species is at present known from only a small patch in the Kinnerasani Wildlife Sanctuary in the Eastern Ghats region, it is threatened at the regional level. With less than five localities the species may be regarded as endangered (E), although the extent of occurrence is extensive. Since the situations of the known localities in other states and its presence in the intervening states is unclear, the species should be categorised at present as data deficient (DD) in India (IUCN, 2019). Notes: Sporobolus tetragonus is often misidentified by many taxonomists with its closely allied species, S. capillaris Miq., S. coromandelianus (Retz.) Kunth, and S. ioclados (Nees ex Trin.) Nees, due to the nature of the inflorescences, small spikelets and minute caryopses. A key has been provided here to facilitate their easy identification. The authors have thoroughly checked Sporobolus specimens in various Indian herbaria (BSA, BSID, CAL, HY, KU and MH) and found that some of the specimens of S. capillaris, S. coromandelianus and S. ioclados were wrongly identified as Sporobolus tetragonus. The latter species was last collected from India by P. C. Pant in 1970 from the Jim Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand. The present collection from the Eastern Ghats region represents a rediscovery of the species after a lapse of over 50 years. Besides, very few specimens of this species are available at Indian herbaria, clearly. Hence, this rare grass species only after its precise conservation status has been ascertained.	en	J., Swamy, Arumugam, S. (2021): Sporobolus tetragonus (Poaceae: Chloridoideae), an addition to the flora of South India. Rheedea 31 (4): 296-299, DOI: 10.22244/rheedea.2021.31.04.06, URL: https://doi.org/10.22244/rheedea.2021.31.04.06
