30 
pillary, numerously flowered; purplish spikelets on pedicels 2 to 4 times as long, 
oval, one-half to two-thirds line long, pubescent, the lowest glume one-fourth to one- 
third the length of the spikelet. 
Var. MINOR (P. ramulosum, of Chapm. Suppl., but I think can not be the plant 
of Michx.). Lower than the type (6 to 8 inches high); tufted; leaves narrower 
and smaller; panicle 1 to 14 inches long; rachis smooth; spikelets smooth or nearly 
80; second and third glumes 5-nerved.—Florida. 
Var. ENSIFOLIUM (P. ensifolium Baldw.). Radical leaves linear-lanceolate, 14 inches 
long, smooth, those of the slender (8 to 12 inches long) culm distant, small (about 
one-half inch), and horizontally divergent; panicle depauperate, less than an inch 
long, the rays single and few-flowered.—Florida. Described from Dr. Chapman’s 
specimens, 
Var. MAJOR. Here could be placed several variable forms, mostly smooth, but 
with stouter culms, a more open, less dense panicle, with fewer and stouter branches 
(sometimes reflexed), and fewer and larger spikelets. 
33. P laxiflorum Lam. (Gray’s Manual, 6th ed., p. 633.) Culms erect, weak, 6 to 
18 inches high, rarely branched, smooth below the panicle; leaves linear or lanceo- 
late-linear, 3 to 7 inches long, 3 to 4 lines wide, mostly radical, the 2 or 3 of the 
culm little shorter, acuminate, nearly smooth except on the ciliate margins, pale 
green or yellowish-green; sheaths mostly shorter than the leaves, sparsely and re- 
trorsely villose ; ligule a ring of soft, white hairs ; panicle capillary, 2 or 3 inches long; 
branches sparingly divided from the base, mostly single, alternate and few-flowered, 
spreading ; the rachis and branches sparsely long-hairy ; spikelets long-pediceled, 1 
line long, oval or elliptical, obtuse, strigosely pubescent, lower empty glume ovate, 
l-nerved, one-quarter as long as the spikelet; second and third glumes 7- to 
9-nerved; fertile flower as long as the spikelet, acutish.—In sandy woods, 
Var. PUBESCENS. Culm rather stouter, and pubescent, 12 to 15 inches high; leaves 
hairy, shorter, lanceolate, the lower 2 to 24 inches long, 3 to 5 lines wide, the upper 
about 1 inch, upper sheath elongated; panicle 2 to 34 inches long, the branches and 
spikelets more numerous, and spikelets smaller; lowest glume roundish ovate, one- 
third as long as the spikelets; second and third glumes 5- to 7-nerved. Closely 
approaches P. nitidum, and is perhaps the P. nitidum var. ciliatum Torr, 
34. P. dichotomum, Linn. (Gray’s Manual, 6th ed., p. 633.) Culm 10 to 30 inches 
high; at first mostly simple, smooth, or pubescent, bearing a more or less exserted, 
spreading, compound panicle, 1 to 4 inches long, and lanceolate, flat leaves; those 
of the culm larger above, 3 to 4 inches long; those at the root tufted, usually ovate- 
lanceolate, short, and thick; the culms commonly branching later in the season, the 
branches often clustered, and bearing smaller, mostly included panicles; spikelets 
# of a line long oblong-obovate, pubescent or downy, lower glume one-third as long as 
the spikelet. 
Var. BARBULATUM. With the nodes barbed, and with the sheaths smooth or pu- 
bescent. 
Var. VIRIDE, Smooth all over, leaves light green and narrower. 
Var. DIVARICATUM. Erect, 6 to 9 inches high, slender, smooth, very much 
branched above the base, caspitose, the radical leaves very short and tufted, those 
of the culm and branches very narrowly linear or involute, acuminate, about 1 inch 
long, divaricate, the numerous panicles small, racemose, few-flowered ; the spikelets 
on alternate filiform pedicels 4 to 1 inch long; spikelets three-fourths of a line long, 
oval-oblong, smooth; third glume equaling the spikelet 7-nerved; fertile flower as 
long as the spikelet. 
Var, VILLOSUM (P. villosum Ell.). Culms decumbent, branching from the first ; 
leaves scabrous above; ciliate, sheaths and culms villous, panicle thinner and fewer- 
flowered. 
Var. ELATUM. Culms tall (2 to 3 feet), erect, smooth; cauline leaves 4 to 5 
inches long, 5 to 6 lines wide, smooth, very acute; panicle 4 inches long, smooth ; 
the branches long, erect, spreading, rather sparsely flowered; spikelets a little more 
