WEST INDIAN GRASSES DESCRIBED BY SWARTZ, 137 
Paspalum dissectum Sw. Fl. Ind. Occ. 1: 137. 1797. 
Fliigge @ changes the name of this to Paspalus caespitosus on account of P. dissectum 
L. (1759), which is a different species. The Swartz specimen is from Jamaica and is 
marked P. dissectum Sw. and also P. caespitosum Fligge. It is P. caespitosum as 
described in Grisebach’s Flora. 
Panicum setosum Sw. Prod. 22. 1788. 
The specimen in the Stockholm herbarium is Chaetochloa setosa (Sw.) Seribn. as 
described by Scribner and Merrill.2— It is also described by Grisebach¢ under Setaria 
setosa Beauy. 
Panicum pilosum Sw. Prod. 22. 1788. 
The type specimen is labeled ‘‘Jamaica, Swartz. fl. ind. occ.’ It belongs to the 
species described under this name in Martius’s Flora Brasiliensis. It differs from P. 
laxum in the densely flowered, comparatively short panicle branches (2 to 3 cm. long) 
and in the pilose rachis. Panicwm distichwim Lam.¢ is the same, as indicated by the 
type specimen at Paris labeled by Lamarck ** Panicum distichum lam. dict.’’ Another 
synonym is Panicum pilisparsum G. F.W. Mey.¢ Inthe Trinius herbarium there is a 
specimen of this sent by Meyer, apparently a fragment from the type at Géttingen. 
Panicum molle Sw. Prod. 22. 1788. 
The type specimen is labeled in the handwriting of Swartz ‘‘P. molle fl. ind. oce.’’ 
This specimen is not the species which has been generally described under this name, 
but P. velutinosum Nees, fa South American species allied to P. fasciculatum Sw., and 
not known to occur in the West Indies. The panicle is like that of Panicum reticulatum 
Torr., while the spikelets are very much like those of Paniewm arizonicum Scribn. & 
Merr. The spikelets are 3 mm. long, brown, sparsely reticulate-nerved, and finely 
velvety-pubescent. The description in the Prodromus under P. molle is brief and 
applies to this specimen, except that the branches of the panicle are said to be spread- 
ing, while in the specimen they are erect-appressed. Swartz cites as a synonym 
“Panicum 2. Brown. Jam. 133,’’ which is the plant commonly understood as Panicum 
molle, that is, Panicum barbinode Trin. The locality is given by Swartz as ‘‘ India 
occidentalis.” Swartz gives a more extended description in his Flora, where the 
habitat is given as ‘‘in pascuis fertilioribus subhumidis Jamaicae.’’ We must decide 
whether Swartz is describing the specimen he has preserved or whether he is describing 
the forage plant of Jamaica, that is, the Browne plant. The description of the culm 
applies to either except ‘‘inferne subdivisus” and ‘‘crassus,’’ which are not true of the 
Swartz specimen but are true of P. barbinode, and ** pubescens,” which does not apply 
to P. barbinode. The blades are said to be ‘‘ villosa, mollia,’’ which applies only to the 
Swartz specimen. The spikes are described as ‘‘fuscis,’’ which applies to the Swartz 
specimen and not to P. barbinode, on which the inflorescence is green or purple tinged. 
Referring to glumes, ‘‘valvula exterior minuta” applies best to P. barbinode, as, in the 
specimen, the first glume is half as long as the spikelet, and in P. barbinode only about 
one-fourth as long. Second glume * pubescens” applies to the Swartz specimen; in 
P. barbinode the spikelets are glabrous. The interior valve (palea) of the neutral 
flower is said to be minute, but in both species it is well developed. The transversely 
rugose fertile lemma common to both species is not mentioned. In a note Swartz 
states that the species is distinguished by its soft pubescence and the thick, somewhat 
succulent culm, for which latter feature it is much liked by cattle for fodder. He 
«Mon. Pasp. 209. 1810. 
6 N. A. Species Chaetochloa, U.S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Bull. 21: 39. 1900. 
¢ FI, Brit. W. Ind. 555, 1864. 
@Encycl. 4: 731. 1797. 
€ Prim. Fl. Esseq. 57. 1818. 
J Agrost. Bras. 121. 1829. 
