148 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 
imen is Panicum lanuginosum Ell. The other specimen is the same as the specimen of 
P. pubescens in the Michaux herbarium. Lamarck mentions having seen a dwart speci- 
men of this species in the herbarium of Vaillant, who received it from Sherard in 1721. 
This specimen is in the general herbarium of the Paris Museum. I was not able to 
identify this, but it is apparently different from any of our North American species. 
Although this Sherard specimen is the first mentioned, I do not think it should be taken 
as the type, as Lamarck was evidently describing Michaux’s plant, though the descrip- 
tion is modified by the Sherard plant, e. g., “La tige qui quelquefois n’a guére plus 
de six pouces de hauteur [the Sherard plant], s’éléve d'autres fois & la hauteur d’un 
pied ou un peu plus.’”’ It is scarcely surprising that the vernal and autumnal states 
of Panicum seoparium should be described as different species. 
Panicum nitidum Lam. 
“In Pensylvania, Carolina.’’ The specimen lacks spikelets, but is evidently 
Panicum angustifolium Ell. or one of the closely allied species such as P. arenicoloides 
Ashe. It is the vernal state, somewhat pubescent on lowermost. portions, otherwise 
glabrous. 
Panicum nitidum Lam. was first described in 1791.4 The description is very meager 
and would not serve to identify the species. Only the panicle is described. The 
plant was collected by Fraser. A somewhat more extended description is given by 
Lamarck in the Encyclopedia,® but is only an amplification of the original with the 
addition of leaf characters. We are told, for example, that the stem is jointed and 
provided with leaves. The type specimen in the Lamarck herbarium consists of a 
panicle and the uppermost joint of the culm with its leaf. The blade is reflexed, 
and the node shows sparse reflexed hairs. It is Panicum barbulatum Ell., not Michx. 
(P. subbarbulatum Scribn. & Merrill). The panicle is purplish. The most important 
character given by Lamarck in his second description is the pubescence at juncture 
of the blade and sheath. The label on this plant is “de la Caroline[.] Fraser.’ This 
is evidently the type specimen. In the herbarium of Drake de Castillo there is a shect 
obtained from Richard marked ‘Herb. Michaux from Pennsylvania’? which is 
Panicum tenue Muhl. and probably is the specimen referred to by Lamarcke as 
a small-flowered variety collected by Michaux in Pennsylvania. Panicum tenne is 
not known to occur in Pennsylvania, and the location is probably an error. It will be 
noted that the published locality for P. nitidum is “ Pennsylvania et Carolina,’’ which 
accords with Michaux’s label. Richard in sending out the plant may have shortened 
the locality to * Pennsylvania.’’ Panicum tenue Muhl. occurs from southern Virginia 
southward, Scribner and Merrill @ have discussed Panicum nitidum Lam, and identi- 
fied it with P. spretum Schult. (P. eatoni Nash and P. paucipilum Nash.). The figure 
was taken from the plant in the Michaux herbarium, which, as stated above, is P. 
angustifolium Ell. The name P. ntidum Lam. must be used for what has been called 
P. subbarbulatum Scribn. & Merrill, while the plant described by Scribner and Mer- 
rill as P. nitidum must be called P. spretum Schult. 
Panicum barbulatum Michx. 
There are three specimens and two labels upon this sheet. The label upon which 
the name is written prominently at the top has “Hab. in Canada P. capillari affine ad 
nipasamnis: Rivierre a Jacques Cartier dicti legi.’ The other has “ Rivierre a Jacques 
Cartier Route a Queb. P. barbulatum.’? The twe larger plants are the vernal state of 
P. gravius Witche. & Chase. There is also a small specimen of P.lindheimeri Nash. 
In the Drake de Castillo herbarium is a specimen from Michaux sent out by Richard 
which is labeled P. barbulatum, *Caroline.”’ This is Panicum ashei Pearson. There 
@7Tabl. Eneyel. 1: 172. eKneyel, 4: 748. 1797. 
54: 748, 1797. @U. 8. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Bull. 24: 31. 1900, 
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