HITCHCOCK AND CHASE—GRASSES OF THE WEST INDIES. 273 
1, Imperata brasiliensis Trin. Mém. Acad. St. Pétersb. VI. Math. Phys. Nat. 
2: 331. 1832. 
An erect tufted perennial with scaly rhizomes, the flat leaves mostly clustered 
toward the base, the slender simple, nearly naked culm 0.5 to 1 meter tall, with 
a pale silky narrow panicle. 
Open rather dry ground at low altitudes, Bahamas and southern Mexico to 
Brazil. Originally described from Brazil. The type specimen in the Trinius 
Herbarium is labeled “S, da Lapa.” 
Bahamas (Andros, Eleuthera, and New Providence), Cuba, Jamaica (Lititz, 
Harris 11660), Dominica, and Trinidad. 
2. Imperata contracta (H. B. K.) Hitche. Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 4: 146. 1893. 
Saccharum contractum H. B, K. Nov. Gen, & Sp. 1: 182. 1816. 
Saccharum caudatum Meyer, Prim. Fl, Esseq. 68, 1818. 
Anatherum caudatum Schult. Mant. 2: 445. 1824, 
Anatherum portoricense Spreng. Syst. Veg. 1: 290. 1825. 
Imperata caudata Trin. Mém. Acad. St. Pétersb. VI. Math. Phys. Nat. 2: 331. 
1832. 
Taller than the preceding, the culms leafy, the panicle as much as 40 cm. long. 
Swamps and moist open ground, southern Mexico and the West Indies to 
northern South America. The type of Saccharum contractum is from Colombia ; 
of 8. caudatum from British Guiana; of Anatherum portoricense from Porto 
Rico. 
Cuba (Colonia San Rafael, Leén 5682), Jamaica, Santo Domingo, Porto Rico, 
Guadeloupe, Martinique, Dominica, Trinidad, and Tobago. 
4. SACCHARUM LI, 
Spikelets all perfect, awnless, a ring of long silky spreading hairs at the base 
of each, one of the pair sessile; rachis articulate, the slender racemes arranged 
in a large panicle, the main axis and branches not disjointing. 
1. Saccharum officinarum L. Sp. Pl. 54. 1753. SUGAR CANE, 
Saccharum violacewm Tussac, Fl. Antill. 1: 160. pl. 25. 1808. 
Gigantic perennials with broad leaves, the overlapping sheaths falling from 
the short-jointed lower part of the culms, the great plumy panicles pinkish sil- 
very ; forming seed sparingly. 
Cultivated in tropical and subtropical countries of both hemispheres. The 
West Indian specimens in herbaria are probably all from cultivated plants. 
Originally described from India. Saccharum violaceum was described from 
Jamaica. The Spanish name is “ cafia de azficar.” 
5. ERIOCHRYSIS Beauv, 
Spikelets awnless, the sessile spikelets perfect, the pedicellate spikelets 
pistillate, smaller but fruitful, readily falling, the rachis rather tardily dis- 
jointing ; racemes short, crowded in a narrow dense silky interrupted spikelike 
panicle. 
1. Eriochrysis cayennensis Beauv. Ess, Agrost. 8. pl. 4. f. 11. 1812. (Beauvois 
spells the name “ Cayanensis.’’) 
Saccharum cayennense Benth. Journ. Linn. Soc. Bot. 19: 66. 1881. 
An erect unbranched perennial 1 to 2 meters or more tall, the long narrow 
biades densely velvety, the compact silky golden brown panicle 10 to 12 em, long. 
Moist slopes and savannas, southern Mexico and the West Indies to Uruguay. 
The type locality is presumably Cayenne, though no locality is mentioned in the 
original description. 
