366 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 
Dry, rocky, or gravelly hills, throughout Cuba, whence originally described, 
Wright 786 from eastern Cuba being the type. 
4. Aristida refracta Griseb. Cat. Pl. Cub. 228. 1866. 
Culms densely tufted, wiry, ascending, 30 to 50 cm. tall, sparingly branch- 
ing from the lower nodes; leaves mostly clustered at the base, the blades in- 
volute-setaceous, flexuous, commonly 10 cm. long (the one or two culm blades 
usually very short) ; panicles narrow, the short, rather distant branches ascend- 
ing, the short-pediceled spikelets approximate; glumes about 5 mm. long, usu- 
ally dark, the loosely twisted awns about 12 mm. long. 
Dry savannas, Florida and the Greater Antilles. Originally described from 
Cuba, the type being Wright 3431 from Chirigote. In the type specimen the 
second glume is mucronate from a notched tip, and the leaves are not con- 
spicuously clustered at the base. The specimens from Guanabacoa, Cuba, and 
from Jamaica and Porto Rico have entire glumes ‘and leaves conspicuously 
clustered at the base. These may represent a distinct species. 
Cuba (Province of Pinar del Rfo, Guanabacoa, Manajanabo, and in the 
Province of Oriente), Jamaica (southern Manchester), and Porto Rico (Boque- 
ron and Guanajibo). 
5. Aristida gyrans Chapm. Bot. Gaz. 3: 10. 1878. 
Culms cespitose, erect, wiry, glabrous, 30 to 70 cm. tall, simple or sparingly 
branching from the lower nodes; blades flat or the heavy margins incurved, 
3 to 5 cm. long, about 1 mm. wide, a thickened ridge just inside the margin, the 
thickening particularly noticeable from the under side; panicles narrow, 5 to 
15 cm. long, the branches short, appressed, few-flowered; spikelets short-pedi- 
celed, approximate; glumes 5 to 7 mm. long, the first slightly shorter than 
the second; lemma about as long as the glumes, the loosely twisted awns about 
equal, 10 to 12 mm. long, or the central as much as 15 mm. long. 
Low, sandy soil, Florida, whence described, to Hispaniola. 
Bahamas (New Providence), Cuba (Herradura, Isle of Pines), Haiti, and 
Santo Domingo. 
6. Aristida portoricensis Pilger in Urban, Symb. Antill. 4: 100. 1903. 
Pn large tufts, the slender wiry culms erect from a geniculate base, 30 to 
50 em. tall, finally branching; blades involute-setaceous, 5 to 8 cm. long; 
panicles rather loosely flowered, the branches ascending or spreading, a nearly 
sessile spikelet commonly in the axil, the short-pediceled approximate rust- 
colored spikelets about 12 mm. long excluding the awns, the summit of the 
lemma exceeding the glumes, the spreading awns 2 to 2.5 cm. long. 
Open rocky slopes, Monte Mesa, western Porto Rico, whence described, the 
type specimen being Sintenis 77. 
7. Aristida spiciformis Ell. Bot. 8. C. & Ga. 1: 141. 1816. 
Culms tufted, wiry, stiffly erect; blades involute; panicle 10 to 15 cm. long, 
densely flowered, very bristly and suggesting a spiral by reason of the long 
necks of the fruit all twisted in one direction. 
Bine barrens, southeastern United States; also in Porto Rico (white sand 
barren, Campo Alegre, Chase 6614) and the Isle of Pines (Britton, Britton & 
Wilson 14198). Originally described from South Carolina or Georgia, presum- 
ably from the former. 
8. Aristida erecta Hitche. Contr. U, S. Nat. Herb. 12: 236. 1909. 
Culms erect, rather stout, 1 to 2 meters tall, with long involute scabrous 
blades and long nodding panicles with ascending branches, the spikelets rather 
crowded, the awns about 2.5 cm. long. 
Pine barrens, western Cuba, whence described, the type being Wright 3432. 
