148 NORTH AMERICAN FLORA [VoLuME 17 
43. VALOTA Adans. Fam. Pl. 2: 495. 1763. 
Trichachne Nees, Agrost. Bras. 85. 1829. 
Perennial, usually tufted, grasses, with the spikelets borne in pairs in 2 rows on one side 
of slender solitary or fascicled racemes which are erect or nearly so, and arranged in a narrow 
usually dense panicle. Spikelets articulated to the pedicel below the scales, 1-flowered, 
usually in pairs, rarely single, lanceolate. Scales 4; first scale minute or rudimentary, glabrous; 
second and third scales generally equaling or exceeding the fruiting scale, or the second rarely 
shorter than it, 3—-5-nerved, copiously pubescent with long silky hairs which commonly extend 
beyond the spikelet, rarely only a little exceeding it; fourth or fruiting scale lanceolate, generally 
brown, not rigid, with the broad flat hyaline margins not inrolled, enclosing a palet of similar 
texture and a perfect flower. Stamens 3. Styles distinct. Stigmas plumose. Caryopsis elliptic, 
in cross-section unequally bi-convex. 
Type species, Andropogon insularis L. 
Second scale of the spikelet equaling or longer than the fruiting scale ; spikelets crowded. 
Hairs extending much beyond the spikelets, which are 3 mm. long or more. ; 
Panicle tawny ; spikelets 44.5 mm. long. 1, V. insularis. 
Panicle silvery or purplish ; spikelets 3-4 mm. long. 2. V. saccharata. 
Hairs barely extending beyond the spikelets, which are 2.5-3 mm. long. 3. V. Hutchcockii. 
Second scale of the spikelet shorter than the fruiting scale ; spikelets scattered. 4. V. Pittiert. 
1. Valota insularis (1,.) Chase, Proc. Biol. Soc. 
Wash. 19: 188. 1906. 
Andropogon insularis I. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 1304. 1759. 
Panicum lanatum Rottb. Acta Lit. Univ. Hafn. 1: 269. 1778. 
Milium villosum Sw. Prodr. 24. 1788. : 
Panicum leucophaeum H.B.K. Nov, Gen. & Sp.1: 97. 1815. 
Trichachne insularis Nees, Agrost. Bras. 86. 1829. 
Panicum Duchaissingii Steud. Syn. Gram. 93. 1854. 
Tricholaena insularis Griseb. Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 557. 1864. 
Syntherisma insulare Millsp. Field Columb. Mus. Publ. Bot. 1: 473. 1902. 
Stems up to 1 m. tall or more, smooth and glabrous; leaf-sheaths overlapping, at least 
below, glabrous or pubescent; blades up to 3 dm. long and 2 cm. wide, glabrous; panicle up 
to 4 dm. long, narrow, its usually numerous branches erect; spikelets 4-4.5 mm. long, exclusive 
of the long hairs, lanceolate, the first scale minute, the second and third scales 5-nerved, 
pubescent with very long rusty hairs, the second scale about as long as the fruiting scale, the 
third exceeding it, the fruiting scale chestnut-brown, lanceolate, with a long-acuminate green 
tip. 
TYPE LOCALITY: Jamaica, 
DISTRIBUTION : Florida’and Texas, and in tropical America. 
ILLUSTRATIONS : Sloane, Hist. Jam. pl. 14, f. 2; Bull. U. S. Dep. Agr. Agrost. 7: 7. #2; Trin. 
Ic. pl. 220 ; Field Columb. Mus. Publ. Bot. 3: 24, f 
2. Valota saccharata (Buckl.) Chase, Proc. Biol. Soc. 
Wash. 19: 188. 1906. 
Panicum lachnanithum Torr. Pacif. R. R. Rep. 7: 21. 1857. Not P. lachnanthum Hochst. 1855. 
Panicum saccharaium Buckl. Prel. Rep. Geol. & Agr. Surv. Tex. App. 2. 1866. 
Trichachne saccharata Nash, in Small, Fl. SE. U.S. 83. 1903. 
Stems up to 8 dm. tall, tufted, smooth and glabrous; leaf-sheaths glabrous or hirsute; 
blades up to 1.5 dm. long, 3-5 mm. wide, linear-lanceolate, acuminate, glabrous or pubescent; 
panicle narrow, usually dense, up to 1.5 dm. long, its branches erect; spikelets 3-4 mm. long, 
exclusive of the long hairs which are commonly silvery-white, sometimes purplish, the first 
scale small or minute, the second scale lanceolate, as long as the fruiting scale and a little 
shorter than the third, 3-nerved, long-hairy, the third scale ovate-lanceolate to ovate, 5-nerved, 
acuminate, the fruiting scale brown when mature, lanceolate to ovate, acuminate, the tip white. 
TYPE LOCALITY : Middle Texas. 
DISTRIBUTION: Colorado to Texas and northern Mexico. 
ILLUSTRATIONS: Bull. U. S. Dep. Agr. Agrost. 17: f. 342; Bull. U.S, Dep. Agr. Bot, 121: p/. 4. 
