GENUS 15. 



GRASS FAMILY. 



129 



8. Paspalum pubescens Muhl. Pubescent 

 Paspalum. Fig. 295. 



Paspalum pubescens Muhl. ; Willd. Enum. Hort. 

 Berol. 89. 1809. 



A tufted branching perennial, with flat pubes- 

 cent leaf-blades, and glabrous spikelets. Culms 

 ii-2i tall, densely pubescent below the racemes; 

 sheaths glabrous, or sometimes pubescent on the 

 margins or toward the apex, the basal ones some- 

 times pubescent all over; blades of medium tex- 

 ture, the pubescence long, spreading and rather 

 stiff, linear, 10' long or less, i'-$" wide; racemes 

 usually I, rarely 2 on the main culm, 2^-5' long; 

 spikelets in pairs, about i" long and I" wide, 

 broadly obovate, the 2 outer scales 3-nerved, or 

 the second 2-nerved by the suppression of the 

 midnerve. 



In fields and dry woods, New York and New 

 Jersey to Texas. Aug. and Sept. 



9. Paspalum setaceum Michx. Slender Paspa- 

 lum. Fig. 296. 



Paspalum setaceum Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i : 43. 1803. 



Stems 8'-2i tall, slender. Sheaths and blades very 

 pubescent, the latter 3'-8' long, i"-3" wide, erect or 

 ascending; racemes ii'-3*' long, more or less curved, 

 generally solitary, occasionally 2, on a long-exserted 

 slender peduncle, with i or 2 additional shorter pedun- 

 cles from the same upper sheath ; spikelets about I" 

 long, broadly obovate; the first scale 3-nerved, pubes- 

 cent, with glandular hairs, the second scale 2-nerved, 

 the midnerve rarely if ever present, glabrous or nearly 

 so. 



In dry fields, New Hampshire to Nebraska, Florida and 

 Texas. Ascends to 2200 ft. in Virginia. Aug.-Sept. Beard- 

 grass. Pitchfork-grass. 



10. Paspalum Muhlenbergii Nash. Muhlen- 

 berg's Paspalum. Fig. 297. 



Paspalum Muhlenbergii Nash, in Britton, Man. 75. 1901. 



A tufted branching perennial, with pubescent 

 narrow leaf-blades, and glabrous spikelets. Culms 

 at first erect, finally reclining, i-2J long; sheaths 

 commonly pubescent all over with long hairs, or 

 sometimes only on the margins ; blades flat, of 

 medium texture, more or less pubescent on both sur- 

 faces with long hairs, linear to linear-lanceolate, 8' 

 long or less, 3i"-6" wide ; racemes single or in 

 pairs, 2'-4' long, the rachis less than i" wide ; 

 spikelets in pairs, about i" long and less than i" 

 wide, oval or broadly obovate, the 2 outer scales 

 3-nerved, or the second one rarely 2-nerved by the 

 suppression of the midnerve. 



In fields or in sandy or stony ground, New Hamp- 

 shire to Florida and Texas. Aug.-Oct. 



