398 Sir R. Schomburgk on some G?-asses and Sedges 



more certainty than most other things used for that purpose." 

 (History of Jamaica.) The following varieties occur on the sea- 

 coast of Demerara : — 



Paspalus conjugatus, var. distachya minor, N. ab E. in lit. 



Paspalus conjugatus, var. tristachyus, N. ab E. in lit. From the sugar- 

 plantation, Mon Repos, on the east coast of Demerara. 



Paspalus conjugatus, var. major, di-tristachyus, N. ab E. in lit. Col- 

 lected in the neighbourhood of Georgetown. 



Paspalus vaginatus, Fliigge in Pasp. p. 108 ; Raddi, /. c. p. 24 ; Nuttall, 

 Gen. Americ. [The genera of North American Plants], i. 57. 



Paspalum vaginatum, Swartz, /. c. i. 135 ; Humboldt et Kunth, Nov. 

 Gen. et Spec. i. 91 ; Elliot, Sketch of the Botany of South Ca- 

 rolina and Georgia ; Trinius, Species Gram. Icon, et Descr. v. 

 t. 1 (from Martinique), t. 2 from the West Indies. 



Water-grass ; Crab-grass. 



The geographical distribution of this grass is very extensive. 

 Humboldt found it in New Granada, Siebers in Mauritius, Sellow 

 in Monte Video, Rothery in Cayenne*. Robert Brown describes 

 a variety from New Holland, Swartz from Jamaica, Nuttall from 

 New Orleans ; according to Elliot, Dr. Baldwin found it in humid 

 soils near Savannah ; in Trinius's herbarium is a specimen from 

 North America, and two are pictured in his work, one from Mar- 

 tinique, and the second from some other island in the West In- 

 dies. Kunth gives Tranquebar and Equinoctial Africa as additional 

 localities. I found it growing at the plantation Mon Repos on 

 dams near trenches ; likewise in Georgetown on Eve Leary Parade 

 ground; and Mr. A. Garnett sent me some specimens from Cu- 

 ming's Lodge which differ from the others and form a variety. 

 It propagates most rapidly by sending roots into the ground 

 from its numerous joints. It soon destroys cultivated plants by 

 spreading its shoots with an almost inconceivable rapidity in every 

 direction like a thickly-laced mat. It is an excellent fodder for 

 sheep, and cattle are generally fond of it. Nuttall observes that 

 it has been recommended to agriculturists in North America, 

 and he thinks that in warm maritime situations it would con- 

 tinue growing and flowering and prove productive, but in Europe 

 the early frosts would destroy it. Professor Nees von Esenbeck 

 describes the two following varieties from Demerara as follows : — 



Paspalus vaginatus, var. a. spiculis glabris, Fliigge, Pasp. p. 108. 



From Mon Repos, Eve Leary, &c. 

 Paspalus vaginatus, var. in culmo valde repente firmo, ramis dense 



stipato. From Cuming's Lodge. 



* Vidi in Mus. Brit.— R. H. S. 



