308 CONTEIBUTTONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBAEIUM. 



inflatum described from Habana, Cuba ; F. brachiatum was a name in Sieber's 

 herbarium of Martinique. 



Bermuda, Bahamas (New Providence, Long Cay), Cuba, Jamaica, Porto Rico, 

 St. Croix, Martinique, Barbados, Trinidad, and Tobago. 



6. Paspalum distachyon Poit. ; Trin. M4m. Acad. St. P6tersb. VI. Sci. Nat. 1: 



142. 1834. 



An erect perennial with slender striate yellow rhizomes and tufted erect 

 slender wiry glabrous culms 20 to 40 cm. tall; sheaths about as long as the 

 internodes or slightly overlapping, glabrous or with a few hairs at the summit ; 

 ligule membranaceous, about 0.2 mm. long; blades erect or ascending, 5 to 10 

 cm. long (rarely longer), 1 to 2 mm. wide, involute, glabrous or obscurely 

 pubescent on the upper surface; racemes 2 at the apex of the culm, usually 

 naked at the base, 3 to 5.5 cm. long, 2 mm. broad or slightly broader, erect or 

 slightly divergent, the flexuous rachis 0.5 to 0.7 mm. wide, minutely scabrous 

 on the margin ; spikelets solitary, glabrous, on minute pubescent pedicels, not 

 at all imbricate, 2.6 to 3 mm. long, 1.4 mm. wide, abruptly acuminate, the glume 

 and sterile lemma equal, exceeding the fruit, 3-nerved, or the midnerve of the 

 sterile lemma occasionally suppressed, the lemma sometimes transversely 

 wrinkled ; fruit about 2.1 mm. long, 1.2 mm. wide, subacute. 



Closely related to P. vaginatum but much more slender, rhizomatous instead 

 of stoloniferous, or very rarely producing stolons as well as rootstocks, the 

 sheaths not crowded nor inflated, the blades narrower, softer, and involute- 

 setaceous. Paspalum distachyon might be supposed to be a depauperate form 

 of P. vaginatum but that depauperate forms of that species are dwarfed and 

 stout, not elongate and slender. The specimens cited below are remarkably 

 uniform in character, P. distachyon being apparently much less variable than 

 P. vaginatum or P. distichum. 



Moist or dry brackish or alkaline soil, mostly near the coast, Cuba and 

 Jamaica. Described from "Doming[o]." The type has not been examined, 

 but the description so well applies to our specimens as to leave little doubt of 

 their identity. 



Cuba (Habana, Tiffin (Camaguey), and Victoria de las Tunas) and Jamaica 

 (Montego Bay, Savanna-la-Mar, Black River, and Inverness). 



7. Paspalum distichum L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 2: 855. 1759. 



Similar to P. vaginatum, the flowering culms commonly taller, the blades 

 slightly wider and softer. 



Ditches and wet (rarely brackish) places, southern United States and West 

 Indies to South America ; also in the Old World. The source of Linnseus's 

 specimen is unknown. Called " sacasebo " in Cuba. 



Bermuda, Bahamas (New Providence, Watling Island), Cuba, Jamaica, Porto 

 Rico, St. Croix, Antigua, Martinique, Guadeloupe, St. Lucia, Grenada, Trinidad, 

 and Tobago. 



8. Paspalum pubiflorum Rupr. ; Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 11. 1886. 



Culms compressed, usually decumbent at base, the nodes and sheaths com- 

 monly pubescent; blades flat, 8 to 12 cm. long, 5 to 6 mm. wide; racemes few 

 to several, ascending, rather stout ; 1 to 5 cm. distant on the axis ; the spikelets 

 In pairs, pubescent. 



Along ditches and in waste ground, southwestern United States to Bolivia ; 

 represented in Cuba by a single collection from Finca del Obispo, near Habana, 

 Le6n 1986, the specimen less pubescent than typical. Originally described from 

 Mexico. 



