366 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



Dry, rocky, or gravelly hills, throughout Cuba, whence originally described, 

 Wright 736 from eastern Cuba being the type. 



4. Aristida refracta Griseb. Cat. PI. 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 Rio, Guanabacoa, Manajanabo, and in the 

 Province of Oriente), Jamaica (southern Manchester), and Porto Rico (Boque- 

 ron and Guanajibo). 



5. Aristida gyrans Chapni. 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. 



In large tufts, the slender wiry culms erect from a geniculate base, 30 to 

 50 om. 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 Si)itenns 77. 



7. Aristida spiciformis Ell. Bot. S. C. & Ga. 1: 141. 1816. 



Culms tufted, wiry, stiffly erect ; blades involute ; panicle 10 to 15 cm. long, 

 densely flo^ered, very bristly and suggesting a spiral by reason of the long 

 necks of the fruit all twisted in one direction. 



Pine barrens, southeastern United States; also in Porto Rico (white sand 

 barren, Cajnpo 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 Hitchc. 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. 



