RtTWRE iior.TUS jamaicensis. m 



5. VA6INATUM. SHEATHED. 



Spikes two; spikeleis bifario.us, acuminate; culm branched; knee jointed; 



joints sheathed. 



This is a foot high ; roots numerous, filiform ; culm creeping, sheathed at the joint- ; 

 sheaths distich, compressed, wile, striated, smooth; leaves lanceolate-linear, acme, 

 spreading, hairy at the nee k of the sheath ; spikes spreading, an inch long, pedicelied ; 

 rachis linear, sub-fiexuose; spikelets ovate, plarto-corivex, on very short pedicels. 

 Calycine glumes equal, ovate, acute, smooth : corolla scarcely smaller; anthers and 

 stigmas purple. It is known by its branching culm, by its sheaths and spikeleis. 

 Native of Jamaica, in pastures where the soil is clay. Ar&. 



6. DECUM.BENS. PROSTRATE. 



Spike single, directed one way, peduncle; very long; spikelets alternate, or- 

 biculate-acuminate, smooth; culm procumbent. 



This is a proenmbent grass scarcely a foot in length : culm branched, divaricating, 

 round, smooth ; leaves widish, lanceolate, pubescent on both sides, with the edge sub- 

 ctliate; sheaths ;he length of the leaves, even, villose at the neck. Peduncles from 

 the sheaths, solitary, from four to six inches long, loose, one-spiked ; spikes nodding, 

 an inch long; spikelets directed one way, on short pedicels; rachis membranaceous, 

 linear, flat; calycine glumes ovate, smooth; corolline very like them; anthers pale, 

 stigmas long, pencilled. This (Infers from its congeners, in its divaricating diffused 

 culm, and solitary axillary spike, on a long pedicel. Native of Jamaica cm the western 

 side of the island, on the mountains, in a dry sandy soil. Sw, 



7. FH.iror.ME. FILIFORM. 



Spike mostly solitary, linear-one -rowed ; spikelets alternate, ovate-compressed^ 

 culm and leaves filiform. 

 Culm erect, simple, with blackish joints ; leaves half round. Sw+ 



RUPTURE-WORT, HAIRY. ILLECEBRUM. 



Cl. 5, or. 1. Pentandria monogynia. Nat. or. lloioracea. 



Gen. char Calyx a five-leaved perianth, cartilaginous, five-cornered; with co- 

 loured leaflets, which are sharp, with distant points, permanent; corolla none; 

 stamens five capillary filaments, within the calyx, with simple anthers ; the pistil 

 has an ovate germ, snarp, ending in a short bifid style; stigma simple, obtuse; 

 pericarp a roundish capsule, acuminate, both ways five-valved, one-celled, co- 

 vered by the calyx ; seed single, roundish, sharp on both sides, very large. Two 

 species are natives of Jamaica. 



1. POLYGONOIDES. POLYGONUM-I.IKE. 



Amaranthoides humile currassavicum foliis polygoni. Sloane, v. I, 



p. 141, t. 86, f. 2. Hirsuta repens adnodos altemos florida, foliis 



ovatis, petiolis marginatis semi-arnplexantibus, Jioribus confertis 



sessilibus. Browne, p. 184. 



>i R 2 Stems 



