II.-NOTES ON PANICUM NITIDUM LAM., PANICUM 8C0PAR1UM 

 LAM., AND PANICUM PUBESCENS LAM. 



By F. Lamson-Scribner and Elmer D. Merrill. 



While in Paris in March and April, 1900, Mr. A. H. Baldwin, an 

 artist of the Department, made careful drawings and notes on some of 

 Michaux's and Lamarck's types in the Herbarium of the Museum 

 d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris, and among them were found the types 

 or at least typical material of Panicwn nitidum, Panicum puhescens^ 

 and Paniciim scojxirkmi. As none of these species have been under- 

 stood by American authors, the following- notes on the results of 

 studying these types will clear up the existing confusion regarding 

 the identity of these species. F. L.-S. 



PANICUM NITIDUM Lam. 



Lamarck first characterized Pam'cum nitidum in h.\s Tabl. Encycl. 1: 172 (1791), as 

 follows: 



"899. Paniciim nitidum. 



"P. panicula ramosa subviolacea, glumis obtusis striatis, semine nitido. 



"E Carolinia Com. D. Eraser.", 

 Later in his Encycl. 4: 738 (err. typ. 748) (1797), he more fully characterized the 

 species with the following description: 



' ^ Panic luisanf; Panicum nitidum. Illustr. no. 899. 



"Panicum panicula ramosa subviolacea, glumis obtusis striatis hispidulis, 

 semine nitido. 



"Sa tige est il peine hautre d'un pied, glabre, articulee, feuillee. Les feuilles 

 sont larges de deux on trois lignes, glabres, excepte a 1' entree de leur 

 gaine, qui est longue et striee. La panicule est mediocre, rameuse, longue 

 de deux a trois pouces, et teinte d'un violet-brun, ainsi que les articulations 

 de la tige. Les fleurs sons ovales, obtuses, mutiques, striees, legerement 

 hispides, d'un vert teint de violet-brun. Les graines sont tres luisantes. 



"Cette graminee croit dans la Caroline, ou elle a ete recueillie par Eraser, 

 naturaliste anglois (v. s. ) . Le citoyen Michaux I'a aussi trouvee dans dife- 

 rentes parties de I'Amerique septentrionale; et il en a recueilli dans la 

 Pensylvanie une variete a fleurs plus petites et a feuilles fort etroites." ^ 



^ The culm is scarcely a foot high, glabrous, articulate, leafy. The leaves are 2 or 3 

 lines wide, glabrous, except at the beginning of the sheath, which is long and striate. 

 The panicle is medium, branching, 2 to 3 inches long and of a violet-brown color, 

 as are also the articulations of the stem. The flowers are oval, obtuse, muticous, 

 striate, slightly hispid, green tinted with violet-brown. The grain is very shining. 



This grass grows in Carolina, where it was collected by Eraser, an English natu- 

 ralist (v. s. ). Michaux also found it in different parts of North America, and he 

 collected in Pennsylvania a vai'icty with smaller flowers and very narrow leaves. 



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