- 
570. —- GRAMINEZ. (GRASS FAMILY.) 
lindrical (2' — 4! long), somewhat interrupted at the base; glumes short-pointed, 
rather narrowly keeled, 3 longer than the ovate hairy flower. — South Carolina, 
and westward. (1)— Leaves not glaucous, 4' - 10" long. 
47. PASPALUM, L. 
Spikelets spiked or somewhat racemed, apparently 1-flowered, awnless, borne 
in 1 — 4 rows on one side of the flattened or triangular jointless rachis. Glumes 
2, membranaceous, nearly equal. Palem 2, ovate or roundish, coriaceous; the 
lower one larger, concave, and partly enclosing the flattened upper one. Sta- 
mens 3. Grain included in the indurated palew. Such is the apparent structure 
of the spikelet, but theoretically it is 2-flowered, as in Panicum, with the lower 
glume and upper palea of the lower flower undeveloped. 
* Spikes racemed: spikelets partly enclosed by the recurved margins of the broadly 
winged membranaceous rachis. : 
1. P. fluitans, Kunth. Spikes very numerous; spikelets in two rows, mi- 
nute (3" long), oblong, pubescent; glumes pointed; culm branching, ascending 
from a creeping or floating base; leaves flat, broadly linear (4"7—8" wide). 
(Ceresia fluitans, ÆU.) — River-swamps, Florida, and northward. Sept. and 
Oct. @ — Culms smooth, 19 —3? long. 
2. P. Walteri, Schultes. Smooth; spikes 3-7, the lowest ones included 
in the sheath of the uppermost leaf ; spikelets in two rows, ovate, smooth ; glumes 
obtuse, 5-nerved. (P. vaginatum, Ell) — Low cultivated grounds, Florida to 
North Carolina, and westward. July and Aug. — Culms decumbent, creeping, 
1?-3?long. Leaves linear, short. 
* * Spikes mostly by pairs, divaricate: spikelets ovate-lanceolate, acute, 2-rowed on 
the slender wingless rachis: glumes smooth, longer than the palec. 
3. P. Digitaria, Poir. Peduncles elongated, lateral and terminal, often 
2-3 together from the upper sheath; spikes (3/—4' long) filiform, spreading 
horizontally; glumes even, 7-nerved, j longer than the obtuse perfect flower; 
culms ascending from a creeping and branching base; leaves lanceolate, obtuse, 
flat, mostly fringed on the margins, the sheaths compressed. (Milium paspa- 
lodes, Ell.) — Open swamps, Florida to North Carolina, and westward. July - 
Sept. | — Culms 19?- 2? high. 
4. P. vaginatum, Swartz. Peduncles single, terminal, spikes. (rarely 3 or 
4) short (1/— 13! long), erect or horizontal; glumes rugose, 5-nerved, rather longer 
. than the acute flower; culms diffusely creeping, shortjointed ; the flowering - 
branches (4'— 10! long) erect; leaves (1^ - 3! long) subulate-convolute, their dilated _ 
imbricated sheaths persistent. (P. furcatum, Fluegge.) — Saline swamps, West 
Florida, and southward. Aug. and Sept. XY — Culms 99 - 4? long. 
: cotipreed, een at the throat, 
