GRASS FAMILY. 105 
7. NAZIA Adans. Fam. Pl. 2:31. 1763. 
[Tracus Hall. Hist. Stirp. Helv. 2: 203. 1768.] 
[LAPPAGO Schreb. Gen. 55. 1789. ] 
An annual grass, diffusely branched, with flat leaves and 1-flowered deciduous spikelets, 
either solitary or in clusters of 3-5 in a terminal spike. Scales of spikelet 2 or 3, the outer- 
most small or wanting, the second rigid and covered with hooked prickles, the third mem- 
branous, subtending a palet and perfect flower. [Name unexplained. ] 
A monotypic genus, native of tropical and 
temperate regions of the Old World. 
1. Nazia racemosa (I,.) Kuntze. 
Prickle-grass. (Fig. 226.) 
Cenchrus racemosa I,. Sp. Pl. 1049. 1753. 
Lappago racemosa Willd. Sp. Pl. 1:.484. 17 
Nazia racemosa Kuntze, Rev. CA. Pl 7 
1891. 
Culms 2/14’ tall, erect, simple to diffusely 
branched, smooth below, pubescent above. 
Sheaths smooth and glabrous; leaves 1/—3’ 
long, 1/2’ wide, acuminate, rather strongly 
ciliate ; spike 1/-4/ long, sometimes partially 
included in the somewhat inflated upper 
sheath ; spikelets 1-flowered: first scale very 
small, almost hyaline; second scale coria- 
ceous, 114’’ long, acute, 5-nerved, each nerve 
armed with a row of hooked prickles ; third 
scale 1’ long, keeled, sharp-pointed, 1- 
neryed, membranous, enclosing a palet of 
like texture and a perfect flower. 
Occasional in ballast and waste places about 
the Atlantic seaports. Abundant from Texas to 
Arizona and Mexico. Native of Europe and 
Asia. July—Sept. 
8. PASPALUM I, SyStebdeeron2s S855. 9 2750: 
Perennial grasses of various habit, with generally flat leaves and 1-flowered spikelets 
borne in 2-4 rows on 1-sided spikes, which are single, in pairs, or panicled. Spikelets oblong 
to orbicular, flat on the inner surface, convex on the outer. Scales 3, rarely 2 by the absence 
of the outermost, the outer ones membranous, the inner one indurated and subtending a 
palet and perfect flower. Stamens 3. Styles separate; stigmas plumose. Grain ovoid or 
oblong, free. [An ancient Greek name for some grass, used by Hippocrates. ] 
About 160 species, of wide distribution in tropical and temperate regions, most abundant in 
America. 
Spikelets secund, with the back of the flowering scale turned toward the rachis. 
Rachis membranous, dilated, its wings almost enclosing the spikelets at maturity. 
Extending beyond the spikelets, long-acuminate; spikelets about 12’ long. 
Le 22 mucronalum, 
Not extending beyond the spikelets, acute; spikelets about 1'’ long. 
2, P. membranaceum, 
Rachis not membranous nor enclosing the spikelets at maturity. 
Spikelets oval or elliptic, acute. 
Spikelets glabrous or somewhat pubescent; spikes in pairs or occasionally in 3’s. 
3. P. distichum. 
Spikelets villous on margins; spikes 4-12. 4. P. dilatatum., 
Spikelets from oval to orbicular, very obtuse. 
Spikes 1, or sometimes 2, on the 1-3 slender peduncles exserted from the upper sheath; 
spikelets 1'’ or less long. 
Leaves and sheaths pubescent, the former generally long, narrow and erect; spike- 
lets about 4'’ long, 5. P. selaceum. 
Teaves and sheaths glabrous or somewhat pubescent, the former long and broad, 
lax, ciliate; spikelets about 1’’ long. 6. P. ciliatifolium. 
Leaves and sheaths glabrous, the former short and broad, ciliate on the margins; 
spikelets about 4'’ long. 7. P. longipedunculatum. 
Spikes 2 or more on the single stout peduncle. 
Spikelets 14'’-1'4"' long: spikes generally spreading. 8. P. laeve. 
Spikelets exceeding 1'4’’ in length; spikes generally erect. 
9. P. Floridanum., 
Spikelets not strictly.secund, the back of the flowering scale turned away from the rachis. 
Spikelets less than 1’’ long, oblong. 10, P. compressum., 
Spikelets about 2’’ long, broadly lanceolate. 11. P. paspaloides. 
