70 MB. H. N. RIDLEY ON THE 



Along the paths in the central district and in tlie maize-fields. 

 Only a few plants, evidently introduced in crops. 



Distribution. Texas, Mexico, and Brazil, from Pernambuco 

 to Eio de Janeiro, also Bolivia and Australia. 



Panicum numidianum. Lam. 111. p. 902 ; Doell in Mart. Fl. 

 Bras. ii. p. 188. 



In the swamp by the stream at Leao, and two or three large 

 patches on the path in the Sapate. It is called " Capiin de 

 Planta," and is, without doubt, introduced more or less inten- 

 tionally, as it is the best fodder-grass in the north of Brazil and 

 constantly cultivated. 



P. ruscuM, Sw. Prodr. p. 23 ; Fl. Ind. Occ. i. p. 156. — P. fasci- 

 culatum, JSfees, Agr. Bras. p. 151. 



A few scattered plants in Chaloupe Bay, in rock-clefts. In 

 the sand of the shore of Peak Bay, and more plentiful and 

 larger along the path into the Sapate with the preceding. 



Distribution. Southern North America, West Indies, and 

 South America. 



P. TRicnoDES, Stv. Prodr. p. 24 ; Fl. Ind. Occ. i. p. 176 (ex 

 parte). — P. capillaceum, Lam. 111. i. p. 173 ; Doell in Mart. Fl. 

 Bras. ii. p. 249. 



Plentiful on the Peak and at Tangle Eock, and is almost the 

 only herbaceous plant growing under the bushes of the Sapate. 

 It grows, too, on Sella Giueta. This is the plant distributed 

 under the name of P. parvifolium, Lam., from the ' Challenger ' 

 Expedition collections. The species is a very common woodland 

 plant in Brazil and other parts of South America and the West 

 Indies ; but there seems to have been some confusion as to its 

 name. The earliest name seems to be P. tricTiodes, Sw., which 

 was based on a plant collected by Sir Hans Sloane in Jamaica, 

 which is preserved in the Natural History Museum. In his later 

 work, Swartz added to the species Linnaeus's P. brevifolium, 

 based upon a Ceylonese plant and quite distinct. 



P. COLONUM, L. Sp. PL ed. ii. p. 84 ; Jacq. Eclog. t. 32 ; Doell 

 in Mart. Fl. Bras. ii. p. 140. 



Paths on Rat Island ; a purple-flowered form is common on 

 the sandy shores of Peak Bay, and the common pale-coloured 

 form grows all over the paths and waste ground in various parts 

 of the main island near the village. 



Distribution. A weed of world-wide distribution. 



