PLANTS OF BERMUDA 95 



1. S. ('AgrostisJ Virginicus. A decumbent perennial grass, with 

 numerous, coarse, rigid stems ; leaves short, three to four inches, in 

 two opposite rows, rigid and rolled together, tapering to the slender 

 point ; flowering branches ascending ; panicle three inches long, 

 cylindrical, contracted and half concealed within the inflated sheath. 

 Distribution, Jamaica and United States ; habitat, sandy shores, 

 often half-buried in the sand. Panicle purplish-wliite ; October. 



2. S. Jndicus (Tough -grass). An erect, slender grass, growing in 

 tufts, branching at the base only ; leaves long, flat, slender pointed ; 

 steni twelve to eighteen inches high, enclosed in the long sheath of 

 the terminal leaf ; panicle very slender, often nearly a foot in length, 

 composed of alternate, erect, spike-like branches. Distribution, 

 Florida and West Indies ; habitat, roadsides, fields, &;c., very com- 

 mon and probably native. 



XII. Ol'LISMENUS. 



SpUcelets two-JIowcrvd, awned ; panicle consisting of a few distant, 

 scanty clusters. 



1. 0. setarius. A slender, creeping grass, with wiry, prostrate 

 stems rooting at the joints ; leaves ovate -lanceolate, acute, an inch 

 to an inch and a half long, one-third of an inch Tsdde, sheath ciliate ; 

 clusters three to six flowered, distant ; awns purple, outer two 

 to three times the length of its glume, innermost glume shortly 

 awned ; anthers and stigmas bright purple. Distribution, Jamaica ; 

 habitat, Ireland Island, roadside near parsonage and north road 

 near cemeter}% plentiful. 



E. Flowers usualli/ in loose, spreadinff panicles. 



XIII. I'ANICIM. 



Spikeleis tv:o 'flowered, awnless, the lower floret abortive or male ; glurnss 

 two, unequal, the out-er smaller ; palew of fertile floret cartilaginous ; 

 stigmas purple. 



1. P. folonum-. An erect, annual grass, about a foot high ; leaves 

 narrow, fjmooth, six to eight inches long, ligule none ; panicle con- 

 sisting of six or more, di:^tant, one-".ided spikes, the lo.vest being 

 longest (about one inch) ; spikelets globose -ovate, poir.led, roughly 

 piibescent, clustered in about four rows beneath the slender axis. 

 Distribution, Florida and Jamaica ; habitat, waysides, not frequent 

 — near Camden and "Warwick. October. 



2. P. proUferum (Cane grass). An annual, stout, erect grass; 

 stems numerous, succulent, kneeling at the base, two to four feet 

 long ; leaves narrowlj*^ lanceolate, ten to fifteen inches long, half an 

 inch wide, sheath hairy at the throat ; panicle large, pyramidal, 

 much branched ; spikelets one -twelfth of an inch, racemose on the 

 slender branchlets, lower floret abortive, anthers orange yellow. 

 Distribution, United States ; habitat, fields and waysides, common ; 

 a favourite food for cattle. 



3. P. iiMximum (Gruiuea grass). A perennial gra^s. forming dense 



