14 



POACEAE. 



5. Paspalum conjugatum Berg. 

 Two-spiked Paspalum. (Fig. 12.) 

 Smooth, and glabrous. Culms compressed, 

 3° high or less, finally decumbent at the 

 base and rooting at the lower nodes; 

 leaves 2-5' long, 2"-6" wide: racemes 

 in pairs, slender, often curved, spread- 

 ing or ascending, li'-6' long, the rachis 

 straight, or flexuous toward the apes: 

 spikelets crowded, much compressed dor- 

 sally, singly disposed, about ^" long, 

 apiculate, the 2 outer scales 2-nerved, 

 the nerves marginal, the first scale ciliate 

 on the margins with very long lax hairs, 

 the third scale smooth, white. 



Lawns, fields and cultivated soil. Nat- 

 uralized. Native of the southern United 

 States, West Indies and tropical continental 

 America. Flowers in summer and autumn. 

 1 regard this grass as a naturalized rather 

 than a native species, on account of its 

 manner of occurrence in Bermuda. It may 

 be said, however, that in Porto Rico, and 

 elsewhere in the West Indies, where there 

 can be no doubt that it is indigenous. 

 It occurs in cultivated places as well as In 

 wild situations. 



6. Paspalum distichum L. Joint- 

 grass. (Fig. 13.) Culms 2°-4° tall, 

 from a long stout rootstock; leaf -sheaths 

 compressed, keeled, usually crowded and 

 overlapping, especially at the base and 

 on the innovations, glabrous, or more or 

 less hairy on the margins; blades com- 

 monly less than 4' long, li"-3" wide, 

 generally glabrous; racemes terminal, in 

 pairs, ascending, f'-2' long; spikelets 

 singly disposed, ovate, l"-li" long, acute, 

 the 2 outer scales firm, 5-nerved, rarely 

 7-nerved, the first scale glabrous, the 

 second appressed-pubescent, the third 

 apiculate, pubescent at the apex. 



Frequent in marshes and waste grounds. 

 Native. Southern United States, West In- 

 dies and tropical continental America. Its 

 seeds probably transported by birds. Flow- 

 ers In summer and autumn. 



