18 



POACEAE. 



5. VALOTA Adans. 

 Tall perennial grasses, with flat leaves and large terminal pubescent 

 panicles. Spikelets lanceolate, acute or acuminate; scales 4, the 3 outer ones 

 membranous, empty, the first minute or rudimentary, the second silky-pilose 

 and ciliate, the fourth one shorter, glabrous, shining, chartaceous. [Perhaps 

 in honor of P. Vallot.] Several species of warm temperate and tropical 

 America, the following typical. The genus has formerly been included in 

 Panicum by authors, but present knowledge of grasses justifies its separation, 

 returning to the view of Adanson. 



1. Valota insularis (L.) Chase. Silky 

 Grass. (Fig. 21.) Culms erect, slender, 

 3°-5° high, clustered. Leaves 1° long or 

 less, 5"-10" wide, acuminate, glabrous, or 

 their sheaths pubescent; panicle narrow, 

 often 1° long, little, if any more than 1' 

 thick; spikelets 2"-3" long, acuminate; 

 second and third scale 3-nerved, long-hairy; 

 fruiting scale chestnut-brown. [Ahdropo- 

 gon insulare L. ; Trichachne insularis Nees.J 



Wooded bluff. Abbot's Cliff, Harrington 

 Sound. 1912. Native. Florida and West In- 

 dies. Perhaps of recent introduction. Flowers 

 nearly throughout the year. This conspicu- 

 ous grass has not hitherto been recorded 

 from Bermuda, although seen in large quanti- 

 ties at the locality noted. 



Sacciolepis striata (L.) Nash of the 

 southeastern United States and Cuba, an 

 aquatic perennial grass up to 6° high with 

 spikelets in a narrow panicle, was described 

 by iSprengel in 1825 as from Bermuda 

 under the name Panicum aquaticum Bosc, 

 but nothing further has been known about 

 it here since that time. 



6. SYNTHERISMA Walt. 

 Annual grasses, with flat leaf-blades and an inflorescence of spike-like 

 racemes which are disposed in whorls, or scattered and approximate, at the 

 summit. Spikelets narrow, acute, in 2 's or 3 's on one side of the flat and 

 winged or triangular rachis, one of the spikelets generally longer-pedicelled 

 than the others. Scales 3 or 4, the 3 outer membranous, the first small or want- 

 ing, the fourth chartaceous, glabrous and shining, at length indurated, enclos- 

 ing a palet of similar texture and a perfect flower. Stamens 3. Styles dis- 

 tinct. Stigmas plumose. [Greek, crop-making, referring to its abundance.] 

 About 25 species, of temperate and tropical regions. Type species: Synther- 

 isma praecox Wald. [Digitaria Scop., not Heist.] 



First scale minute ; fruiting scale greenish or yellowish. 



Rachis nearly i" wide ; spikelets Ih" long. 



Rachis i" wide; spikelets about 1" long. 

 First scale wanting ; fruiting scale deep brown. 



1. 8. sanguinalis. 



2. 8. difjitata. 



3. 8. longifiora. 



