POACEAE. 25 



erect, acuminate, 2.5-10 cm. long, 2-5 mm. Avide, those on the branches shorter, 

 erect or ascending, usually involute when dry, concealing the small !-econdary 

 panicles; primary panicle 2.5-10 cm. long, its branches at first erect, at length 

 spreading; spikelets numerous, about 2 mm. long, densely pubescent with 

 short, spreading hairs, the second and third scales 7-nerved. 



Swamps and savannas, Andros and New I'rovidence : — Florida ; Cuba NruviiD 

 Pamc-giuss. 



IS. Panicum nitidum Lam. Tabl. Encycl. 1: 172. 1791. 



Culms slender, tufted, 3-10 dm. long, erect or reclining, often becoming 

 much-branched, the nodes bearded. Sheaths glabrous, ciliate, or the lower 

 pubescent; leaves of the vernal stage 5-12 cm. long, 3-10 mm. wide, the basal 

 ones tufted, those of the autumnal stage much smaller, 1-3 cm. long, 1-3 mm. 

 wide; panicles of the vernal stage 5-8 cm. long, often nearly as wide, those of 

 the autumnal stage smaller, sometimes reduced to a few spikelets; spikelets 

 2 mm. long, 1 mm. wide, pubescent, the first scale about one-third as long as 

 the whole spikelet. 



Pine and palmetto lands, Great Bahama : — Virginia to Missouri, Florida and 

 Texas ; Cuba. Shiniisg Panic-grass. 



19. Panicum exiguiflorum Griseb. Cat. PI. Cub. 234. 1866. 



Panicum tricolor Hack. Oest. Bot. Zeitsch. 51: 370. 1901. 



Perennial; culms tufted, glabrous, slender, simple or somewhat branched, 

 erect or ascending, 1-5 dm. high. Leaves 1-6 cm. long, 0.5-1.5 mm. wide, flat, 

 glabrous or their sheaths ciliate; panicles 2-10 cm. long, their few slender 

 branches spreading or finally refi^exed, bearing several, short-stalked spikelets 

 about 1.5 mm. long; first scale 3-nerved, about one-third as long as the spike- 

 let; second scale nearly as long as the first; palet large, subcoriaceous, forcing 

 the spikelet open at maturity. 



Moist grounds, Acklin's Island, Fortune Island and Inagua : — Cuba. 

 An imperfect specimen of a Paniciun, perhaps representing P. lucidum 

 Ashe, was collected on Cat Island (Britton 4' Millspaugh 5776). 



12. LASIACIS (Griseb.) Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Xat. Herb. 15: 16. 1910. 



Perennial, woody, often elongated and vine-like grasses, with flat leaves, 

 the inflorescence of terminal panicles of large subglobose somewhat oblique 

 1-flowered spikelets. Scales 4, somewhat coriaceous or chartaceous, not awned, 

 bearing an apical tuft of short hairs. Grain enclosed in the hard fruiting 

 scale and palet. [Greek, hairy-tip.] Ten species or more, of tropical and 

 subtropical America. Type species: Panicum divaricatum L. 



1. Lasiacis divaricata (L.) Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 15: 16. 1910. 



Panicum divaricatum L. Syst. Xat. ed. 10, 871. 1759. 



'Culm glabrous, smooth, much branched, erect or arching, 2-3 m. long, the 

 branches sometimes pendent. Sheaths ciliate; leaves glabrous, acuminate, 

 those of the main culm 8-12 cm. long, 1-2 cm. wide, those of the branches 

 smaller; panicle 5-10 cm. long, its slender branches spreading; spikelets 

 swollen, 4^5 mm. long, the scales tipped Avith woolly hairs, the broad lower 

 scale clasping. 



Coppices and scrub-lands. Great Bahama. Aliaco, Andros. Now rrovidonce. 

 Rose Island, Eleuthera, Cat Island, Little Snn Salvador, Watling's Island, Rum 

 Cay, Conception Island, Crooked Island, Acklin's Island, Fortune Island, North 

 Caicos. Little Inagua. Inagua, and Anguilla Isles : — southern Florida ; West Indies 

 and continental tropical America. Cane-gkass. Wild Cane. 



