PANICE.E. 



147 



Spikelcts Avitli 1 terminal perfect flower and a rudimentiiry 1 

 below it, awued, clustered along the secund distant rays of a simple 

 ])aniele, articulate with the pt'dicels. (Jlumes 4, the 3 outer ones 

 membranous, the lowest empty one not much shorter than the 

 others and with a lonjrer awn, floral ji^lume awuless and hardened 

 witli the palea as in J'aiiinnii. to which it is very nearly allied, in 

 the section Brachiaria. Stamens ;5. Styles distinct. 



A small tropical and subtropical genus of 10 to 10 s])ecies, found 

 in both hemispheres. By some botanists they have been sc])arated 

 as tliough there were thirty species. The genus diifers fnmi Pani- 

 ciDii in the greater development of the lowest empty glume, which 

 is always awned. 



1. 0. undulatifolius ]?eauv. Agrost. 54.(181'^). O. sctarins K. 

 & S. Syst. 'Z-ASY (181 :). Panicnm sefariNui Lam. 111. 1:170 

 (i:i»l). 



Culms weak, sparingly brariched, 

 20-50 cm. high, ascending fi'om a long 

 creei)ing base. Sheaths ciliate, about as 

 long as the internodes; blades reticu- 

 late-veined, ovate-lanceolate or lanceo- 

 late, acute. 2-4 cm. long, 5-12 mm. 

 wide, sparingly ciliate. Spikes 5-8, on 

 3-8 centimeters of the axis, 5-8 mm. 

 long. Spikelcts ',\-7, glabrescent, oval, 

 !) mm. long, first glume 1-nerved. 2 

 nun. long, with a stout, straight, 

 smooth, blunt awn, 1 cm. long, second 

 ii little longer, ovate, 5-nerved, bearing 

 iui awn its own length, third glume 

 l)road-oval, still longer, 7-0-nerved, 



with a short awn; fertile floret ovate, Fig. 27.—Opli8memts undulnti- 



•iboiit -^ mm loner Z"^*'"*- -b spike; a, spikek-t; 



.loout ^ mm. long. ^^ ^^^^^ (Scribner.) 



Florida, Curfiss 3595. 



2. 0. Liebmanni Fourn. Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Am. Bot. 3:502 

 (1880). 



Culms simple excepting at the base, 40-60 cm. high. Sheaths 



