356 Baldwin on RoUhollia* 



Culm two to three feet high, with a very solid exterior, but 

 spongy within, compressed, and deeply grooved on its inner 

 angle the whole length between the joints. Leaves long, nar- 

 row, and acute, scabrous on the margin and midrib. Sheaths 

 compressed, corresponding with the culm, shorter than the 

 internodes, open, with membraneous margins. Peduncles short, 

 clothed with a thin membraneous acute pointed sheath, which 

 generally encloses also the base of the spike. Spikes two to 

 three inches long. The flowers are arranged in alternate or- 

 der, but occupy only one side of the rachis, as in the R. dimi- 

 diata. The neutral florets, or clavate pedicels, are joined late- 

 rally to the perfect flowers. Articulations of the rachis re- 

 markably tumid, attenuated beneath, flat on the interior side, 

 exteriorly convex, scabrous, and longitudinally striate. The 

 exterior valve of the calyx, in the perfect flowers, is ovate, 

 obtuse, very thick, cartilaginous, the inner margin inflected, 

 and deeply marked on its outer surface with from three to five 

 corrugations, with longitudinal ridges between them ; the in- 

 terior valve is smaller, of equal length, acute, ruled, coriace- 

 ous, smooth, and with the inner margin also inflected. The 

 valves of the corolla are membraneous, ovate, acute, white, 

 shorter than the calyx, the exterior one the longest. The 

 neutral florets are sometimes male, but most commonly consist 

 of nothing more than a 2-valved calyx, the valves equal, gaping,, 

 scabrous, and much smaller than those of the perfect flower. 

 Stamens 3, very short. Anthers twin, yellow. Styles 2, rather 

 longer than the stamens. Stigmas small, plumose, dark purple. 

 Discovered between St. Mary's and Jefferson, in Camden 

 county, Georgia, on the 13th of July, 1813. Inhabits flat, 

 moist pine barren. I have not seen it "on the sea-coast of 

 Florida." 



OBSERVATIONS. 



It will be perceived that my description of this plant differs 

 materially from that of Mr. JVuttall. This has unavoidably 



J)Iichaux, it was so considered by the late Dr. Muhlenberg, wlien specimens were 

 first communicated to him. It remains under this name in his Herbarium, but is 

 not included in his work on the grasses. He left it for me to describe along with 

 other new and doubtful plants from the south. 



