HITCHCOCK AND CHASE — NORTH AMERICAN GRASSES. 15 



Blades pubescent on one or both surfaces (sometimes glabrous in L. 

 ruscifolia) . 

 Blades narrowly lanceolate, averaging 8 to 10 times as long as wide ; 

 panicle large and open ; spikelets 4 to 5 mm. long. 



13. L. sorghoidea. 



Blades ovate-lanceolate or elliptic, sometimes lanceolate, often more 



or less cordate-clasping; panicle often compact, or at least the 



branches commonly compactly flowered ; spikelets 3 to 4 mm. 



long. 



Sterile lemma 1 14. L. ruscifolia. 



Sterile lemmas 2 15. L. anomala. 



1. Lasiacis procerrima (Hack.) Hitchc. 



Panicum procerrimum Hack. Oesterr. Bot. Zeitschr. 51: 431. 1901. " Cos- 

 tarica : Inter frutices ad fluvium Tiliri prope La Verbena et Alajuelita (Pittier 

 nr. 8819)." Hackel states that this is "Eine ausgezeichnete Art der Series: 

 Lasiacis Benth. et Hook. Gen. III. p. 1103." 



Lasiacis procerrima Hitchc. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 24: 145. 1911. Based 

 on Panicum procerrimum Hack. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Culms several in a clump, rarely single, succulent, somewhat woody at base 

 but not perennial, erect from a thick woody rootstock, simple, as much as 4 

 meters high and 1 cm. thick, glabrous, glaucous; sheaths usually overlapping, 

 glabrous or rarely pubescent ; ligule inconspicuous ; blades narrowly lanceolate, 

 15 to 40 cm. long. 2 to 5 cm. wide, deeply cordate-clasping, the lobes overlap- 

 ping, gradually acuminate at apex, glabrous and glaucous, rarely pubescent, the 

 basal lobes sometimes ciliate ; panicles open and much branched, as much as 1 

 meter long, the branches naked below, finally widely spreading, the lower in 

 whorls, as much as 40 cm. long, the main axis smooth, the branchlets and 

 pedicels scabrous ; spikelets scattered, 3 to 4 mm. long, ovoid or elliptic. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Banks and open woods, central Mexico to northern South America. 



Sjnaloa: Colomas, Rose 1687. 



Tepic : Tepic, Palmer 1921 in 1892. 



Jalisco : Rio Blanco, Palmer 535 in 1886. Guadalajara, Pringle 1732, 11760. 



Colima : Alzada, Hitchcock 70S5. 



Michoacan : El Ocote, Langlasse" 540. 



Veracruz : Cordoba, Fink in 1893 ; Amer. Or. Nat. Hero. 596. Orizaba, Hitch- 

 cock 6385. Mirador, Liebmann 305, 313. Veracruz, Galeotti 5717. Huita- 

 malco, Lieomann 308. La Loja, Liebmann 309. 



Chiapas : Ocuilapa, Nelson 3055. 



Guatemala: Chinantla, Seler 2405. Cubilquitz, Tiirckheim 1028, 8781. El 

 Palmar, Kellerman 6247. Cenaguilla, Heyde & Lux 3906. Cob&n, Tiirck- 

 heim 2486. Guatemala City, Hitchcock 9067; Popenoe 737. Secoyocte, 

 Cook & Griggs 119. Secanquim, Goll 43. 



Nicaragua: Jinotepe, Hitchcock 8694. 



Costa Rica : La Verbena, Tondus 8819. El General, Pittier 12057. San Jos6, 

 Hitchcock 8445 ; Jim&nez 886. Puntarenas, Hitchcock 8572. Canas Gordas, 

 Pittier 11011. Alajuela, Jimenez 532. 



