HITCHCOCK AND CHASE — NORTH AMERICAN GRASSES. 17 



margin; panicles ovate, mostly 5 to 6 cm. (sometimes 10 cm.) long, the few 

 branches rather stiffly ascending, few-flowered; spikelets 4 mm. long, similar 

 to those of L. divaricata. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Rich thickets, western Cuba ; Veracruz to Honduras. 



Veracruz : Cordoba, Fink in 1893. 



Honduras : Puerto Sierra, Wilson 392. 



Cuba: Valestina, Wright 3457. Matanzas, Rugel 1S7. Bahia Honda, Shafer 

 12006. Jamaica, Leon 1972. Manati, Leon 5685. San Antonio, Hitchcock 

 131. Pinar del Rio, Baker 3817. Guanajay, Baker & Hermann 4269. 

 Sierra de Anafe, Le6n 2874 {Wilson 11467) ; Wilson 11309. Buenaven- 

 tura, Wilson 9238, 9332. 



Explanation of Plate 12. — Lasiacis grisebachii. Specimen from Finar del Rio, Cuba, 

 Baker 3817 (U. S. Nat. Herb. no. 845457). Natural size. 



4. Lasiacis oaxacensis (Steud.) Hitchc. 



Panicum oaxacense Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1 : 73. 1854. " Oaxaca." The 

 type specimen in the Paris Herbarium, collected by Lenormand, consists of a 

 panicle and two leaves. 



Lasiacis oaxacensis Hitchc. Proc. BioL Soc. Washington 24:. 45. 1911. Based 

 on Panicum oaxacense Steud. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Plants straggling and branching, but not high-climbing nor with a strong 

 central cane ; culms decumbent and geniculate at base, rooting at the lower 

 nodes, the ascending branches 1 to 2 meters long, glabrous ; sheaths glabrous 

 or rarely appressed-pubescent, the margin villous ; ligule prominent, 2 to 5 mm. 

 long, brownish ; blades narrowly lanceolate, 10 to 25 cm. long, 1 to 2 cm. wide, 

 abruptly narrowed at base, long-tapering at apex, scabrous on both surfaces ; 

 panicles open, as much as 30 cm. long aud nearly as wide, the slender scabrous 

 branches and branchlets ascending or the lower finally spreading, naked below, 

 the spikelets clustered toward the tips, no smaller secondary panicles present ; 

 spikelets 4 mm. long, elliptic, often purple. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Thickets and copses, southern Mexico to northern South America ; also in 

 Jamaica. qaa-*L fc ow*-<a-tftc^u 



Veracruz : Pital, Liebmann 285. Zacuapan, Purpus 2157. Mirador, Liebmann 

 287. Motzorongo, Smith 581. 



Michoacan : Sierra Madre, Langlassd 556. 



Guatemala: Guatemala City, Popenoe 735; Hitchcock 9045, 9080, 9107. Sana- 

 rate, Kellerman 6243. Cubilquitz, Tiirckheim 7701. Retalhuleu, Kellerman 

 6273. 



Honduras : San Pedro Sula, Thieme 5585. 



Salvador : Santa Ana, Hitchcock 8853. San Salvador, Hitchcock 8877. 



Nicaragua: Jinotepe, Hitchcock 8672, 8698. 



Costa Rica : San Jose, Hitchcock 8488, 8496. Llano Grande de Puriscal, Jime- 

 nez 887. San Francisco de Guadalupe, Toncluz 9818. Alajuela, Jime'nez 152. 

 Rio Bebedero, Jime'nez 724. 



