120 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL, HERBARIUM. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Culms climbing among shrubs or small trees to a height of as much as 6 meters, as 

 much as 5 mm. thick at base, with strong canes and elongate branches; sheaths 

 glabrous, or rarely slightly scabrous, ciliate on the margin, sometimes a little papillose 

 near the summit, overlapping on the flowering shoots; ligule of stiff hairs as much as 

 5 mm. long; blades narrowly lanceolate, as much as 20 cm. long and 2 cm. wide, long- 

 acuminate, scabrous, sometimes becoming smoothish, often papillose on the margin at 

 base; panicles ovoid or ellipsoid, as much as 12 cm. long and 10 cm. wide, rounded at 

 summit, the branches ascending or the lower finally spreading, branched from about 

 the middle, the spikelets somewhat aggregate on the branchlets, the panicle thus 

 rather compactly flowered at the periphery, the pedicels 0.5 to 2 mm. long; spikelets 

 about 1.5 mm. long; glumes glabrous or with a few short stiff hairs at the summit; 

 florets glabrous. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Wooded hillsides, Jamaica, at an altitude of 1,000 to 2,000 meters; also southern 

 Mexico to South America. 

 Veracruz: Consoquitla, Liebmann 331, 332. Mirador, Liebmann 333, 335. Orizaba 



Miiller 78; Pringle 5570. Zacuapan, Purpus 2000. Jalapa, Smith 1804. 

 Oaxaca: Without locality, Galeotti 5868. 



Chiapas: Chicharras, Nelson 3764. Without locality, Purpus 7410. 

 Guatemala: Coban, Smith 1854; Turckheim 87. Secanquim, Pittier 252. 

 Costa Rica: Cailas Gordas, Pittier 11009. Los Palmares, Pittier 10651. Juan Vinas, 



Cook & Doyle 338. La Palma, Tonduz 12567. Tucurrique, T onduz 12798, 12970. 



Chirrip6, Tonduz 166. La Hondura, Jimenez 535. 

 Panama: El Boquete, Hitchcock 8277. 

 Jamaica: Catherines Peak, Amer. Gr. Nat. Serb. 418; Eggers 3583. Gordon Town, 



Eart 708. Wallenford, Harris 11551, 11567. Content Gap, Harris 11517. Abbey 



Green, Hitchcock 9386. Bryans Hill, Harris 11529. Cold Spring Gap, Harris 



11337, 12491. Flamstead, Harris 11468, 11581. Whitfield Hall, Harris 11583, 



Mount Lebanon, Harris 12487. 

 Colombia: Santa Marta, Smith 210. 

 Venezuela: Carayaca, John 305. 

 Bolivia: Yungas, Bang 297; Rusby 6. 



Explanation of Plate 31.— Isachne arundinacea. Specimen from Jamaica, Amer. Gr. Nat. Herb. 418. 

 Natural size. 



8. Isachne disperma (Lam.) Doell. 



Panicum dispermum Lam. Tabl. Encycl. 1: 173. 1791. "Ex Amer. Merid. Com. D. 

 Richard." The type, in the Paris Herbarium, is a shoot with 5 leaves and a panicle 

 from which most of the spikelets have fallen, the pedicels slender and spreading. The 

 locality is not indicated on the label, only the name and "ex D. Richard." 



Panicum multinerve Desv. ; Poir. in Lam. Encycl. Suppl. 4: 279. 1816. "Cette 

 plante croit aux Antilles. (V. s. in herb. Desv.)." The type, in the Paris Herba- 

 rium, is said to be from Porto Rico, "Habitat in Antillis (Portoricensis)," but the 

 statement is probably erroneous as the species is otherwise unknown from that island. 

 The label bears, besides the name Panicum multinerve Desv., the name confertum 

 Desv. It would appear that this specimen is the type of the latter name also, espe- 

 cially as no other specimen could be found that appeared to be the type. 



Panicum confertum Desv.; Poir. in Lam. Encycl. Suppl. 4: 279. 1816. "Cette 

 plante croit aux Antilles (V. s. in herb. Desv.)." See remarks under Panicum multi- 

 nerve in the preceding paragraph. Poiret describes both species in succeeding para- 

 graphs, but the descriptions do not differ essentially. The blades in both are 



