WEST INDIAN GRASSES DESCRIBED BY SWARTZ. 137 



Paspalum dissectum Sw. Fl. Ind. Occ. 1: 137. 1797. 



Fliigge ° changes the name of this to Paspalus caespitosus on account of P. dissectum 

 L. (1759), which is a different species. The Swartz specimen is from Jamaica and is 

 marked P. dissectum Sw. and also P. caespitosum Fliigge. It is P. caespitosum as 

 described in Grisebach's Flora. 



Panicum setosum Sw. Prod. 22. 1788. 



The specimen in the Stockholm herbarium is Chaetochloa setosa (Sw.) Scribn. as 

 described by Scribner and Merrill. & It is also described by Grisebachc under Setaria 

 setosa Beauv. 



Panicum pilosum Sw. Prod. 22. 1788. 



The type specimen is labeled "Jamaica, Swartz. fl. ind. occ." It belongs to the 

 species described under this name in Martius's Flora Brasiliensis. It differs from P. 

 laxum in the densely flowered, comparatively short panicle branches (2 to 3 cm. long) 

 and in the pilose rachis. Panicum distichum Lani. d is the same, as indicated by the 

 type specimen at Paris labeled by Lamarck " Panicum distichum lam. diet." Another 

 synonym is Panicum pilisparsum G. F. W. Mey.« In the Trinius herbarium there is a 

 specimen of this sent by Meyer, apparently a fragment from the type at Gottingen. 



Panicum molle Sw. Prod. 22. 1788. 



The type specimen is labeled in the handwriting of Swartz "P. molle fl. ind. occ." 

 This specimen is not the species which has been generally described under this name, 

 but P. velutinosum Nees,/a South American species allied to P . fasciculatum Sw., and 

 not known to occur in the West Indies. The* panicle is like that of Panicum reticulatum 

 Torr., while the spikelets are very much like those of Panicum arizonicum Scribn. & 

 Merr. The spikelets are 3 mm. long, brown, sparsely reticulate-nerved, and finely 

 velvety-pubescent. The description in the Prodromus under P. molle is brief and 

 applies to this specimen, except that the branches of the panicle are said to be spread- 

 ing, while in the specimen they are erect-appressed. Swartz cites as a synonym 

 "Panicum 2. Brown. Jam. 133," which is the plant commonly understood as Panicum 

 molle, that is, Panicum barbinode Trin. The locality is given by Swartz as "India 

 occidentalism' Swartz gives a more extended description in his Flora, where the 

 habitat is given as "in pascuis fertilioribus subhumidis Jamaicae." We must decide 

 whether Swartz is describing the specimen he has preserved or whether he is describing 

 the forage plant of Jamaica, that is, the Browne plant. The description of the culm 

 applies to either except "inferne subdivisus" and "crassus," which are not true of the 

 Swartz specimen but are true of P. barbinode, and "pubescens, " which does not apply 

 to P. barbinode. The blades are said to be " villosa, mollia," which applies only to the 

 Swartz specimen. The spikes are described as "fuscis," which applies to the Swartz 

 specimen and not to P. barbinode, on which the inflorescence is green or purple tinged. 

 Referring to glumes, " valvula exterior rninuta" applies best to P. barbinode, as, in the 

 specimen, the first glume is half as long as the spikelet, and in P. barbinode only about 

 one-fourth as long. Second glume "pubescens" applies to the Swartz specimen; in 

 P. barbinode the spikelets are glabrous. The interior valve (palea) of the neutral 

 flower is said to be minute, but in both species it is well developed. The transversely 

 rugose fertile lemma common to both species is not mentioned . In a note Swartz 

 states that the species is distinguished by its soft pubescence and the thick, somewhat 

 succulent culm, for which latter feature it is much liked by cattle for fodder. He 



«Mon. Pasp. 209. 1810. 



b N. A. Species Chaetochloa, U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Bull. 21: 39. 1900. 



cFl. Brit. W. Ind. 555. 1864. 



^Encycl. 4: 731. 1797. 



e Prim. Fl. Esseq. 57. 1818. 



/Agrost. Bras. 121. 1829. 



