188 Chase — Notes on Genera of Paniceae. I. 



Field Col. Mus. Bot. 3 : 23) transfer T.insularis to Syntherisma, remarking : 

 " That this species belongs in the genus Syntherisma rather 

 than in Panicum is shown chiefly by the fruiting glumes 

 which are of the form characteristic of the former, having 

 a floral glume with hyaline margins not inrolled." 



Description. — Spikelets in pairs, short-pediceled in 2 rows 

 along one side of a narrow rachis, the slender racemes 

 erect or nearly so, solitary or fascicled along a common 

 axis forming a narrow panicle ; spikelets lanceolate, first 

 glume minute, glabrous, the second and sterile lemma us- 

 ually as long as the fruit or longer, 3-5 nerved, copiously 

 clothed with long silky hairs (in one species, only, the 

 silky hairs are not long and dense) ; fruit lanceolate, usual- 

 ly brown, the flat, white, hyaline margins broad; grain 

 ellipsoid, in section unequally biconvex. 



V \. This genus is very closely allied to Syntherisma Walt. 



%' if One species, Panicum Pittieri Hack., has the inflorescence 

 ' of Valota, but the hairs on the second glume and sterile 



lemma are not long and copious, and the second glume 

 is shorter than the fertile lemma as in some Syntherismas. 

 But considering the diverse aspect of the two genera as a whole it seems 

 wisest to regard them as distinct. 



The following species are transferred to this genus ■ / 



Valota insularis (L.) ^ '^vtX**X*U ^y^U^^,(h^) h*" 



Andropogon insulare L. 1859. Pugih 1 . Jam.iJO. / u // j% / -7" / /^. 

 Valota saccharatH^(Buckl.)<^t<<*£X«^^ <^?*^* M 



Panicum lachnauthum Torr. 185G. Pac. Rail. Rep. 7 3 : 21, not H ocn8 b/2.**<y 



Panicum saccharatum Buckl. 1866. Prel. Rep. Geol. & Agr. Surv. Tex. M***"^ 



App. 2. "Middle Texas." 

 Trichachne saccharatum (Buckl.) Nash. 1903 in Small Fl. So. U. S. 83. 

 Valota Pittieri (Hack.)^ -^^yL^^^-Lj^ 



Panicum Pittieri Hack. 1901. Oest. Bot. Zeitse. 51 : 3<>7. "Costarica: in 



ripa rivi Rio Tirili prope San Jose leg. Tonduz: Pittier distribuitsub 



nro. 6945." 



The species represented in American herbaria by Nealley's Texas collec- 



<^pV^tions and passing under the name Panicum tenerrimum Kunth, (based on 



%S^ Trichachne tenuis Nees) does not well agree with Nees' description. Since 



^i^ authentic specimens of this and Nees' other Brazilian species have not yet 



n. been seen, his species and the Texas form are left for future study ; and to 



avoid the possibility of making unnecessary combinations by taking up 



possible synonyms these species and an Australian one with stramineous 



fruits are not here transferred to this genus. 



Gknus SYNTHERISMA Walt. 1788. Fl. Carol. 

 Digitaria Haller 176S. Stirp. Helv. 2:244 not Adans. 1703, nor Heist. 

 1759, though Haller gives Heister and Adanson as authors of his Digitaria ; 

 but his description, though he evidently makes an effort to harmonize it 



th stramineous 



