72 



CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



Fig. 57.— P. capillar ioides. 

 type specimen. 



From 



32. Panicum capillarioid.es Vasey. 



Panicum capillarioides Vasey in Coulter, Contr. Nat. Herb. 1: 54. 1890. "Point 

 Isabel," collected by "G. C. Nealley, in the region of the Rio Grande, in Texas." 



The type specimen, in the National Herbarium, 

 bears the name in Vasey's writing and the serial 

 number 634 as in the list in which the species is 

 published. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Plants in tufts of few to several culms from a 

 knotted crown, erect or ascending, 30 to 55 cm. high; 

 culms stiff, simple or sparingly branching, ap- 

 pressed-pubescent or sometimes glabrate, the nodes 

 densely ascending-pubescent; sheaths mostly equal- 

 ing or exceeding the rather short internodes, papil- 

 lose-pubescent; ligules about 1.5 mm. long; blades 

 rather stiff, ascending, 10 to 30 cm. long, 2 to 10 mm. 

 wide, scarcely narrowed to the rounded base, flat or 

 drying somewhat involute, harshly papillose-pubes- 

 cent on both surfaces, usually sparsely so beneath; 

 panicles short-exserted, usually nearly equaled by 

 the upper blades, diffuse, few-flowered, 10 to 20 cm. 



long, as wide or wider, the capillary branches stiffly spreading at maturity, bearing 



rather short-pediceled spikelets toward the ends, the axis and branches scabrous, the 



rather conspicuous pulvini pubescent; 



spikelets 5 to 6 mm. long, 1 to 1.2 mm. 



wide, lanceolate, long-acuminate; first 



glume one-third to half the length of 



the spikelet, acute, 7-nerved; second 



glume and sterile lemma, subequal, 



many -nerved, at least three times 



as long as the fruit, usually more 



or less inflated above it; fruit 1.6 to 



1.8 mm. long, 0.8 to 0.9 mm. wide, 



elliptic. 



This species is readily distinguished FlG - ^--Distribution of P. capillarioides. 



from all others by the elongated second glume and sterile lemma, greatly exceeding 



the small fruit. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Prairie, southern Texas and northern Mexico. 

 Texas: San Diego, Croft 240, Nealley 69 in 1892; Pena, Nealley 30 in 1891; Kings- 



ville, Piper in 1906; Corpus Christi to Brownsville, Hitchcock 218; without 



locality or date, Buckley (Hitchcock Herb.). 

 Mexico: Monterey, Hitchcock 5547. 



33. Panicum diffusum Swartz. 



Panicum diffusum Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 23. 1788. " Jamaica, Hispaniola." 

 The type, a in the Swartz Herbarium, is labeled "diffusum fl. ind. occ." 



Panicum caespititium Lam. Tabl. Encycl. 1: 173. 1791. "Ex Amer. merid. com- 

 munic. D. Richard" The type specimen, in the Lamarck Herbarium, is marked "Ex 

 D. Richard." 



a See footnote c , page 36. 



