HITCHCOCK AND CHASE NORTH AMERICAN PANICUM. 181 



Spikelets 2.2 mm. or more long, pointed; 

 sheaths bearing pale glandular 



** spots 111. P. yadkinense. 



Spikelets not over 2 mm. long, not 



pointed. 



Autumnal form erect, branched 



like a little tree; primary 



blades rarely over 5 mm. wide ; 



second glume shorter than 



fruit and sterile lemma 109. P. dichotomum. 



Autumnal form topheavy-reclining; 

 primary blades 6 to 10 mm. 

 wide; second glume equaling 

 fruit and sterile lemma 110. P. barbulatum. 



102. Panicum microcarpon Muhl. 



Panicum microcarpon Muhl.; Ell. Bot. S. C. & Ga. 1: 127. 1816. No locality is 

 cited. The type, in the Elliott Herbarium, consists of a single culm, lacking the 

 base, with five leaves and an immature panicle, slightly included at the base. The 

 accompanying label reads: "Panicum microcarpon. barbulat: var.? Hab. Georg: 

 Dr. Baldwin." As shown by his description and the above-mentioned type, Elliott 

 misunderstood Muhlenberg's application of this name and attached it to a different 

 species, though giving Muhlenberg as author. Muhlenberg's later publication of the 

 name ° for a different species & is thus invalidated. 



Panicum nitidum ramulosum Torr. Fl. North. & Mid. U. S. 146. 1824. "Near 

 Quaker-Bridge, New-Jersey." The type, in the Torrey Herbarium, is a sparingly 

 branched, vernal culm, with nearly mature terminal panicle. The label reads: 

 "Panicum nitidum /? var. [/? is ramulosum] collected in swamps in the pine barrens 

 of New Jersey, near Quaker Bridge, June, 1818." 



fPanicum nitidum barbatum Torr. Fl. North. & Mid. U. S. 146. 1824. "In 

 woods and meadows." The type could not be found in the Torrey Herbarium. The 

 description seems to apply to the vernal form of P. microcarpon, or possibly to P. 

 barbulatum. 



This species is the one described by Muhlenberg c under the name of P. discolor 

 Spreng., as shown by a specimen so labeled in the Muhlenberg Herbarium. Panicum 

 heterophyllum Schreb. is here cited as a synonym, erroneously, as Schreber did not 

 publish this name. P. heterophyllum Muhl.^ is a nomen nudum. 



Panicum microcarpon Muhl. is the species described as P. barbulatum by American 

 authors, which proves to be not P. barbulatum Michx. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Vernal form cespitose; culms erect, or sometimes geniculate at base, 30 or usually 

 60 to 100 cm. high, the nodes densely bearded with rerlexed hairs; sheaths glabrous, 

 or the lowermost pubescent, often mottled with white spots between the nerves, 

 ciliate on the margin; blades thin, spreading, the upper often rerlexed, 10 to 12 cm. 

 long, 8 to 15 mm. wide, narrowed toward the base, glabrous, more or less papillose- 

 ciliate at base; panicles finally long-exserted, many-flowered, ovate in outline, 8 to 

 12 cm. long, the branches ascending; spikelets 1.6 mm. long, 0.7 mm. wide, elliptic, 



oDescr. Gram. 111. 1817. 



& See P. microcarpon Muhl. under P. polyanthes, page 255. 



c Descr. Gram. 114. 1817. 



d Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc. 3:160. 1793. 



