HITCHCOCK AND CHASE — NORTH AMERICAN PANICUM. 185 



Louisiana: Lake Charles, Hitchcock 1128, 1143, 1148, 1153, 1154. 

 Texas: Hempstead, Hall 834 in part. 



Bahamas: Great Bahama, Britton & Millspaugh 2518, 2736, Brace 3697 (all in 

 Field Mus. Herb.). 



104. Panicum multirameum Scribn. 



Panicum multirameum Scribn. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Circ. 19 : 2. 1900. 

 "Gravelly hills near Jalapa, State of Vera Cruz, altitude 1,250 m. (4000 feet). C. G. 

 Pringle 7882, 1889. Orizaba, State of Vera Cruz, February 17, Jared G. Smith, No. 

 593, 1892." The type, Pringle 7882, in Hitchcock's herbarium, is the autumnal 

 form with decumbent culms and numerous ascending branches, with a few vernal 

 culms still attached. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Vernal culms erect or soon decumbent, 30 to 60 cm. high, nodes villous-bearded; 



sheaths strongly ciliate on the margin, especially at the summit, the upper glabrous, 



the lowermost more or less villous; blades rather thick, 3 to 6 cm. long, 3 to 6 mm. 



wide, glabrous, or rarely puberulent, somewhat ciliate around the base, obscurely 



white-margined; panicles ovoid, 3 to 6 cm. long, about 

 three-fourths as wide, the branches ascending; spikelets 

 2 mm. long, 1 mm. wide, elliptic, finely pubescent; 

 first glume one-third the length of the spikelet; second 

 glume and sterile lemma equal and just covering the 

 fruit at maturity; fruit 1.7 mm. long, 0.9 mm. wide, 

 rather abruptly subacute. 

 Autumnal form decumbent, rooting at the lower nodes, 



Fig. m.-^multnoMmm. From flabellately branching before the maturity of the primary 



panicle, the branchlets in close, appressed clusters at 



the ends of the secondary branches; blades reduced, flat or somewhat rolled, appressed; 



panicles reduced to a few spreading branches or long-pediceled spikelets. 

 None of the specimens examined shows a basal rosette of leaves. In technical 



characters this species is allied to P. nitidum but differs in the decumbent, flabel- 



lately-branched autumnal form. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Dry hills and gravelly banks, southern Mexico. 

 Mexico: Jalapa, Pringle 7882, 8339, a 9209, 9210; Orizaba, /. G. Smith 593, 



Bourgeau 2383 in part (all in Hitchcock's herbarium except Pringle 8339); 



Botteri 703 in part (Gray Herb.). 

 Guatemala: Coban, Tuerchheim 56 in part (Gray Herb.). 



105. Panicum annulum Ashe. 



Panicum annulum Ashe* Journ. Elisha Mitchell Soc. 15: 58. 1898. "Dry rocky 

 woods. Maryland to North Carolina and Georgia. Near Washington, D. C. Ward 

 1892," is the first specimen cited, and is taken as the type. This is in the National 

 Herbarium and consists of three vernal culms with mature panicles. The year of 

 collection is 1882 instead of 1892. 



Panicum bogueanum Ashe, Journ. Elisha Mitchell Soc. 16: 85.^ 1900. Based on 

 "P. annulum Ashe, not P. annulatum A. Rich." 1851. 



a Three species were distributed under this number: National Herbarium no. 

 381990 is P. multirameum; P. sphaerocarpon is mixed with this species in the specimen 

 of this number in Hitchcock's herbarium; National Herbarium no. 823271 is P. 

 olivaceum. 



