HITCHCOCK AND CHASE — GRASSES OF THE WEST INDIES. 335 



Panicum pctiolatum Nees, Agrost. Bras. 140. 1829. 



Panicum lagotes Trin. Mem. Acad. St. PStersb. VI. Sci. Nat. 1: 326. 1834. 



Ichnanthus petiolatus Doell in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2 s : 278. 1877. 



A straggling or clambering perennial, a meter or more long, with short- 

 petioled broad blades, puberulent beneath, and long-exserted, rather open 

 panicles, the short-pefliceled spikelets about 5 mm. long. 



Among shrubs, Trinidad (Trin. Bot. Gard. Herb. 2278) and Tobago (Broad- 

 way 4472) to Brazil. Originally described from Brazil. The type specimens 

 of all the synonyms mentioned above also come from Brazil. 



8. Ichnanthus ichnodes (Griseb.). 



Panicum ichnodes Griseb. Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 551. 1864. 



A robust, sparingly branching perennial about 2 meters tall with pilose or 

 sometimes glabrate sheaths, long fiat scabrous blades, as much as 2.5 cm. wide, 

 and large many-flowered panicles with whorled, finally spreading branches and 

 blunt long-pediceled spikelets, the wings on the fertile lemma well developed, 

 one-fourth the length of the fruit. When immature the panicle branches are 

 erect, giving the panicle a dense club-shaped form very unlike that of the spread- 

 ing mature panicle. 



Wood borders, in partial shade, Trinidad, whence originally described, to 

 Brazil. 



38. LASIACIS (Griseb.) Hitchc. 



Inflorescence of open (rarely compact) panicles terminating the culm and 

 leafy branches ; spikelets subglobose, placed obliquely on their pedicels ; glumes 

 and sterile lemma broad, papery, shining, glabrous, commonly lanate at the 

 apex; fruit white, bony-indurate, obovoid, both lemma and palea bearing at 

 the apex, in a slight crateriform excavation, a tuft of woolly hairs, the palea 

 concave below, gibbous above, the apex often free at maturity ; woody-stemmed 

 clambering (rarely crawling) perennials. 



The climbing species are called " tibisi " in Cuba, a name which is also ap- 

 plied to clambering bamboos and to Olyra latifolia. 



Main stem prostrate. 



Blades lanceolate, mostly less than 5 cm. long ; flowering branches strongly 



dorsiventral, mostly prostrate 1. L. rugelii. 



Blades linear -lanceolate, about 10 to 12 cm. long ; flowering branches ascend- 

 ing, not dorsiventral 2. L. grisebachii. 



Main stem clambering (rooting at the lower nodes in no. 3). 

 Ligule noticeable, brown, about 2 mm. long. 



Blades scabrous on both surfaces, otherwise glabrous, elongate, more 



than 10 times as long as wide 3. L. oaxacensis. 



Blades puberulent beneath, glabrous above, less than 10 times as long 



as wide 6. L. ligulata. 



Ligule inconspicuous, hidden by the mouth of the sheath (sometimes as 

 much as 1 mm. long). 

 Blades glabrous on both surfaces. 



Blades narrow, usually 3 to 4 mm., sometimes 5 mm., wide, 8 to 10 



cm. long 4. L. harrisii. 



Blades more than 5 mm. wide, or if narrower the length only 

 4 or 5 cm. 

 Panicles few-flowered, 5 to 10 cm. long ; branches strongly zig- 

 zag, the branchlets divaricate or reflexed ; blades mostly 

 less than 1 cm. wide (sometimes wider on vigorous sterile 



shoots) 5. L. divaricata. 



47877°— 17 6 



