■GRAMINE^. 533 



shorter, mimte/y ciliate.—'Poa, B//.— Several feet higli; panicles 6"-l 2" long, about 1" 

 diam. : spikelets numberless ; flowers 4'" long : marginal nerves disappearing about the 

 middle,— Hab. Trinidad !, Or. ; [Southern United States to BrazU !] 



Division II. AGROSTIDE^.— Spikelets \-jlowered: fertile glumes not indurated, 

 . mostly membranaceous, 2 sterile. Stigmas projecting laterally from the fCower. Embryo 



yL 13. SPOROBOLUS, B. Br. 



Spikelets awnless : iiower contiguous to the sterile glumes, glabrous at the base. Peri- 

 carp membranaceous (rarely coriaceous), seceding from the laterally compressed seed. — 

 Ligular border usually ciliate ; spikelets paniculate. 



Vilfa, P. B., is, as Kunth has correctly observed, no distinct genus. In a Peru specimen 

 of S. pungens {Vilfa lunrians, Steud. !), there is no difference in the pericarp, but that the 

 naked, compressed, oval seed rests longer attached in the bottom of the flower. 



* Stem perennial, stoloniferous, often decumbent. 



^ 25. S. ▼irginicus, Kth. Perennial, branched ; leaves short, spreading, distichous, 

 convolute, filiform-acnminate, devoid of asperities : sheath sterile, terete, little hairy or gla- 

 brate at the top and ligular border ; panicle narrow, short ; sterile glumes usually unequal, 

 the longer as long as the acute flower. — Trin. Ic. t. 48. — Agrostis, L. Vilfa, P. B. — 

 Stolons leafy : flowering branches ascending; spikelets 1"'-1V" long. — Hab. Jamaica !, Pd., 

 on the sandy seashore; Antigua!, Wullschl.' Trinidad!, Sieb., Cr., in mangrove-swamps; 

 [United States I to Brazil I, Pacific ' islands ! to Australia ! ; trop. Africa to Madagascar I 

 and the Cape !]. 



/" 26. S. litoralis, Kth. Perennial ; leaves long, involute, linear-setaceous, scabrous at 

 tlte margin : shealh terete, villous-bearded at the top and ligular border ; panicle narrow, 

 enclosed at the base by the uppermost leaf ; ginmes acuminate, the sterile shorter than the 

 flower. — Vilfa, P. B. V. aspera, P. B. — Stem 1'— 4', inferior leaves 6"-10", spikelets 

 2"' long. — Hab. Trinidad I, Long, in rocky places ; [Southern Canada ! to South America ; 

 trop. Africa]. 



** Stem slender, erect ; root fibrous. 



^ 27. S. dommgensis, Kth. Stem erect, compressed at the base; leaves linear-acuminate, 

 flat : sheath conduplicate-eompressed, long-eiliate above and at the ligular border ; panicle 

 spreading-erect, at length contracted ; glumes acuminate, the upper sterile equalling the 

 flower, the lower half as long. — Trin. Ic. t. 24 : but palea pointed in our specimens. — 

 Vilfa, Tr. — Spikelets about 1'" long. — Hab. Jamaica !, At., March; [Haiti I].' 



28. S. ^xurfarascens, Hamilt. Stem slender, csespitose, cylindrical ; tews ffla?'roa)/y 

 linear, usually involute : sheath terete, striate, gldbrescent : ligular border shortly ciliate ; 

 panicle spreading-erect, at length contracted ; glumes acuminate, the upper sterile equalling 

 the flower, the lower half as long ; seeds oval, rounded on the back. — Trin. Ic. t. 57. — 

 AgrostLs, Sw. Vilfa juncea, Tr. {ex parte) .^Spikelets about 1'" long. — Hab. Jamaica !, 

 iSo., JKareA, in arid savannahs ; Antigua!, Wullschl.; [Mexico to Brazil !] . 



'•'^29. S. iitdicus, iZ. Br. Erect; leaves linear-acuminate: sheaths minutely ciliate 

 above (or glabrate), lower eonduplicate-subcompressed ; panicle contracted, long; flower 

 acuminate, 2-4 times as long as the unequal, sterile glumes ; seeds oval, flattish on t'le 

 back. — SI. t'.'li.f. 1. Trin. Ic. t. 60. — Agrostis, L., Sw. S. tenuissimus, P. B. (A.rostis, 

 Jacq.) : the form with convolute leaves and glabrate sheaths. S. elougatus, B. Br. : :• form 

 with the lowest panicle-branches distant. — Panicle l'-3", spikelets f"'-l"' long.— Hab. 

 Jamaica !, Macf., Pd., along roadsides ; Antigua !, Wullschl. ; [Bermudas ! and Florida ! to 

 Valdivia! ; Galapagos I to Ausl-.ralia I, China! to East Indies!]. 



30. S. Jacquemontii, Kth. Stems erect, Cffispitose, cylindrical; leaves narrowly 

 linear, convolute ; sheath terete, striate, minutely ciliate above ; panicle spreading-erect, at 

 length contracted : flower acuminate, 3-4 times as long as the unequal striate glumes ; 

 seeds oval, flattish 'on the back.— /ra. Rev. t. 127.— Allied to the preceding, s^iikelets as 

 long.— Hab. Jamaica !, ^i., J/ot'c/}, ^jVi., a pasture grass ; [Haiti, French island s ! ]. 



