130 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



DESCRIPTION. 



^' vrj i > Plants often widely spreading; culms ascending from a decumbent base, the ascend- 



''•^ii ^"'* ing portion 20 to 40 cm. high, rather slender, leafy, pubescent; sheaths short, but 

 ^ ^i sometimes overlapping toward the summit and on the branches, ciliate and papillose- 

 hirsute, at least toward the summit; ligules membranaceous-ciliate, scarcely 0.5 mm. 

 long; blades spreading, thin, 2 to 6 cm. long, 1 to 2 cm. wide, 

 ovate or ovate-lanceolate, somewhat unsymmetrical, acuminate, 

 cordate and somewhat clasping at the ciliate base, glabrous or 

 sparsely hirsute on both surfaces; panicles oval or ovate in out- 

 line, 5 to 20 cm. long, nearly as wide, the axis sparsely pilose, 

 the numerous branches and branchlets and the long pedicels 

 Fig. 125.— p. trichoides. capillary; spikelets 1.2 to 1.3 mm. long, about 0.5 mm. wide. 

 From type specimen. obovate-elliptic, sparsely hirsute; first glume about half the 

 length of the spikelet, acute, 1-nerved; second glume shorter 

 than the sterile lemma, both 3-nerved, and at maturity sometimes ruptured by the 

 expanding fruit, often only the lower part of each remaining; fruit at maturity 1.3 

 mm. long, 0.6 mm. wide, elliptic, minutely papillose while immature, becoming 

 smooth but not polished. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Woods and open ground, often a weed in cultivated soil, Mexico and the West 

 Indies, south to Ecuador and Brazil. 



Mexico: Imala, PaZmer 1758 in 1891; Manzanillo, PaZmer 1083 in 1890; Acapulco, 



Palmer 287 in 1895; Guadalajara, Pringle 3828; Guatulco, Liebmann 317; 



Zacualpan, Purpus 2902; Cordoba, Finch in 1893; La Correa, Langlasse 380; 



Coahuayutla, Emrick 53; Tabasco, Rovirosa 434; San Juan Bautista, Rovirosa 



598; Yucatan, Gaumer 522; Tres Marias Islands, Nelson 4257. 

 Guatemala: Santo Thomas, Deavi 6041; Dept. Santa Rosa, Heyde & Lux 4299; 



El Palmar, Kellerman 6263; Alta Vera Paz, Tuerchheim 7801. 

 Honduras: Wilson 188 (Field Mus. Herb.). 

 Salvador: San Salvador, Velasco in 1906. 

 Costa Rica: Nicoya, Cooper 10379; Matina, Pittier 9754; Buenos Aires, Pittier 



3651, Tonduz 4865; San Jose, Tonduz 3123; without locality, Pittier 4458, 



16081. 

 Cuba: Habana, Curtiss 714. 

 Jamaica: Port Antonio, Fredholm 3282. 

 Porto Rico: Mayaguez, Cowell 522, 583, Sintenis 160; Ponce, Heller 6094; 



Luquillo Mountains, Wilson 283; Martin Pena, Heller & Heller 387; Cayey, 



Heller & Heller 531; Mount Morales, Britton & Cowell 444; Rio Piedras, 



Barrett 61; Santui'ce, Heller & Heller 157. 

 Leeward Islands: St. Christopher, Britton & Cowell 295; Dominica, Eggers 



in 1881; Guadeloupe, Buss 2681. 

 Windward Islands: Martinique, Duss 1321, Hahn 1047; Granada, Broadway in 



1905, Eggers 5987. 

 Colombia: State of Magdelena, Pittier 1621; Call, Pittier 971; Santa Marta, 



Smith 167. 

 Venezuela: Tovar, jFendZer 2499. 

 Trinidad: "Ex herb. W. Mitten," collector not given. 

 British Guiana: Demerara, Jenman 4405. 



Brazil: Para, Spruce 466 (Panicum 13); without locality, Burchell 8706. , 

 Ecuador: Balao, Eggers 14481; El Recreo, Eggers 15417. 



