NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF LEPTOCHLOA. 11 



NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES. 



A. — LEPTOCHLOA proper. Spikelets -' to 1+ flowered, arranged clo.se together on one side of the 



branches of the panicle. 



LEPTOCHLOA MUCRONATA Kunth. Rev. Gram. 1: 91. 1885. Transfers 



Eleusine mucronata Michx. (PI. I. fig. 1; text fig. 2.) 

 Eleusine mucronata Michx. Fl. 1: 65. 1803. " Hab. in cultis Illinoensibus." 

 Festuca filiformis ham. 111. 1: 191. n. 1044. 1791. " Ex Amer. Merid. Comm. D. 



Richard. ' ' 

 Eleusine filiformis Pers. Syn. 1: 87. 1805. " Hab. in Americ. meridion.'" 

 Eleusine sparsa Mnhl. Descr. Gram. 135, 1817. " Habitat in Carolina et Georgia.'' 

 Oxydenia attenuata ~Nutt. Gen. 1: 76. 1818. w ' On the banks of the Mississippi 

 near New Orleans/' Mr. Nuttall says: " To this genus belongs the Eleusine 

 filiformis of Persoon. growing in the tropical regions of America, nearly 

 allied to the present species," and is often quoted as the author of Oxydenia 

 filiformis, but he y does not make this combination. 

 Leptoehloa filiformis Beauv. Agros. 71 and 166,1812. Transfers Eleusine fili- 

 ***s* formis Pers. Roemer and Schultes (2: 580. 1817), also transfer Eleusine fili- 



formis Pers. Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 288, 1830, gives as the locality "'Hab. in 

 Mexico, ad Sorzogon Luzoniae."* In the herbarium of the U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture are several specimens from India. I am unable to distinguish 

 these from the American plant. Hooker includes these under L. filiformis 

 R. & S. (Flora Br. India, 22: 298. 1896.) I have examined the Asiatic 

 material in European herbaria and feel satisfied that L. mucronata occurs in 

 southern Asia. It can be distinguished from the allied L. chinensis by the 

 papillose sheaths. 



FiG.l. — L. attenuata. Fig. 2. — L. mucronata. 



Eleusine elongata Willd. ex. Steud. Nom. ed. 2, 1: 549, 1840. Labelled " Habitat 

 in America meridionalis Humboldt.*' Types of this and the next examined 

 in herbarium Willdenow. 

 Eleusine stricta Willd. 1. c. Labelled " Habitat in San Domingo."' 

 Leptoehloa attenuata Steud. Syn. 209. 1855. Transfers Oxydenia attenuata 

 Nutt. This is kept separate by Mr. Nash in Britton's manual, but the char- 

 acters do not seem to me to be sufficiently constant for separation. This form 

 is represented by Bush, Nos. 590, 403, 792, 793, and Eggert, 219a. from Mis- 

 souri, and Palmer, 392, 401, from Indian Territory. 

 Leptoehloa pellucidida Steud. 1. c. " Duchaissing legit in Panama." 

 Leptoehloa pilosa Scribn. IT. S. D. A., Div. Agros. Cir. 32: 9. 1901. "Type 

 specimen collected in sandy soil, Dappan, Travis County, Tex., 294. J. E. 

 Bodin , September ,1891." Professor Scribner states that ' * This species is closely 

 related to Leptoehloa mucronata. but it is at once distinguished by its rigid 

 leaves and papillate-pilose sheaths." The leaves are somewhat more rigid 

 than is usual in this species, but the papillate-pillose sheaths are found com- 

 monly in L. mucronata. 

 Stems tufted 6 to 10 dm. high, erect or occasionally more or less decumbent at 

 base and rooting at the nodes. Leaves numerous, flat and rather soft, vary- 

 ing from 1 to 3 or more dm. in length and as much as \ cm. wide. Sheaths 

 more or less pilose from a papillate base. Panicle often 3 dm. or more in 

 length, consisting of numerous slender spikes, arranged along a central axis; 



