MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



abruptly acuminate, 10 to 20 cm. 

 long, 2 to 4 cm. wide; panicles mostly 

 10 to 20 cm. long, about as wide; pis- 

 tillate spikelets about 1 cm. long, the 

 glumes thin, brown, less than half as 

 long as the lemma; staminate spike- 

 lets about 3 mm. long, the slender 

 pedicels appressed to the pistillate 

 spikelets. % — Rocky woods, Flor- 

 ida, rare (Pineola; Orange Lake); 

 West Indies to Brazil. 



TRIBE 11. MELINIDEAE 



126. MELINIS Beauv. 



Spikelets small, dorsally com- 

 pressed, 1-flowered with a sterile 

 lemma below the fertile floret, the 

 rachilla disarticulating below the 

 glumes; first glume minute; second 

 glume and sterile lemma similar, 

 membranaceous, strongly nerved, 

 slightly exceeding the fertile floret; 

 fertile lemma and palea subhyaline 

 toward summit. Perennials with slen- 

 der, branching, decumbent culms and 

 narrow many-flowered panicles, with 

 capillary branchlets and pedicels. 

 Type species, Melinis minutiflora. 

 Name from Greek meline, millet. 



1. Melinis minutiflora Beauv. Mo- 

 lasses grass. (Fig. 820.) Culms as- 

 cending from a tangled much- 

 branched base, as much as 1 m. tall; 

 the foliage viscid-pubescent; blades 

 flat, 5 to 15 cm. long, 5 to 10 mm. 

 wide; panicle 10 to 20 cm. long, pur- 

 plish; spikelets about 2 mm. long; 

 sterile lemma 2-lobed, with a delicate 

 awn 1 to 10 mm. long from between 

 the lobes. 91 — Introduced from 

 Brazil, though native of Africa. Cul- 

 tivated for forage and spreading in 

 open ground through Central and 

 South America and the West Indies. 

 It has been tried successfully in south- 



569 



Figure 820. — Melinis minutiflora. Plant, X 1; spike- 

 let, X 10. (Moldenke 453, Fla.) 



ern Florida. The grass has a heavy 

 sweetish odor when fresh. Called in 

 Brazil capim gordura. 



Thysanolaena maxima (Roxb.) Kuntze. 

 Robust perennial, 1 to 3 m. tall; blades 3 to 

 7 cm. wide; panicle commonly 1 m. long, the 

 slender flat densely flowered branches droop- 

 ing; spikelets about 2 mm. long, pointed; 

 fertile lemma long-ciliate. % — Intro- 

 duced in southern Florida and southern Cal- 

 ifornia as an ornamental. 



TRIBE 12. PANICEAE 



127. ANTHAENANTIA Beauv. 



Spikelets obovoid; first glume wanting; second glume and sterile lemma 

 about equal, 5-nerved, the broad internerves infolded, densely villous, the 

 sterile lemma with a small palea and sometimes with a staminate flower; 

 fertile lemma cartilaginous, brown, with narrow pale hyaline margins, boat- 



