MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



621 



13. Virgata. — Robust; blades firm 

 with sharp-cutting edges; ra- 

 cemes several to numerous. 

 Mostly tropical species. 



42. Paspalum virgatum L. (Fig. 

 903.) Culms in large dense clumps, 

 erect, 1 to 2 m. tall; sheaths papillose- 

 hirsute at margin and summit ; blades 

 elongate, flat, 1 to 2.5 cm. wide; pan- 

 icle slightly nodding, 15 to 25 cm. 

 long; racemes usually 10 to 16, as- 

 cending or drooping, 5 to 15 cm. long; 

 spikelets crowded, obovate, about 2.2 

 to 2.5 mm. long, brownish, pubescent 

 along the margin at least toward the 

 summit. % — Open, mostly moist 

 or swampy ground, southern Texas 

 (Brownsville) to South America; 

 throughout the West Indies. 



Paspalum intermedium Munro ex 

 Morong. Coarse, densely tufted per- 

 ennial; sheaths compressed, keeled, 

 the lower rather soft and papery; 

 blades folded toward the base, the 

 margins sharply hispid-serrate; pan- 

 icle dense, the numerous racemes nar- 

 rowly ascending or somewhat spread- 

 ing; rachis rather prominently papil- 

 lose-hispid-ciliate ; spikelets about 2 

 mm. long, acute, glabrous, conspicu- 

 ously purple-tinged. % — Intro- 

 duced from South America. Escaped 

 along roadsides near Tifton, Ga. 



14. Plicatula. — Perennials and an- 

 nuals with compressed purplish 

 culms; blades flat or folded; ra- 

 cemes few to several; spikelets 

 rather turgid, drab, turning 

 brown or dark olivaceous; fruit 

 dark brown, shining. 



43. Paspalum plicatulum Michx. 

 Brownseed paspalum. (Fig. 904.) 

 Culms in small tufts with numerous 

 leafy shoots, suberect, 50 to 100 cm. 

 tall; blades folded at base, usually 

 flat above, rather firm, elongate, 3 to 

 10 mm. wide, usually pilose near 

 base; racemes mostly 3 to 10, arcuate- 

 spreading, 3 to 10 cm. long; spikelets 

 usually 2.5 to 2.8 mm. long, obovate- 

 oval, brown at maturity, glabrous or 

 the glume appressed-pubescent, the 

 sterile lemma with short transverse 

 wrinkles just inside the slightly raised 



Figure 899. — Paspalum lenfiferum. Panicle, X 1; two 

 views of spikelet, and floret, X 10. (Harper 1629, 

 Ga.) 



margin. % — Open ground or wet 

 wood borders, Georgia and Florida to 

 Texas, south to Argentina; through- 

 out the West Indies. 



Paspalum nicorae Parodi. Widely creep- 

 ing, branching rhizomes; culms slender, 

 erect or ascending; sheaths and blades, at 

 least the lower, sparsely pilose, the blades 

 sometimes minutely pubescent on the upper 

 surface; racemes 3 or 4, appressed or ascend- 

 ing, the axis and rachis slender; spikelets 

 about 3 mm. long, similar to those of P. 

 plicatulum but slightly narrower and the 

 sterile lemma less wrinkled. % —Grown 

 at the experiment station, Gainesville, Fla., 

 the seed from southern Brazil. 



