MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



785 



7 mm. long; first glume finely papil- 

 lose; pedicellate spikelet scarcely as 

 long as the sessile one. O (Mani- 

 suris exaltata Kuntze.) — Introduced 



at Miami, Fla.; West Indies; native 

 of tropical Asia. The fragile hairs of 

 the sheaths are irritating to the skin 

 of persons handling the plant. 



163. MANISURIS L. 



Spikelets awnless, in pairs at the nodes of a thickened articulate rachis, 

 one sessile and perfect, the other pedicellate, rudimentary (developed but 

 sterile in M. altissima), the pedicel thickened and appressed to the rachis, 

 the sessile spikelet fitting closely against the rachis (sometimes partly adnate 

 in M. altissima), forming a cylindric or flattened raceme; glumes mostly 

 obtuse, the first coriaceous, fitting over the hollow containing the spikelet, 

 the keels winged at the summit, the second less coriaceous than the first; 

 sterile lemma, fertile lemma, and palea thin and hyaline. Perennial, slender, 

 moderately tall, or tall grasses, with usually numerous glabrous cylindric or 

 flattened solitary racemes. Type species, Manisuris myuros L. Name from 

 Greek manos, necklace, and oura, tail, presumably alluding to the jointed 

 racemes. The species probably have some forage value but they are nowhere 

 abundant. 



Racemes flattened, tardily disarticulating; first glume of sessile spikelet smooth. 



1. M. ALTISSIMA. 



Racemes cylindric, readily disarticulating at maturity; first glume of sessile spikelet marked 



with pits or wrinkles (sometimes smooth in M. tuberculosa). 



Sheaths not compressed-keeled; first glume more or less pitted 2. M. cylindrica. 



Sheaths compressed-keeled; first glume tessellated, wrinkled, tubercled, or smooth. 



First glume tessellated, the depressions rectangular 3. M. tessellata. 



First glume with prominent transverse wrinkles..-. 4. M. rugosa. 



First glume with a few low tubercles or smooth.. 5. M. tuberculosa. 



1. Manisuris altissima (Poir.) 



Hitchc. (Fig. 1188.) Perennial; culms 

 ascending from a long creeping base, 

 compressed and 2-edged, 40 to 80 

 cm. long, freely branching toward the 

 ends; blades fiat, 3 to 8 mm. wide; 

 flowering branches often short and 

 fascicled, the racemes 3 to 5 cm., 

 sometimes 10 cm. long, compressed; 

 pedicel free or partly adnate to the 

 rachis joint; sessile spikelet 5 to 7 

 mm. long, the keels of the first glume 

 very narrowly winged toward the 

 apex; pedicellate spikelet 5 to 6 mm. 

 long, acute. % (M. fasciculata 

 Hitchc.) — Ponds and ditches, south- 

 ern Texas ; warm-temperate and trop- 

 ical regions of both hemispheres; 

 introduced in America. 



2. Manisuris cylindrica (Michx.) 

 Kuntze. (Fig. 1189.) Culms tufted, 

 with short rhizomes, erect, rather 

 slender, 30 to 100 cm. tall, simple or 



Figure 1188. — Manisuris 

 altissima, X 1. (Hitch- 

 cock, Tex.) 



Figure 1187. — Rottboellia exaltata, X 1. (Ridley, 

 Jamaica.) 



