MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



571 



Spikelets densely silky-pubescent; plants perennial 1. B. ciliatissima. 



Spikelets glabrous; plants annual. 



Spikelet flat-beaked beyond the fruit 2. B. Extensa. 



Spikelet not beaked beyond the fruit 3. B. plantaginea. 



1. Brachiaria ciliatissima 



(Buckl.) Chase. (Fig. 1191.) 

 Perennial, producing long 

 leafy stolons with short 

 internodes, rooting at the 

 swollen nodes, the blades 

 short, firm, divaricately 

 spreading; flowering culms 

 erect or ascending, 15 to 40 

 cm tall, the nodes bearded; 

 sheaths sparsely to densely 

 pilose; blades 3 to 7 cm 

 long, 3 to 5 mm wide, 

 tapering to a sharp point, 

 usually ciliate along the 

 lower part of the thick 

 white margin ; panicle finally 

 long-exserted, 3 to 6 cm 

 long, the few branches erect 

 or ascending, 1 to 2 cm 

 long; spikelets 4 mm long 

 first glume three-fourths 

 the length of the spikelet, 

 glabrous; second glume and 



Figure 1192.— Brachiaria externa. Plant, X l A\ two views of spikelet, and floret, X 10. (Nealley, Tex.) 



