UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATION No. 243 
Washington, D. C. November 1936 
MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE 
WEST INDIES 
By A. S. Hrrcucock,! principal botanist, Division of Plant Exploration and 
Introduction, Bureau of Plant Industry 
CONTENTS 
Page | Page 
ETAT OA TICHL OTE eae ha EER ENS EN BENS rs 1 | Descriptions of the tribes and keys to the 
HH CONOMIC LTASSCS aes eee 2 Pex (S12 eet Se Le ee ee 
Gramineae (Poaceae), the grass family_------ 3 | Descriptions of genera and species_-_-_-_----__- 14 
Descriptions of the subfamilies and keys to List of new genera and species, andnewnames 427 
EIMONETUD CS tere Aen ee ee ey bee cane S Eri) libel 5X KS <p he aS wea teat a 42 
INTRODUCTION 
More than 15 years ago the author and his associate, Agnes Chase, 
published a synoptical account of the grasses of the West Indies.’ 
Since the publication of that work a large amount of material has been 
added to the grass collection of the National Herbarium. The addi- 
tions are from various sources, but consist chiefly of grasses collected 
in Cuba and Hispaniola by the late Erik L. Ekman, in Haiti by 
Emery C. Leonard, of the United States National Herbarium, and 
in Cuba by Brother Léon, of the Colegio de la Salle, Habana. 
The present publication is more than a revision of the earlier work. 
In the first work the descriptions of genera and species were abbre- 
viated for the most part to diagnoses and, although the known ranges 
of the species were given, there was no citation of specimens. The 
present work gives fuller descriptions, with at least one species of 
each genus illustrated,’ and cites specimens under each species, except 
for the few very common ones that are found throughout the region 
covered. The ranges of the species can now be indicated with much 
more exactness than was possible at the earlier date. 
Considering the amount of attention given to the flora of the West 
Indies in earlier years the number of new species discovered and now 
described for the first time is unexpectedly large. However, the new 
species come for the most part from Hispaniola, the interior of which, 
until recently, has not been accessible, and from the larger island of 
1 Died Dec. 16, 1935. 
2 Contrib. U. S. Natl. Herb. 18: 261-471. 1917. 
3 The habit drawings were mostly made by the late Mary Wright Gill and by Edna May Whitehorn. 
However, B. Y. Morrison, Mrs. George M. Mullett, and Agnes Chase each contributed a few. The. 
spikelet drawings are by Agnes Chase. 
1 
