82 MISC. PUBLICATION 243, U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
long, often 2-fiowered; glumes somewhat unequal, a little shorter than 
the spikelet, acute. 
Savannas, Cuba; Brazil. 
Cusa: Bahia Honda, Ekman 17438. Cuchillas de San Sebastian, 
Léon and Shafer 3467; Shafer and Léon 13722. Chirigota, Wright 
3827. 
4, Sporobolus indicus (L.) R. Br., Prodr. Fl. Nov. Holl. 1: 170. 
1810. 
Agrostis indica L., Sp. Pl. 68. 1753. Jamaica. 
Agrostis elongata Lam., Tabl. Encycl. 1: 162. 1791. Tropical 
America. 
Sporobolus lamarckii Hamilt., Prodr. Pl. Ind. Occ. 4. 1825. Based 
on Agrostis elongata Lam. 
Sporobolus jacquemontu Kunth, Rév. Gram. 2: 427. pl. 127. 1831. 
Santo Domingo. 
Vilfa jacquemontit Trin., Mém. Acad. St. Pétersb. VI. Sci. Nat. 
41:92. 1840. 
Vilfa indica Trin.; Steud., Nom. Bot. ed. 2. 2: 767. 1841. 
Culms tufted, erect, 60 to 100 cm tall, with numerous leafy shoots 
at base; sheaths not noticeably compressed; blades elongate, slender, 
fiexuous, mostly 1 to 2 mm wide; panicles 15 to 30 cm long; spikelets 
short-pediceled, mostly along the under side of the branches, 1.5 to 
1.8 mm long; glumes nearly equal, about 0.5 mm long (fig. 47, B). 
Grassy hills and dry savannas, Bahamas and Mexico to Colombia 
and Brazil. Throughout the Bahamas and the West Indies; probably 
to be found on all the islands. In Cuba called “‘espartillo” and 
“espartillo fino.” 
5. Sperebolus poiretii (Roem. and Schult.) Hitche., Bartonia 14: 32. 
1932. SMUTGRASS. 
Agrostis compressa Poir., in Lam., Encycl. Sup. 1: 258. (no. 78) 
1810. Not A. compressa Willd., 1790. Carolina: 
Azonopus poireti1 Roem. and Schult. Syst. Veg. 2:318. 1817. 
Based on Agrostis compressa Poir., no. 78. 
Agrostis tenuissima Spreng., Syst. Veg. 1: 258. 1825. Not 
Sporobolus tenuissimus Kuntze, 1898. West Indies and South 
America. 
Vilfa bertzroana Trin., Mém. Acad. St. Pétersb. VI. Sci. Nat. 4?: 
100. 1840. Santo Domingo. 
Sporobolus berteroanus Hitche. and Chase, Contrib. U. 8S. Natl. 
Herb. 13823 40s- 319k 
Culms erect, tufted, 50 to 100 em tall, the basa! sheaths compressed; 
blades elongate, fiat, folded or loosely involute, tapering into a long 
slender involute flexuous tip, 1 to 4 mm wide; panicle sometimes 
almost spikelike, usually 15 to 30 cm long, often red-brown from the 
exposed fruits at maturity or blackish from the effects of a fungus; 
spikelets 1.7 to 2 mm long; glumes obtuse, somewhat erose, the first 
about one-third as long as the spikelet, the second a little longer; fruit 
red-brown, mucilaginous on wetting (fig. 47, A). 
Open ground, grassland, and waste places, southern United States 
to Argentina. Throughout the West Indies, probably to be found on 
all the islands. Because the inflorescence is frequently attacked by a 
black fungus the grass is often called smutgrass. This species was 
