MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE WEST INDIES 9] 
of the panicle and the branches glabrous; glumes nearly equal, 1- 
nerved, obscurely scaberulous toward apex, otherwise elabrous even 
as to the keels, about 12 mm long, the first acuminate, the second 
mucronate from a rather broad bifid apex; lemma 12 to 14 mm 
long, including the 1 mm long short-pilose callus, glabrous, narrowed 
above but scarcely beaked, awns very unequal, the central widely 
spreading or somewhat reflexed, 12 ae 20 mm long, obscurely scabrous 
at the base, the lateral divergent, 2 to 5 mm long, more slender than 
the central. 
Known only from the type locality, pinelands at the headwaters 
of Rio Piloto, Sierra de Nipe, prov. Oriente, Cuba, 750 m altitude. 
Besides the type collection, Ekman collected in the same locality 
nos. 2511, 9880, and 15058. The species is allied to A. ternipes and 
A. divaricata Humb. and Bonpl. 
5. Aristida pradana Léon, Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 53: 458. 1926. 
~ Cuba, Léon 12299. 
Culms tufted, erect, wiry, 60 to 80 cm tall, ‘“‘simple and naked, the 
upper leaves of the cul: m, if any, reduced to the elongate, strongly 
adherent and mostly bladeless sheath”: blades firm, closely involute 
from the base, flexuous, as much as 60 em long or more; panicle 25 to 
35 cm long, narrow, the branches appressed, “finally divergent or 
spreading’’, the lower ones distant, as much as 8 cm long; ‘‘glumes 
unequal, 10 to 12 mm long the first caducous”’; lemma 15 to 17 mm 
long, including the 1 mm long short-pilose callus, narrowed above into 
an obscure beak; awns unequal, the central one spreading, 2 to 3 cm 
long, the lateral ascending, half as long as the central or a little more. 
Arid rocky siliceous hillside, Peladeros de Jauco, southwest of 
Baricoa, Cuba, Léon 12299. 
Known only from the type collection. The duplicate type speci- 
men in the United States National Herbarium is incomplete and the 
first glume has disappeared. The quoted parts of the above descrip- 
tion are taken from the original description. The species is allied 
to A. pansa Woot. and Stand!. of southwestern United States. 
6. Aristida fragilis Hitchc. and Ekman, N. Amer. Fl. 17: 393. 1935. 
Cuba, Ekman 16784. 
Culms cespitose, erect, glabrous, wiry, 30 to 50 cm tall, two to 
several nodes approximate near the base; sheaths glabrous, the culm- 
sheath 2 to 5 cm long, mostly bladeless, those of the innovations 
pilose at the summit, bearing involute blades 1 to 10 cm long; ligule 
a ciliate membrane 0.5 mm long; panicles narrow, rather soft, 10 to 
20 cm long, the branches appressed, 1 to 3 cm long, the upper over- 
lapping, the lower somewhat distant; glumes 1-nerved, acute, the 
first minutely scabrous on the keel and on the sides toward the sum- 
mit, about 4 mm long; the second glabrous, somewhat narrowed 
toward the summit, about 7 mm long: lemma about 7 mm long in- 
cluding the minutely and oltly 4 pubescent rather Hetty callus a little 
more than 1 mm long; awns equal, finally horizontally spreading, 
contorted at base, about 1 cm long. 
Pinelands on white sand, Cuba. 
Cusa: San Juan y Martinez (Pinar del Rio), Ekman 16784. La 
Grifa, Ekman 11247. Padbalo, Ekman 11417. 
