1957] 



THE BOTANY OF THE GUAYANA HIGHLAND— PART II 



249 



Culms as much as $ m high; flowering branch about 80 cm long; blades un- 

 known (all fallen); exposed portion of sheath 1.5-2.0 cm long, the uppermost 4 

 cm, the rim 0.4 mm long, firm, the margin irregular., minutely ciliate or glabrous, 

 the throat subtruncate, fimbriate; ligule short and firm, hispid on the back; pani- 

 cle 65 cm long, about 7 cm wide at the middle, dense, with numerous stiffly as- 

 cending branches as much as 10 cm long, becoming shorter and denser toward the 

 summit, at least the lower ones with relatively short appressed or somewhat 

 spreading branchlets, the main axis and branches pubescent; spikelets with 1-4 

 distant fertile florets (commonly 3), the rachilla slender, glabrous, the segment 

 above the sterile lemma about 0.5 mm long; first glume 2-3 mm long, narrow, the 

 tip hispidulous; second glume and sterile lemma subequal, 3-4 mm long, rarely 

 longer or shorter, similar to the first glume, or the sterile lemma occasionally 

 obtuse, mucronate; fertile lemma 5-5.5 mm long, obtuse or subobtuse, glabrous, 

 rarely mucronate; palea as long as the lemma, sometimes shorter, or longer in the 

 upper florets, the tip minutely hispidulous. 



TYPE: Cumbre of Cerro Apacara, Rio Caroni, alt. 2300 m. Chimanta Massif, 

 Bolivar, Venezuela, November 11, 1946, Cardona 1972. 

 Neurolepis angusta Swallen, sp. nov. 



Culmi erecti 2.5 m alti; foliarum inferiorum vaginae confertae usque ad 35 cm 

 longae, auriculatae, fimbriatae, marginibus tenuibus; ligula ca. 1 cm longa; 

 laminae 165 cm longae, 6.5 cm latae, acuminatae, marginibus plus minusve 

 scabrae, petiolo crasso, duro, sulcato, 50 cm longo; foliarum culmorum vaginae 

 elongatae, solutae, laminae 80 cm longae, 6 cm latae, epetiolatae; panicula 75 cm 

 longa, 2.5-3 cm latae, densae, ramis rigide adscendentibus inferioribus 4 cm 

 longis, ad summum paniculae brevioribus et densioribus, ramulis brevibus appres- 

 sis vel plus minusve divergentibus; spiculae 8-9 mm longae, brevipedicellatae; 

 glumae et lemmata sterilia obtusa, apiculata; gluma prima 1-1.5 mm longa; gluma 

 secunda 2-2.5 mm longa; lemma sterile primum 3-4.5 mm longum; lemma fertile 

 arista 1.5-2 mm longa, valida, acri; palea lemma subaequans, obtusa. 



Perennial; culms erect, hollow, thin-walled, more than 2.5 m high; basal 

 leaves: sheaths crowded, as much as 35 cm long, auriculate, the auricles long- 

 fimbriate, the very thick back rounded, the margins thin; ligule about 1 cm long, 

 the fibrous membrane behind it as much as 3 cm long; blades 165 cm long (in- 

 cluding the petiole), 6.5 cm wide, more or less scabrous on the margins, acumi- 

 nate, long- attenuate to a thick, hard, sulcate, petiole-like base about 50 cm long; 

 culm leaves: sheaths loose, elongate, the back scarcely thickened, the fimbriate 

 auricles less conspicuous; blades about 80 cm long, 6 cm wide, apparently 

 persistent, gradually narrowed toward the base but not petiolate; panicle 75 cm 

 long, mostly 2.5-3 cm wide, dense, the branches stiffly ascending, the lower ones 

 about 4 cm long, somewhat distant, becoming shorter and densely crowded toward 

 the summit, mostly with short appressed or somewhat spreading branchlets; 

 spikelets 8-9 mm long, short pedicellate; glumes and sterile lemmas usually 

 obtuse, apiculate, less frequently acute or obtuse only; first glume 1-1.5 mm 

 long; second glume 2-2.5 mm long; first sterile lemma 3*4.5 mm long; second 

 sterile lemma 4.5-5 mm long; fertile lemma tapering into a stout, smooth, sharp- 

 pointed awn 1.5-2 mm long; palea about as long as the lemma, blunt, not keeled, 

 the nerves not evident. 



TYPE: abundant in open places in low brush on cumbre slopes, saddle be- 

 tween North Peak and central plateau, alt. 2300-2600 m, Ilu-tepui, Gran Sabana, 

 Bolivar, Venezuela, March 15, 1952, Bassett Maguire 33412; U.S. National Herbarium 

 Nos. 2,078,769, 2,078,770. 



