THE BOTANY OF THE GUAYANA HIGHLAND— PART II 



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long; racemes 2-3, widely divergent, 10-20 cm long, the axils densely short-hairy 

 with a few to several long hairs often intermixed; rachis 9.3-0.4 mm wide, green- 

 ish, glabrous or scabrous, flexuous, sharply triquetrous; spikelets 10-11 per 25 

 mm, 3.2-3.3 mm long, 0.7-0.8 mm wide, linear-lanceolate, obtuse, the pedicels 

 0-0.2 mm long; glume and sterile lemma equal, 5-7-nerved, the nerves meeting at 

 the apex, sparsely pilose between the nerves; fertile floret 2-2.1 mm long, pale 

 yellow or white, obtuse, with a tuft of short crowded hairs at the apex. 



TYPE: frequent, Danto Paso, wet banks along rocks, Danta Falls, Rio Cuao, 

 Rio Orinoco, Terr Amazonas, Venezuela, alt. 150 m, November 20, 1948, Bassett 

 Maguire & Louis Politi 27349; U. S. National Herbarium No. 2,040,168. 

 Axonopus yutajensis Black, sp. nov. 



Perennis; culmi erecti 75-100 cm alti, glabri, viridipallidescentes, caudice 

 ad 1.5 cm crasso; nodi 2-3; vaginae 7-35 cm longae, 1-1.5 cm latae, carinatae, 

 ad basin subaequales, persistentes, rigidae, fortiter conduplicatae, flabelliformes; 

 ligula 0.3-0.4 mm longa, ciliata pilis albidis ca. 0.2 mm longis; laminae 0.5-30 

 cm longae, 4-7 mm latae, obtusae, superiores reductae, conduplicatae, apice 

 fissae; inflorescentiae terminales, pedunculis 1-2, 30-45 cm longis, 1-2 mm 

 crassis; paniculae 15-22 mm longae; racemi 5-8, adscendentes vel patentes, 10- 

 20 cm longi; rhachis 0.5 mm lata, scabrida, ad basin pedicellorum pilis longis 

 munita, in 25 mm 10-11 spiculis praedita; spiculae 2.5-2.8 mm longae, 1-1.2 mm 

 latae, ovatae, obtusae; gluma lemma sterileque aequalia, 5-7-nervia, nervis 

 prominulis, glabra; flosculus spiculae longitudinem subaequans, pallidus, apice 

 minutissime puberulo; antherae atropurpureae, 1.2-1.3 mm longae, 0.3-0.5 mm 

 latae. 



Erect robust perennial, with rigid, light green, mostly glabrous foliage; culms 

 75-100 cm tall, sometimes branching, the caudex attaining 1.5 cm in thickness; 

 nodes 1-2, glabrous; sheaths 7-35 cm long, 1-1.5 cm broad, conduplicate, strongly 

 keeled, 7 crowded at the base, flabelliform, subequal, 8-10 cm long, pale with 

 some pink and yellow (habit of Axonopus pruinosus Henr.), with cataphylls 

 intermixed at the base; ligule 0.3-0.4 mm long, ciliate, the hairs 0.2 mm long, 

 divided from the undifferentiated base by a dark red line, with a very slight 

 constriction at the junction of the sheath and blade, the blade very slightly 

 broader, the collar an inconspicuous transverse line; blades 0.5-30 cm long, 4-7 

 mm wide (folded), the uppermost shortest, conduplicate, deciduous, obtuse or 

 rounded, oftec retuse, the halves often unequal in length; peduncles 1-2, 30-45 

 cm long, 1-2 mm in diameter; panicles 15-22 cm long; racemes 5-8, ascending or 

 spreading, 10-20 cm long, with a few long hairs in the axils; rachis 0.5 mm wide, 

 green, scabrous, the pedicels subtended by numerous hairs 1-3 mm long; spike- 

 lets 10-11 per 25 mm, 2.5-2.8 mm long, 1-1.2 mm wide, ovate, obtuse, the pedi- 

 cels 0.3-0.5 mm long; glume and sterile lemma equal, glabrous, with 5-7 promi- 

 nent nerves; fertile floret equaling the spikelet in length, or minutely shorter, 

 pale yellow or brown, the lemma subacute, with a minute tuft of hairs at the apex; 

 anthers deep atropurpureous, 1.2-1.3 mm long, 0.3-0.5 mm wide. 



TYPE: clumped, about 1 m high; common in thickets along fork of Cano 

 Yutaje, alt. 1300-1400 m, Cerro Yutaje, Serrania Yutaje, Rio Manapiare, Terr. 

 Amazonas, Venezuela, February 15, 1953, Bassett Maguire & Celia K. Maguire 

 35265; U. S. National Herbarium No. 2,116,108. 



Axonopus arundinaceus Black, sp. nov. 



Perennis; culmi usque ad 3 m alti, erecti, rigidi, compressi, ad 7 mm lati, 

 nodis paulum pilosis, internodiis 7-10 brevissimis com internodiis elongatis 



