254 



MEMOIRS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN ' [Vol. 9, No. 3 



ing, 5-13 cm long, the axils with short and long hairs intermixed; rachis 0.5 mm 

 wide, green, the margins scabrous; spikelets arranged neatly in close rows, 24- 

 26 per 25 mm, sometimes more remote near the base, 2.0 mm long, 0.7-0.8 mm 

 wide, ovate, obtuse; glume equaling the sterile lemma, sometimes minutely 

 shorter than the floret, strongly 5-nerved, glabrous or with a few hairs at the 

 base, pale green; pedicels 0-0.4 mm long, subtended by several hairs 0.5-0.8 mm 

 long; fertile floret equaling the spikelet in length, acute, pale yellow, glabrous or 

 with 1-2 minute hairs at the apex. 



TYPE: locally frequent, leaves conduplicate, northwest slope, Cerro Ya- 

 pacana, Ri'o Orinoco 8 Amazonas, Venezuela, January 1, 1951, Bassett Maguire, 

 R. S. Cowan, & John J. Wurdack 30520; U. S. National Herbarium No. 2,040,241. 



This species bears a superficial resemblance to A. suffultus (Mik.) Par., but 

 differs markedly from it by the presence of the midnerve and the pale florets. 

 Axonopus gracilis Black, sp. nov. 



Perennis, erectus, ad basin teres; culmi 1 m alti, fortiter compressi, non- 

 numquam ancipitales, pallido-flavidi, glabri, nodis ca. 10, internodiis plus 

 minusve aequalibus vel superioribus remotioribus; vaginae 10-30 cm longae, 

 3-5 mm latae, carinatae. superiores longiores, nonnumquam solutae, glabrae, 

 summo latitudinem laminae aequantes; ligula 0.3-0.4 mm longa, breve ciliata; 

 laminae 1-30 cm longae, 1-2 mm latae (duplicatae), plerumque duplicatae, 

 adscendentes vel erectae, rigidae, obtusae, basi pilosae ciliataeque pilis ad 

 2 mm longis, superiores glabrescentes; inflorescentiae terminales, pedunculis 

 crassis, ad 65 cm longis; panicula 10-15 cm longa, axi 2-4 cm longo; racemi 



3- 4, adscendentes, 4-12 cm longi, in axillis molliter, breviter pilosi pilis brevi- 

 bus et pilis paucis longis; rachis 0.3-0.4 mm lata, flexuosa, atropurpurea vel 

 viridescens marginibus scabrida, in 25 mm 8.5-11 spiculis praedita; spiculae 

 2.6-2.7 mm longae, 0.7 mm latae, pallidae, elliptico-ovatae, obtusae vel minute 

 apiculatae; gluma lemma sterile aequans, 4-nervis, nervo mediano plerumque 

 suppresso; pedicellus brevissimus; flosculus spiculae longitudinem aequans, 

 pallido-brunneo-nitens, glaber, 1-2 pilis microscopicis apice praeditus. 



Erect perennial, leafy throughout, the base terete; culm 1 m high, strongly 

 flattened, 2.5-3.0 mm wide, the edges often blade-like, glabrous, pale yellow; 

 nodes 10 or more, glabrous, the lower ones 2-3 cm apart, the upper ones more 

 remote; sheaths 10-30 cm long, 3-5 mm wide, the upper ones longest, equaling 

 the width of the blade or with a slight constriction at the junction with the blade, 

 glabrous, keeled, often rose-tinted toward the summit, the margins frequently 

 hyaline, the outer ones finally breaking up into a fibrous mass; ligule 0.3-0.4 mm 

 long, the hairs about 0.2 mm long; blades 1-30 cm long, 1-2 mm wide (folded), 

 mostly folded, stiff, ascending to erect, attenuate, the apex rounded, the base 

 hairy, ciliate, the hairs up to 2 mm long; penduncles 1-2, barely exserted or long- 

 exserted, 65 cm long, as much as 1 mm broad, sometimes compressed; panicles 

 10-15 cm long, the axis 2-4 cm long; racemes 3-4, ascending, 4-12 cm long, 

 the axils with short dense hairs and a few long hairs intermixed; rachis 0.3-0.4 

 mm wide, dark purpie or green, scabrous on the margins; spikelets 8.5-11 per 

 25 mm, 2.6-2.7 mm long, 0.7 mm wide, pale green, elliptic-ovate, obtuse or 

 minutely apiculate, the pedicels 0-0.2 mm long; glume and sterile lemma equal, 



4- nerved, the midnerve usually suppressed (rarely prominent), when 4, the outer 



Explanation of figure 6 



FIG. 6. Paspalum canum Sohns. a, plant, habit sketch; b, portion of basal sheath; c, 

 node; d, ligule and upper surface of blade; e, spikelet; /, second glume; g, sterile lemma; 

 h, fertile lemma; i, lodicule. a X %\ b-h X 8; i X 20. Type. 



