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MEMOIRS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN 



{Vol. 9, No. 3 



ile lemma similar to the glumes but a little shorter; fruit stipitate, 1.5 mm long, 

 acute, white, smooth and shining. 



TYPE: locally frequent, northwest slopes of Cerro Yapacana, alt. 800-1000 

 m, Rio Orinoco, Amazonas, Venezuela, January 1, 1951, Bassett Maguire, R. S. 

 Cowan & John J. Wurdack 30517; U. S. National Herbarium No. 2,040,239. 



This unusual species probably belongs in the Virgata group. The tall branch- 

 ing culms with small hairy panicles are very different from those of any other 

 species. 



Panicum appressifolium Swallen, sp. nov. 



Perenne; culmi erecti, ramosi, 90 cm alti, nodiis dense pubescentibus; vaginae 

 inferiores internodia aequantes, superiores internodiis multo longiores, in collo 

 dense pubescentes, marginibus dense ciliatae; ligula membranacea, 0.2 mm longa; 

 laminae erectae, lanceolatae, acuminatae, 7-9 cm longae, usque ad 9 mm latae, 

 suprema multo reducta; paniculae 9-12 cm longae, purpureae, ramis gracilibus 

 anguste adscendentibus ramulis divergentibus flexuosis; spiculae 2.2 mm longae, 

 glabrae; gluma prima spicula 1/3-1/2 brevior, acuta vel subacuta, 1-nervis; 

 gluma secunda et lemma sterile subaequalia, 7-nervia, fructu longiora; fructus 

 1.7 mm longus, ellipticus, acutus, striatus, minute papillosus. 



Perennial; culms rather coarse, erect, about 90 cm high, the nodes densely 

 pubescent, branching; lower sheaths about as long as the internodes, much over- 

 lapping upward, the uppermost elongate reaching or nearly reaching the base of 

 the panicle, densely pubescent on the collar, the margins densely ciliate; ligule 

 membranaceous, about 0.2 mm long; blades lanceolate, acuminate, erect, those of 

 the midculm 7-9 cm long, as much as 9 mm wide, smaller upward, the uppermost 

 greatly reduced; panicles 9-12 cm long, purple, the slender branches rather 

 narrowly ascending, straight or flexuous, the branchlets divergent, usually flexu- 

 ous; spikelets 2.2 mm long, glabrous, the pedicels of the lateral ones about as 

 long as the spikelet; first glume 1/2-2/3 as long as the spikelet, acute or sub- 

 acute, 1-nerved or sometimes with faint lateral nerves; second glume and sterile 

 lemma subequal, 7-nerved, pointed beyond the fruit, the lemma with a palea but 

 without a staminate flower; fruit 1.7 mm long, elliptic, acute, striate, minutely 

 papillose roughened, straw-colored. 



TYPE: occasional in savanna, Samwarakna-tipu (Holi-tipu), alt. 1100 m, 

 Kamarang River, Wenamu Trail, British Guiana, November 10, 1951, Bassett 

 Maguire & D, B. Fanshawe 32564; U. S. National Herbarium No. 2,078,797. 



^so collected on Mt. Roraima, on the great sandstone boulders, Philipp 

 Camp, November 7, 1927, G. H. H. Tate 281. This specimen had been referred to 

 Panicum carannense Mez, a species allied to P. parvifolium Lam. 



The following four species belong with the Panicum granuliferum — Panicum 

 micranthum complex. 



Panicum subcordatum Swallen, sp. nov. 



Annuum; culmi decumbentes, ramosi, usque ad 50 cm longi, glabri, internodiis 

 aequilongis; vaginae internodiis 1/2 breviores, sparse pilosae vel glabrae; ligula 

 tenuis, arcuata, 0.5 mm longa; laminae adscendentes vel appressae, 2.5-4.5 cm 

 longae, 5-9 mm latae, acutae, subcordatae supra ad basin pilosae; paniculae 

 usque ad 9 cm longae, ramis solitariis adscendentibus ramulis filiformibus 

 divergentibus, in axillibus pilosis; spiculae 1.2 mm longae, glabrae, pedicellis 

 filiformibus spiculis multo longioribus; gluma prima angusta, acuta, spicula 1/2 

 brevior; gluma secunda obtusa fructu 1/4-1/3 brevior; lemma sterile acutum 

 fructu longius; fructus acutus, plano-convexus, albus. 



