1957] 



THE BOTANY OF THE GUAYANA HIGHLAND— PART II 



263 



nervosa; panicula 14 cm longa, 3 cm lata, ramis gracilibus anguste adscen- 

 dentibus vel appressis; spiculae 2.5-2.6 mm longae, pedicellis spicula multo 

 longioribus; gluma prima spicula 1/3-1/2 brevior, obtusa, glabra vel carina 

 scabra; gluma secunda et lemma sterile aequalia vel subaequalia fructum ae- 

 quantia vel paulo longiora, lemma flore masculo, palea in carinis ciliata; fructus 

 2.3 mm longus, anguste ovatus, acutus, flavidus, laevis, lucidus. 



Perennial; culms erect, 1 m high, the basal sheaths covering the lower third 

 of the culm, well overlapping but not conspicuously crowded, densely villous, 

 the lowermost glabrous with reduced blades; blades 25-35 cm long, 9-11 mm wide, 

 rather densely pilose or villous on both surfaces; culm leaves 2, the upper sheath 

 elongate, reaching the base of the panicle, glabrous, with strong transverse veins; 

 panicle 14 cm long, about 3 cm wide, appearing rather dense, the slender branches 

 narrowly ascending or appressed; spikelets 2.5-2.6 mm long, the pedicels usually 

 much longer than the spikelet; first glume usually half as long as the spikelet, or 

 rarely as much as 2/3 as long, obtuse, glabrous or sometimes scabrous on the 

 midnerve; second glume and sterile lemma equal or nearly so, as long as or 

 slightly longer than the fruit, the lemma with a well-developed palea and stami- 

 nate flower, the palea ciliate on the keels; fruit 2.3 mm long, narrowly ovate, 

 acute, yellowish, smooth and shining. 



TYPE: common on summit, Cerro Guanay, alt. 1800 m, Cano Guaviarito, Ri'o 

 Manapiare, Rio Ventuari, Amazonas, Venezuela, February 2, 1951, Bassett 

 Maguire, Kathleen D, Phelps, Charles B. Hitchcock & Gerald Budowski 31722; 

 U. S. National Herbarium No. 2,078,751. 



Panicum auyanense Swallen, sp. nov. 



Perenne; culmi erecti, 115 cm alti internodiis superioribus gracilibus elonga- 

 tis; foliae basi confertae, curvatae, vaginis ad basin villosis ad summum dense 

 villosis, laminis 25-30 cm longis, 6-9 mm latis, ad basin dense villosis, margin- 

 ibus scabris; culmorum vaginae elongatae internodiis breviores laminis reductis; 

 panicula 10-11 cm longa, 3-7 cm lata, longe exserta ramis anguste adscendenti- 

 bus in parte superiore ramosis; spiculae 3.2-3.4 mm longae, glabrae; gluma prima 

 obtusa vel subacuta, spicula ca. 1/2 brevior 3-nervosa; gluma secunda et lemma 

 sterile tenuia nervis prominentibus, acuta vel subobtusa, gluma fructu paulo 

 brevior, lemma fructum superans; fructus 2.8 mm longus, acutus, flavidus, laevis, 

 luciduso 



Perennial; culms erect from a rhizome-like base, 115 cm high, the upper inter- 

 nodes slender, elongate; basal leaves crowded, becoming curled with age, the 

 sheaths villous toward the base and densely villous toward the summit, other- 

 wise glabrous; blades 25-30 cm long, 6-9 mm wide, densely villous on both sur- 

 faces toward the base, becoming glabrous toward the tip, the margins sometimes 

 scabrous; culm sheaths elongate but shorter than the internodes, the blades 

 reduced; panicle 10-11 cm long, 3-7 cm wide, long exserted, the branches stiffly 

 and usually narrowly ascending, branching from well below the middle; spikelets 

 3.2-3.4 mm long, glabrous; first glume obtuse or subacute, about half as long as 

 the spikelet, strongly 3-nerved; second glume and sterile lemma rather thin with 

 prominent nerves, acute or subobtuse, the glume a little shorter than the fruit, 

 the lemma somewhat exceeding it; fruit 2.8 mm long, acute, yellowish, smooth 

 and shining. 



TYPE: Auyan-tepui, alt. 2200 m s Bolivar, Venezuela, December 1937 — 

 January 1938, G. H. H. Tate 1288. 



This specimen was referred previously to Panicum curvifolium Swallen, but 



