400 



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



widest part, tapering, the relatively coarse branches stiffly ascending or the 

 upper ones spreading, densely flowered, naked for a short distance at the base 

 with short appressed branchlets; spikelets 6-6.5 mm long, very short-pedicellate, 

 appressed; glumes and sterile lemmas acute or subobtuse, sometimes apiculate; 

 first glume 1-1.2 mm long; second glume 1.5-2 mm long; first sterile lemma 2.4- 



3 mm long; second sterile lemma 3.5-3-8 mm long; fertile lemma mucronate, the 

 point 0.5-0.8 mm long; palea as long as the body of the lemma, not keeled. 



TYPE: common in openings, flowering culms up to 30 feet high, lower mixed 

 Bonnetia forest above southeast- facing upper shoulder on slope leading to sum- 

 mit of Apacara-tepuf, alt. 2000-2150 m, Chimanta Massif, Bolivar, Venezuela, 

 June 20, 1953, Julian A. Steyermark 75806 (US 2,182,907, 2,182,910). 



This species is closely related to N. angusta, differing in having smaller 

 spikelets, branches naked at the base, and more open panicles, the axis densely 

 hirsute. 



Neurolepis nigra Swallen, sp. nov. 



Culmi erecti usque ad 10 m alti foliis ad basin confertis; vaginae plus mi- 

 nusve auriculatae efimbriatae, inferiores ca. 20 cm longae marginibus tenuibus, 

 culmorum vaginae elongatae solutae; ligula 5-10 mm longa; laminae 85-100 cm 

 longae, 4 cm latae, acuminatae, marginibus scabrae, inferiores ad basin attenu- 

 atae petiolo ca. 10 cm longo, deciduae, culmorum laminae ad basin attenuatae, 

 epetiolatae, persistentes; panicula ca. 1 m longa, 4 cm lata, densa, interrupts, 

 ramis densifloris adscendentibus vel patentibus, usque ad 3 cm longis; spiculae 

 5-6 mm longae, brevipedicellatae; glumae et lemmata sterilia obtusa sumrao 

 minute pubescentia; gluma prima 1.1-1.3 mm longa; gluma secunda 1.8-2 mm 

 longa; lemma sterile primum 2.2-2.8 mm longum; lemma sterile secundum 3.2- 



4 mm longum; lemma fertile 4.8-5.8 mm longum, acutum, glabrum, nigrum, laeve, 

 lucidum. 



Coarse perennial, the leaves densely crowded at the base in a fan-shaped 

 cluster, the upper part of the culm naked; culms erect, as much as 10 m high, 

 hollow with thin walls; sheaths somewhat auriculate, not fimbriate, the basal ones 

 about 20 cm long, much thickened and rounded on the back with thin margins, the 

 upper culm sheaths elongate, loose, scarcely thickened; ligule 5-10 mm long, 

 with a fibrous membrane behind it and extending beyond it; blades 85 cm to more 

 than 1 m long, about 4 cm wide, acuminate, the margins scabrous, the lower ones 

 deciduous, attenuate to a thick, hard petiole-like base about 10 cm long, sulcate 

 above, the upper ones attenuate but without a petiole-like base, apparently 

 persistent; panicle about 1 m long, 4 cm wide, dense, attenuate, interrupted 

 below, the very densely flowered branches ascending to spreading, not more than 

 3 cm long, usually less; spikelets 5-6 (mostly 6) mm long, short-pedicellate; 

 glumes and sterile lemmas obtuse, minutely pubescent at the summit; first glume 

 1.1-1.3 mm long; second glume 1.8-2 mm long; first sterile lemma 2.2-2.8 mm 

 long; second sterile lemma 3.2-4 mm long; fertile lemma 4.8-5.8 mm long, acute, 

 glabrous, black, smooth and shining; palea a little shorter than the lemma, 

 subobtuse, not keeled, apparently 3-nerved. 



TYPE: locally frequent, open forested laterite slopes along tributary of east 

 branch of headwaters of Rio Tirica, alt. 2185-2210 m, Chimanta Massif, Central 

 Section, Bolivar, Venezuela, February 13, 1955, Julian A. Steyermark & John J. 

 Wurdack 860 (US 2,182,130, 2,182,131, 2,182,132). 



Panicum tiricaense Swallen, sp. nov. 



Perenne; culmi erecti, 20-35 cm alti, papiloso-pilosi vel glabri, nodis barbatis, 



