568 
clvii. graminete (Stapf). 
[Paspalum. 
64. P ASP ALUM, Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. x. 855. 
Spikelets orbicular to oblong, mostly decidedly plano-convex, 
falling entire from the short rudimentary pedicels, solitary or paired, 
secund and abaxial on the dilated or narrow rhachis of spike-like 
racemes ; lower floret barren, reduced to its valve ; upper floret 
Glumes : the lower typically suppressed, very rarely represented by 
a small scale ; the upper more or less equal to the spikelet, rarely 
shorter or absent, convex, membranous, 3- or more-nerved. Lower 
floret : valve very similar to the upper glume, but usually flat or at 
least less convex, rarely subconcave, the middle nerve sometimes 
suppressed. Upper floret : valve chartaceous to crustaceous with 
firm margins, obtuse, emucronate, faintly nerved ; valvule subequal 
to the valve and similar in substance, tightly embraced by the 
narrowly involute margins of the valve. Lodicules 2, minute, 
broadly cuneate. Stamens 3. Styles distinct ; stigmas laterally 
exserted near the tip of the floret. Grain tightly enclosed by the 
slightly hardened valve and valvule, more or less biconvex ; scutellum 
orbicular-elliptic, shorter than half the grain ; hilum subbasal, 
punctiform. — Mostly perennial grasses of varying habit. 
Species over 200, mainly in tropical America ; few in the Old World. 
A polymorphic genus comprising many types of sometimes strikingly different 
habit, but rather uniform in the structure of the spikelets. Nash in “ North 
American Flora, ” distinguishes 33 groups. 
Spikelets ciliate from the margins of the upper glume, 
greenish-yellow, f-f lin. long, tightly appressed to 
the rhachis of conjugate slender spike-like-racemes ... 1 . F. conjugatum. 
Spikelets not ciliate, quite glabrous or very finely puberu- 
lous. 
Spikelets quite glabrous, mostly 1-2 lin. long. 
Spikelets oblong, rather flattened, up to 2 lin. long, 
in mostly conjugated slender spike-like racemes, 
If in. long ; culms many-noded with an often 
long prostrate and rooting base and narrow 
blades, 1-4 in. by f-lf lin. ... ... 2. P. vagina, turn. 
Spikelets broad-elliptic to suborbicular, conspicuously 
, plano-convex, 1-lf lin. long (rarely less, to f lin. ) 
in racemosely arranged (rarely solitary) spike -like 
racemes (2-7 or occasionally more) ; blades up 
to over 1 ft. long and 2-9 lin. wide. 
Blades 6-8 in. by 4-9 lin. wide, more or less rounded 
at the base ; racemes about 3 ... ... ... 3, P . Unricndatum. 
Blades 6-15 in. by 2-4 (rarely 7) lin. wide, very 
slightly constricted at the base, if at all. 
Racemes mostly 2 or 3, rarely 1 or 4, 1-2 (occasion- [var. Cowmersonii. 
ally 3) in. iong ... 4. P. scrobiculatvm, 
Racemes 4-7 or occasionally up to over 10 (rarely 
18), 2f-4 in. long, often cinnamon-coloured [var . polystachyum. 
when young ... ... ... ... ... 4. P. scrobiculatum, 
Spikelets minutely pubescent, almost hemispheric, f— f 
lin. long in numerous slender fastigiate racemes ... 5, P. famculaiwm . 
