Paspalnm .] 
GKRA.MINE J5 . 
431 
1. P. platycaule, Poir. ; Kunth, Enum. i. 48. Steins tufted, 1- 
1| foot long, flattened, with 1-2 densely pubescent nodes. Sheaths 
flattened, in. broad, glabrous, 4-6 in. long ; lamina, in our plant, 
pilose, obtuse, 2-3 in. long, £-f in. broad. Spikes 2-3, with a very 
narrow glabrous rachis, erect or erecto-patent, if more than two 
alternate, on a wiry naked peduncle emerging 2-3 inches from the top 
sheath, 2-3 in. long ; spikelets laxly disposed, r V in. long, oblong, 
glabrous, acute, on very short ascending pedicels. Trin. Ic. t. 118. P. 
platyculmum, Thouars ; Kunth , Enum . i. 49. P. compressum and 
complanatura, Nees. P. macropodium, Steud. 
Mauritius, in fields through the island. Common in Tropical America. Also 
Guinea. 
2. P. heteropodium, Steud . Gram. 19. Stems slender, terete, 
densely tufted, 1^-2 feet high, with several glabrous nodes. Sheaths 
glabrous, l|-2 in. long, with a tuft of hairs at the throat ; lamina 
glabrous, lanceolate, acuminate, 3-4 in. long, f-J in. broad. Spikes 
always solitary at the end of the branches on long slender erect 
peduncles, \-Z in. long, with a narrow zigzag glabrous rachis ; spike- 
lets erecto-patent, oblong, glabrous, obtuse, T \ in. long ; pedicel half 
as long as the spikelet. P. capillare, Bojer, Hort. Maur. 662, not 
Lam. P. Boivini, Steud. Gram. 416. P. supinum, Sieber. 
Mauritius, near Moka, etc., Bojer ! Sieber , ii. 29 ! Boivin ! Ayres ! etc. Endemic. 
3. P. longiflorum, Betz. Obs. iv. 15, not Trin. Stems very 
slender, £-1 foot high, from a wide-creeping rhizome ; nodes many 
pilose ; uppermost sheath 1-2 in. long ; lamina |-2 in. long, glabrous, 
linear or lanceolate, acute. Spikes 2-3 on a very slender erect wiry 
peduncle, sometimes sheathed to the top, 1-1 \ in. long, with a very 
narrow glabrous rachis ; spikelets imbricated, oblong, acute, glabrous, 
.J- in. long, with a very short pedicel. P. brevifolium, Flugge ; Kunth 
Enum. i. 48. P. pseudo-duroa, Nees. 
Mauritius, in hilly fields through the island. Also Comoros, Natal, Tropical 
Asia and Africa. 
4. P. distichum, Burm . ; Kunth, Enum. i. 52. Rhizome wide- 
creeping and sending out roots from the nodes. Stem -|-1 foot long, 
terete, often decumbent, with numerous nodes. Leaves a dozen or 
more to a stem, glabrous, narrow-linear, often folded together, 1-3 
in. long, the sheaths much imbricating. Spikes 2, rarely 3, at the end 
of a peduncle sometimes not exserted from the upper sheath, 1-2 in. 
long, erecto-patent, with a glabrous rachis under in. broad ; spike- 
lets imbricating, -g- in. long, oblong, glossy, glabrous, acute, on very short 
pedicels. P. vaginatum, Sec. ; Lojer, Hort. Maur. 362 ; Trin. Ic. t. 
120. P. littorale, B. Br.\ Trin. Ic. t. 112. 
Mauritius, in swamps, especially round the coast. Spread through the warmer 
regions of both hemispheres. 
P. Michauxianum, Kunth, (P. Digitaria, Poir.), said by Kunth to be a Mauritian 
species, is very near this, but differs by its taller and more erect habit, broader 
leaves and larger spikelets. 
