736 
PASPALUM. 
at the joints. Leaves linear-lanceolate, llriated, a little 
rough at the edges, with long, rather tumid, fmooth 
(heaths. Stipule jagged, unaccompanied by any hairs or 
briftles. Spikes three or four on the upper part of the 
Item, which fcarcely rifes above the leaves, each rather 
n\ore than an inch long. Common ftalk, or receptacle, 
of each fpike, much dilated, linear, exaftly even, leafy, 
llriated, rough-edged, one-eighth of an inch, or more, 
in breadth, having at its inner lide a llrong angular lon¬ 
gitudinal rib, bearing numerous alternate flowers, in 
two rows, on fliort ftalks. The calyx-glumes are exaftly 
but broadly elliptical, rather tumid, pale, with three fine 
green ribs, perfeftly fmooth and naked. 
2. Pafpalum fetaceum, or briftly pafpalum : fpikes one 
or two, on long ftraight llalks, with a narrow wavy re¬ 
ceptacle ; flowers moftly in pairs, on fliort winged divi¬ 
ded partial ftalks, flightly obovate, fmooth, fcarcely 
ribbed ; leaves downy above ; ftipule hairy. Sent from 
Lancafter, Pennfylvania, by the Rev. Dr. Muhlenberg. 
The ftem is eredl, flender, and fmooth, terminated by one 
fpike two inches long, on a flender ftiff naked ftalk, 
many inches in length, whofe bafe is enfolded by the very 
long (heath of the upper leaf, from which often proceeds 
another fimilar, but (horter-ftalked, fpike. The upper leaf, 
at lead, is much (hotter than its (heath, lanceolate, 
clothed above with foft hairs. Michaux fays his plant 
grows in dry fituations in South Carolina. 
3. Pafpalum debile, or weak pafpalum: ftem weak, 
briftle-like at the top ; leaves hairy ; fpike moftly folitary, 
flender; flowers folitary, alternate, flightly downy, 
flightly obovate. Native of maritime fituations, in Caro¬ 
lina and Georgia. This feems by Michaux’s- charafiler, 
which is all that is known of it, to be akin to the laft. 
4. Pafpalum conjugatum, or joined pafpalum: fpikes 
two, terminal, equal, nearly feflile ; receptacle narrow, 
even, with a wavy rib; flowers folitary, very numerous, 
alternate, imbricated, ovate, acute, riblefs, fringed 
with long foft hairs. Common in the Weft Indies, in 
moift paftures. Linnaeus obtained a fpecimen from 
Browne’s Herbarium, which he confounded with the firft 
fpecies, though nothing can be more diftimSt. It is a 
larger fpecies than any of the foregoing, with broad, 
taper-pointed, often downy, leaves. Stipule hairy. 
Spikes flender, a little divaricated, each nearly four in¬ 
ches long, of innumerable crowded alternate fmall yel- 
lowifli ovate acute flowers, each on a fliort ftalk; their 
calyx riblefs, remarkably fringed with long lax white 
hairs. Swartz fays this is called, in the Weft Indies, 
four grafs ; and is not eaten by cattle. 
5. Pafpalum ciliatifolium, orfringed-leaved pafpalum: 
leaves dilated, downy, finely ferrated, fringed; fpikes 
one or two, terminal, elongated ; flowers in pairs, fome- 
what obovate, very obtufe, fmooth, forming three rows. 
Native of Carolina. This feems akin to the laft. 
6. Pafpalum prsecox, or early pafpalum : ereft, fmooth ; 
leaves linear, elongated; fpikes alternate, remote ; 
flowers fliort, obovate, even and fmooth. Native of 
North America, from Carolina to Florida. 
7. Pafpalum laeve, or fmooth pafpalum : ere£t, very 
fmooth; leaves fliortifh, with compreffed (heaths ; fpikes 
feveral alternate ; flowers in two ranks, ovate, fomewhat 
orbicular, even and fmooth. Native of Georgia. Thefe 
three fpecies are from Michaux, Boreal-Amer. vol. i. p. 
44.. We give them as diltimSt fpecies, becaufe we cannot, 
from the above fliort definitions, refer them to any in 
Linnaeus or Wildenow. The 3d, 12th, and 13th, fpe¬ 
cies are in the fame predicament; indeed the North-Ame- 
rican Pafpala are but imperfectly known. 
8. Pafpalum fcrobiculatum, or dimpled pafpalum : 
fpikes alternate, with a leafy broad rough-edged recep¬ 
tacle; flowers alternate, orbicular, on Ample dilated 
ftalks, many-ribbed, dimpled at the bafe externally. 
Native of the Eaft Indies, in watery places. Root pe¬ 
rennial, of many long blackifli branched fibres. Stent 
near two feet high, clothed with ribbed fmooth leaves; 
having long purplilh (heaths, hairy at the bottom. Spikes 
few and diftant; their receptacle flat, near a quarter of 
an inch wide, minutely fringed. Flowers not unlike 
hemp-feed in fize and afpeft, very numerous, alternate, 
imbricated in two rows, each on a lhort dilated clofe- 
prefled partial ftalk, and very nearly orbicular. 
9. Pafpalum polyftachyum, or many-fpiked pafpalum : 
fpikes- numerous, crowded; flowers fmooth, orbicular; 
outer valve of the calyx five-ribbed; leaves flat, fmooth, 
with a thin finely-toothed margin. Gathered by Mr. 
Brown in the tropical part of New Holland. This fpe¬ 
cies is defcribed by him as too-nearly related to the laft, 
except that the dimples in the bafe of the calyx are 
wanting. 
10. Pafpalum villofum, or hairy pafpalum: fpikes al¬ 
ternate, with a hairy receptacle; flowers alternate, ellip¬ 
tical, three-ribbed, villofe. Found by Thunberg, near 
Nagafaki in Japan, flowering in July. Stem three feet' 
high, fmooth. Leaves roughifh to the touch, llriated, 
naked. Spikes three or four, inclining all one way. 
Fiowers crowded, in two rows only, about the fize of P. 
fcrobiculatum, but more oblong, and hairy. 
11. Pafpalum virgatuin, or rod like pafpalum: fpikes 
rather numerous, alternate, hairy at the bafe; flowers in 
pairs, fomewhat obovate; the tumid valve of the calyx 
fringed. Native of meadows in Jamaica. Perennial. 
About the fize of P. fcrobiculatum ; but differs in having 
fmaller, obovate, fringed, flowers, which, being difpofed 
in pairs along the narrow' wavy receptacle, make four 
rows inftead of two ; each glume has a central rib, with 
a marginal one at each fide, and the concave one is finely 
fringed in the upper part. 
12. Pafpalum floridanum, or flowery pafpalum: eredl; 
lower leaves hairy ; upper ones fmooth, with long 
(heaths, upright; fpikes few, ereft; flowers in two rows, 
nearly orbicular, fmooth naked. Native of Florida and 
Georgia. This, fays Michaux, is akin to P. virgatum of 
Linnaigs. We know nothing of it but from the above 
character, which is eflentially different in almoft every 
point from the virgatum. Michaux adds that the flowers 
are rather large. 
13. Pafpalum plicatulum, or plaited pafpalum : ere£t, 
very fmooth, and naked; leaves elongated; fpikes nu¬ 
merous, alternate, upright; flowers in three rows, fliort, 
ovate, naked; the flatter valve of the calyx tranfverfely 
corrugated at the margin. Native of Georgia and Flo¬ 
rida. The leaves are narrow; flowers reddiih. 
14. Pafpalum paniceum, or panic-like pafpalum ; 
fpikes very numerous, crowded, hairy at the bafe; 
flowers in four rows, orbicular, even, and naked. Ga¬ 
thered in Jamaica by W. Wright, M. D. A very fine 
and handfome fpecies, whofe denfe and very-numerous 
fpikes, crowded together in one common fpike, a foot 
long, give, with their copious little round flowers and 
feeds, Come idea of Panicum italicutn, except that the 
whole is ere£l and unilateral. The leaves are long, near 
two inches broad in fome parts, tapering to a rough- 
edged point, but otherwife very fmooth to the touch, 
and finely ribbed. Each partial fpike is two inches, or 
more, in length, with a flat rather-narrovv receptacle, 
bearing a few flattered hairs throughout, and very hairy 
at its bafe. Flowers difpofed in four rows, on (hortilh 
capillary ftalks, almolt perfectly orbicular, of a light 
tawny hue, the calyx-valves even and fmootfi, each with 
a central rib, but no others, except at the very edge. 
This grafs was formerly known, in the Bankfian Her¬ 
barium, by the expreflive name of P afpalum polyftacliy um ; 
now appropriated by Mr. Brown to ou,r 9th fpecies, 
which, from his defcription, mult be very unlike the 
prefent. 
15. Pafpalum paniculatum, or panicled pafpalum : 
fpikes numerous, crowded, fomewhat whorled, fpreadmg 
every way, hairy at the bafe ; flowers in alternate pairs, 
orbicular, even, (lightly hairy; receptacle very narrow. 
Sloane fays this grows in feveral plantations in Jamaica, 
on 
