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FLORA OF GUATEMALA
PART II: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA
JASON R. SWALLEN
BAMBOOS
F. A. McCLURE
FIELDIANA: BOTANY
VOLUME 24, PART II
Published by
CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
NOVEMBER 10, 1955
FLORA OF GUATEMALA
PART II: GRASSES
FLORA OF GUATEMALA
PART II: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA
JASON R. SWALLEN
Head Curator, Department of Botany
United States National Museum
BAMBOOS
F. A. McCLURE
United States Department of Agriculture
FIELDIANA: BOTANY
VOLUME 24, PART II
Published by
CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
NOVEMBER 10, 1955
isNtj -t r
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS
r
CONTENTS
Genera Included in Volume 24, Part II
PAGE PAGE
Aegopogon 12 Eriochloa 129
Agrostis 14 Eriochrysis 131
Andropogon 17 Euchlaena 133
Anthephora 28 Festuca 133
Aristida 31 Gigantochloa 139
Arthraxon 37 Glyceria 144
Arthrostylidium 38 Gouinia 144
Amndinaria 41 Guadua 146
Arundinella 44 Gymnopogon 157
Avena 47 Gynerium 158
Axonopus 47 Hackelochloa 158
Bambusa 52 Heteropogon 161
Bouteloua 61 Hierochloe 161
Brachiaria 65 Hilaria 163
Brachypodium 66 Homolepis 163
Briza 66 Hymenachne 166
Bromus 68 Hyparrhenia 169
Calamagrostis 70 Ichnanthus 170
Cathestecum 72 Imperata 177
Cenchrus 76 Isachne 178
Chaetium 78 Ischaemum 180
Chloris 80 Ixophorus 180
Chusquea 86 Jouvea 182
Cinna 93 Lamarckia 184
Coix 95 Lasiacis 184
Cryptochloa 96 Leersia 191
Cymbopogon 97 Leptochloa 193
Cynodon 97 Leptocoryphium 196
Dactyloctenium 98 Lithachne 197
Dendrocalamus 101 Lolium 200
Diectomis 102 Luziola 200
Digitaria 105 Manisuris 201
Distichlis 110 Melinis 203
Echinochloa 1 12 Melocanna 204
Echinolaena 114 Merostachys 206
Eleusine 115 Mesosetum 209
Elyonurus 116 Microchloa 210
Eragrostis 116 Muhlenbergia 213
PAGE
Olyra 224
Oplismenus 226
Orthoclada 228
Oryza 231
Panicum 233
Paspalum 269
Pennisetum 296
Pentarrhaphis 300
Pereilema 302
Pharus 304
Phragmites 308
Phyllostachys 308
Piptochaetium 316
Poa 318
Polypogon 320
Pseudechinolaena 320
Rhynchelytrum 323
Saccharum 326
Sacciolepis 326
Schizostachyum 328
Setaria 331
Setariopsis 338
Sorghastrum 338
Sorghum 342
Spartina 344
Sporobolus 345
Stenotaphrum 349
Stipa 350
Streptochaeta 353
Thrasya 354
Trachypogon 356
Trichachne 359
Triniochloa 359
Tripsacum 362
Trisetum 364
Tristachya 368
Triticum 370
Uniola 370
Zea 373
Zeugites 373
Emendations . . . 377 Index .
378
VI
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
TEXT FIGURES
PAGE
1. Aegopogon tenellus 13
2. Andropogon saccharoides 25
3. Andropogon virginicus 29
4. Anthephora hermaphrodita 30
5. Aristida adscensionis 32
6. Aristida ternipes 36
7. Arthraxon quartinianus 37
8. Arundinaria simonii 42
9. Arundinella confinis 46
10. Axonopus compressus 51
11. Bambusa vulgaris 58
12. Bouteloua curtipendula 63
13. Brachypodium mexicanum 67
14. Briza minor 69
15. Calamagrostis vulcanica 73
16. Cathestecum erectum 75
17. Cenchrus brownii 77
18. Cenchrus echinatus 77
19. Chaetium bromoides 79
20. Chloris radiata 83
21. Chloris virgata 85
22. Chusquea simpliciflora 92
23. Cinna poaeformis 94
24. Coix lacryma-jobi 95
25. Cynodon dactylon 99
26. Dactyloctenium aegyptium 100
27. Dendrocalamus strictus 103
28. Diectomis fastigiata 104
29. Digitaria leucites 107
30. Digitaria sanguinalis 109
31. Distichlis spicata Ill
32. Echinochloa colonum 113
33. Echinochloa cruspavonis 113
34. Eleusine indica 117
35. Eragrostis cilianensis 120
36. Eragrostis ciliaris 122
37. Eragrostis glomerata 125
38. Eragrostis hypnoides 126
39. Eriochrysis cayennensis 132
vii
40. Euchlaena mexicana 135
41. Festuca breviglumis 137
42. Festuca dertonensis 138
43. Gigantochloa verticillata 143
44. Gouinia guatemalensis 145
45. Guadua aculeata 149
46. Gymnopogon spicatus 159
47. Hackelochloa granularis 160
48. Heteropogon contortus 162
49. Hierochloe mexicana 164
50. Hilaria cenchroides 165
51. Homolepis aturensis 167
52. Hymenachne amplexicaulis 168
53. Ichnanthus pallens 174
54. Ixophorus unisetus 181
55. Jouvea straminea 183
56. Lamarckia aurea 185
57. Lasiacis divaricata 188
58. Leersia hexandra 192
59. Leptochloa filiformis 194
60. Leptocoryphium lanatum 198
61. Lithachne pauciflora 199
62. Luziola peruviana 202
63. Melinis minutiflora 203
64. Melocanna baccifera 205
65. Merostachys pauciflora 208
66. Mesosetum stoloniferum 211
67. Microchloa kunthii 212
68. Muhlenbergia breviculmis 216
69. Muhlenbergia calcicola 216
70. Muhlenbergia orophila 222
71. Olyra latifolia 225
72. Oplismenus setarius 229
73. Orthoclada laxa 230
74. Oryza sativa 232
75. Panicum geminatum 247
76. Panicum maximum 254
77. Panicum purpurascens 261
78. Paspalum conjugatum 278
79. Paspalum urvillei 295
80. Pennisetum setosum 299
81. Pentarrhaphis scabra 301
82. Pereilema crinitum 303
83. Pharus latifolius 305
84. Pharus parvifolius 307
85. Phragmites communis 309
86. Phyllostachys bambusoides 313
87. Piptochaetium fimbriatum 317
88. Poa venosa 321
89. Polypogon elongatus 322
90. Pseudechinolaena polystachya 324
91. Rhynchelytrum roseum 325
92. Saccharum officinarum 327
93. Sacciolepis myuros 328
94. Schizostachyum pseudolima 330
95. Setaria paniculifera 335
96. Setaria tenacissima 335
97. Setaria vulpiseta 337
98. Setariopsis auriculata 339
99. Sorghastrum brunneum 341
100. Sorghum halepense 343
101. Sporobolus poiretii 347
102. Stenotaphrum secundatum 351
103. Streptochaeta spicata 354
104. Thrasya campylostachya 355
105. Trachypogon secundus 358
106. Trichachne insularis 360
107. Triniochloa stipoides 361
108. Trisetum irazuense 367
109. Tristachya avenacea 369
110. Triticum aestivum 371
111. Uniola pittieri 372
112. Zea mays 374
113. Zeugites'mexicana 375
Grasses of Guatemala
INTRODUCTION
The grasses of Guatemala were treated by A. S. Hitchcock
("The Grasses of Central America," Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 24:
557-762. 1930). This account was based primarily on the early
collections of Heyde and Lux, Thie'me, and John Donnell Smith, and
those of A. S. Hitchcock in 1911. In recent years P. C. Standley
and Julian A. Steyermark have collected extensively in Guatemala,
adding many grasses to the known flora, including a relatively large
number of new species.
Phytogeographically, British Honduras is similar to the Pete'n
region of Guatemala. The grasses of this country are included,
although there are relatively few that are not found in Guatemala.
Recent important collections are those of H. H. Bartlett, Percy
Gentle, and C. L. Lundell.
The present treatment includes 120 genera and 455 species, both
native and introduced. The large number of species is due, at least
in part, to the diverse habitats, ranging from tropical lowlands to
subalpine meadows. The largest genera are Panicum, Paspalum,
and Andropogon, accounting for approximately one-third of the
grass flora.
The arrangement of the genera and species is alphabetical, to
conform to the original plan of the Flora. While there are certain
advantages of this style, closely related genera and species may be
widely separated in the text.
The synonymy has been restricted to name-giving synonyms and
others which are important from the historical point of view. Com-
mon names have been included as far as possible.
Many of the illustrations have been taken from the Manual of
Grasses of the United States and the Manual of Grasses of the West
Indies by A. S. Hitchcock. The others have been prepared by
Mr. Samuel H. Grove, Jr., of Chicago Natural History Museum, and
Mr. John Ihle, formerly of the same institution, except as otherwise
credited.
2 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
The author is indebted to Dr. F. A. McClure, who has kindly
prepared the manuscript for the Bambuseae.
GRAMINEAE 1
Flowers perfect (rarely unisexual) , arranged in spikelets consisting of a shortened
axis (rachilla) and 2 to many 2-ranked bracts, the lowest two (glumes, rarely
one or both obsolete) empty, each succeeding one or more (lemmas) bearing in
their axils a single flower (one to few of the lower lemmas sometimes barren, and
the upper one or more often reduced and sterile), and between the flower and
rachilla a 2-nerved bract (palea), the lemma, palea, and included flower con-
stituting the floret; stamens 1 to many, usually 3, with delicate filaments and
2-celled anthers; pistil 1, with a 1-celled 1-ovuled ovary, 2 (rarely 1 or 3) styles,
and usually plumose stigmas; fruit a caryopsis, the grain rarely free from the
pericarp. Herbaceous or sometimes woody plants with round or somewhat
flattened, hollow or solid stems (culms), and 2-ranked, usually parallel-veined
leaves consisting of a sheath which envelopes the culm, a blade, usually flat, and
between the two on the inside a membranaceous or hairy appendage (ligule), this
rarely obsolete.
Stems woody (see also Olyra and Lasiads); leaf blades petiolate, ultimately dis-
articulating from their sheaths; culm sheaths and their blades markedly
different from the sheaths and blades of functional leaves in size and shape.
Native or exotic bamboos. 2
Native bamboos.
Flowering material available.
Inflorescences indeterminate 3 Guadua.
Inflorescences determinate. 4
Spikelets several-flowered Arthrostylidium.
Spikelets with but one functional floret.
Spikelets terminating above in a rudiment Merostachys.
Spikelets terminating above in a functional floret Chusquea.
Flowering material not available (field key).
Culm internodes not hollow Chusquea.
Culm internodes hollow.
Lower main branches with some twigs reduced to spines Guadua.
All branches unarmed.
References: Manual of Grasses of the United States, U. S. Dept. Agr. Misc.
Pub. 200. 1951 (revised). Manual of Grasses of the West Indies, U. S. Dept.
Agr. Misc. Pub. 243. 1936. North American Flora 17 (5, 6) 1935; (7) 1937; (8)
1939. Flora of Panama: Gramineae, Ann. Mo. Bot. Card. 30: 104-280. 1943.
2 The scope of this key is limited to those bamboos known to occur in Guate-
mala.
3 New branches (pseudospikelets) may arise from buds in the axils of the
bracts found just below each spikelet.
4 All axes of the inflorescence complete their growth at once; no new branch-
ing takes place within the inflorescence.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 3
Culm sheath 1 blades appressed to the culm Arthrostylidium.
Culm sheath blades reflexed Merostachys.
Exotic bamboos.
Flowering material available.
Stamens 3; leaf blades typically tessellate- veined.
Inflorescences determinate, racemose or paniculate, with long-pedicelled,
not crowded spikelets, the pedicels subtended by inconspicuous, often
obsolete bracts Arundinaria.
Inflorescences indeterminate, sometimes more or less densely aggregated
in heads, with short-pedicelled spikelets, the pedicels subtended by
conspicuous bracts Phyllostachys.
Stamens 6; leaf blades not typically tessellate- veined.
Palea of terminal functional floret bearing a slender, bristle-like rachilla
segment hidden in its dorsal sulcus Schizostachyum.
Palea of terminal functional floret not bearing a bristle-like rachilla
segment.
Palea never keeled Melocanna.
Palea 2-keeled in lowermost functional florets.
Stamens monadelphous or with flattened filaments connate.
Gigantochloa.
Stamens free, the filaments filiform.
Rachilla segments abscissile, the spikelet disarticulating readily;
fruit a sulcate caryopsis with a thin, adnate pericarp . Bambusa.
Rachilla segments not abscissile except below the first lemma, the
spikelet not disarticulating; fruit a globose nut, with a thick,
separable pericarp Dendrocalamus.
Flowering material not available (field key).
Rhizome indeterminate, slender, wide-ranging; leaf blades typically tes-
sellate- veined.
Branch complement with one strongly dominant central branch, this
either solitary or flanked by one to several pairs of progressively
shorter and more slender ones Arundinaria.
Branch complement typically consisting of two somewhat unequal
branches, with sometimes a third, much smaller between them.
Phyllostachys.
Rhizome determinate, thick, short; leaf blades not typically tessellate-
veined.
Rhizome neck (the slender, terete, budless, rootless, horizontal structure
basal to the rhizome proper) several times as long as the rhizome
proper, up to 1 meter or more in length Melocanna.
Rhizome neck much shorter than the rhizome proper.
1 Throughout the part of this key that deals with bamboos, and in the de-
scriptions of the bamboos that follow, wherever the term "culm sheath" appears
it refers to examples of these structures taken from the lower part of the culm,
usually from some node between the fifth and the tenth; exceptions are clearly
indicated.
4 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Culm sheath blade narrow, reflexed.
Branch complement with numerous, slender, subequal branches.
Schizostachyum .
Branch complement with one strongly dominant central branch,
this either solitary or flanked by several pairs of progressively
shorter, more slender ones Gigantochloa.
Culm sheath blade broadly triangular, appressed to the culm.
Leaf blades in the lower part of the culm pubescent on both surfaces.
Dendrocalamus.
Leaf blades pubescent throughout lower surface only Bambusa.
Stems mostly herbaceous, or woody only at the base (woody throughout in Olyra
latifolia, and most species of Lasiacis); leaf blades usually not petiolate, and
not disarticulating from their sheaths; culm sheaths and their blades not
markedly different from the sheaths and blades of the functional leaves.
Spikelets 1- to many-flowered, the reduced florets, if any, above the fertile
florets (except in Hierochloe; lower florets empty in Uniola); articulation
usually above the glumes (below the glumes in Zeugites, Cinna, Polypogon,
Oryza, and Leersia).
Spikelets in groups of 2-5, the groups racemose along a common axis, falling
entire.
Plants annual.
Groups of spikelets nodding; first glumes relatively thin, not forming an
involucre Aegopogon.
Groups of spikelets erect; first glumes broad, indurate, forming a pitcher-
shaped involucre around the spikelets Anthephora.
Plants rigid; perennial Hilaria.
Spikelets solitary or paired, not arranged in groups along a common axis.
Lemma with a long much-contorted awn, the awns becoming tangled and
remaining attached at the apex of the axis; broad-leaved perennials.
Streptochaeta.
Lemma awnless, or if awned, the awn straight or geniculate, never con-
torted or becoming tangled.
Spikelets unisexual. Plants monoecious.
Spikelets in somewhat distant pairs along the main branches, one of
each pair sessile, pistillate, the other long-pedicellate, staminate,
much smaller than the pistillate spikelet; stamens 6 Pharus.
Spikelets not in pairs as above; stamens 2 or 3.
Glumes wanting, only the lemma and palea present; aquatic grasses
with the staminate and pistillate spikelets in separate inflores-
cences Luziola.
Glumes present; terrestrial, usually forest grasses.
Panicles large, terminal, the pistillate spikelets on the upper
branches and toward the ends of the lower ones, the staminate
on the lower part of the lower branches Olyra.
Panicles small, axillary, or terminal and axillary, the terminal
when present usually wholly staminate.
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 5
Fruit roughly triangular, inflated, gibbous; panicles axillary,
composed of 1 terminal pistillate spikelet, and a few stam-
inate spikelets below it Lithachne.
Fruit subcylindric; panicles terminal and axillary. Fruit raised
on the enlarged and thickened segment of the rachilla.
Cryptochloa.
Spikelets perfect, or if unisexual, the plants dioecious (except Catheste-
cum).
Spikelets sessile on opposite sides of a continuous or disarticulating
rachis.
Spikelets placed edgewise to the rachis; first glume wanting.
Lolium.
Spikelets placed flatwise to the rachis; both glumes present.
Triticum.
Spikelets sessile or short-pedicellate on one side of a continuous rachis.
Plants monoecious, the florets unisexual (rarely perfect).
Cathestecum.
Plants with perfect flowers.
Spikelets 1-flowered, with no rudimentary florets above the fertile
one.
Spikes solitary Microchloa.
Spikes digitate Cynodon.
Spikes racemose Spartina.
Spikelets 2-several-flowered or, if only 1-flowered, with one or
more rudimentary florets above the perfect one.
Spikes digitate.
Lemmas awnless, or awn pointed.
Rachis prolonged beyond the spikelets in a naked point.
Dactyloctenium.
Rachis not prolonged Eleusine.
Lemmas awned Chloris.
Spikes solitary or racemose.
Spikes solitary Tripogon.
Spikes several to many, racemose.
Lemmas entire or minutely bifid, awnless or 1-awned.
Rudiment 1-awned, sometimes reduced to one or two
awns, rarely wanting.
Glumes exceeding the florets, both 1-nerved.
Gymnopogon.
Glumes shorter than the florets, the first 1-nerved, the
second usually 3-5-nerved Gouinia.
Rudiment awnless; rachilla and callus of the florets
glabrous or nearly so Leptochloa.
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Lemmas variously lobed or dentate, usually 3-awned.
Spikelets with one perfect floret and one or two rudi-
mentary florets above it; rachis not prolonged be-
yond the spikelets (except as a single naked point in
B. glandulosa) Bouteloua.
Spikelets with two perfect florets ; rachis prolonged beyond
the spikelets as two inconspicuous hairy bristles.
Pentarrhaphis.
Spikelets pedicellate in open or contracted panicles (sessile in loose
spikes in Jouvea).
Spikelets 3-flowered, the lower two staminate, falling attached to
the fertile lemma, no rudimentary florets above .... Hierochloe.
Spikelets 2-several-flowered, the rachilla usually disarticulating
between the similar florets, the lower ones sometimes empty.
Lemmas awnless, or awned from the tip, sometimes from between
the teeth of a minutely bifid apex.
Lemma or rachilla villous with long silky hairs (staminate
spikelets glabrous in Gynerium) ; tall stout reeds.
Lemma hairy, rachilla glabrous; plants dioecious. .Gynerium.
Lemma naked, rachilla hairy; plants with perfect flowers.
Phragmites.
Lemma and rachilla glabrous or pubescent but not with long
silky hairs.
Plants dioecious; culms erect from creeping rhizomes.
Staminate and pistillate spikelets similar in appearance.
Distichlis.
Staminate and pistillate spikelets very unlike, the stami-
nate many-flowered, rather distant in a loose spike, the
pistillate solitary or clustered, nearly hidden in the
leaves Jouvea.
Plants with perfect flowers.
Blades ovate to lanceolate, with conspicuous transverse
veins, most of them distinctly petiolate.
Glumes narrow, acute, without transverse veins; pan-
icles usually large, the spikelets borne only at the
ends of the fragile filiform branchlets. . . .Orthoclada.
Glumes broad with prominent transverse veins, the sum-
mit irregularly toothed Zeugites.
Blades linear, with no transverse veins.
Lemmas 3-nerved Eragrostis.
Lemmas 5- to several-nerved, the nerves sometimes
obscure.
Spikelets with 1-4 empty lemmas below the fertile
florets, large and very flat Uniola.
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 7
Spikelets with no empty lemmas below the fertile
florets.
Spikelets short-pedicellate, rather distant in a simple
raceme Br achy podium.
Spikelets in open or contracted panicles.
Lemmas awned from between the teeth of the
minutely bifid apex, conspicuously com-
pressed Bromus.
Lemmas awnless or awned from the tip, rounded
or obscurely keeled.
Lemmas acuminate or awned Festuca.
Lemmas awnless, obtuse or acute.
Spikelets inflated; palea much shorter and
smaller than the lemma Briza.
Spikelets not inflated; palea as long as the
lemma.
Lemmas prominently 7-nerved, the nerves
parallel Glyceria.
Lemmas 5-nerved, the nerves inconspic-
uous; keel and margins of lemma often
pubescent Poa.
Lemmas awned from the back; glumes as long as the lowest
floret, usually about as long as the spikelet.
Plants annual; spikelets large in open panicles Avena.
Plants perennial; spikelets small in rather dense or spikelike
panicles Trisetum.
Spikelets 1-flowered.
Spikelets strongly laterally compressed; glumes minute or want-
ing; articulation below the spikelet.
Glumes minute; lemmas often awned Oryza.
Glumes wanting; lemmas awnless Leersia.
Spikelets terete, or at least not strongly compressed; glumes
usually well developed; articulation above the glumes (below
the glumes in Cinna and Polypogon).
Glumes awned Polypogon.
Glumes awnless, or, if awned, much shorter than the floret.
Lemma with a very short awn from just below the apex.
Cinna.
Lemma awnless or with a well-developed awn.
Fertile spikelets surrounded by numerous sterile spikelets
in the form of bristles or delicate bracts. . . .Pereilema.
Spikelets all perfect, not surrounded by bristles.
Lemma indurate; callus bearded, usually sharp-pointed.
Awn trifid, the lateral ones sometimes reduced or
wanting Aristida.
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Awn simple, geniculate, twisted.
Glumes much shorter than the floret; awn inserted
from the back of the lemma Triniochloa.
Glumes as long as or longer than the floret; awn
terminal.
Margins of lemma overlapping, enclosing the
palea; callus narrow, acuminate, sharp-
pointed Stipa.
Margins of lemma not meeting, exposing the sul-
cus of the palea, this projecting from the
summit as a minute point; callus short,
acute Piptochaetium.
Lemma not indurate; callus glabrous or, in Calamagrostis,
bearded.
Glumes longer than the floret, equal.
Callus bearded ; palea usually as long as the lemma.
Calamagrostis.
Callus glabrous or nearly so; palea usually much
shorter than the lemma, thin Agrostis.
Glumes, or at least one of them, shorter than the
floret.
Lemma 3-nerved, acute, awned or awnless.
Muhlenbergia.
Lemma 1-nerved, obtuse, awnless Sporobolus.
Spikelets with 1 perfect terminal floret and a sterile or staminate floret below
it (both florets usually fertile in Isachne); articulation below the glumes
(except in Arundinella), either in the pedicel, the rachis, or at the base
of a cluster of spikelets.
Glumes membranaceous; fertile lemma indurate or at least as firm as the
glumes; sterile lemma like the glumes in texture.
Fertile lemma scarcely firmer than the glumes, awned, the awns relatively
long, geniculate.
Spikelets large, in groups of three at the ends of the branches.
Tristachya.
Spikelets small, evenly distributed in the panicle Arundinella.
Fertile lemma usually much firmer than the glumes, awnless or awn-tipped.
Spikelets subtended by bristles or enclosed in spiny burs.
Spikelets subtended by bristles.
Bristles persistent.
Spikelets arranged in one-sided racemes, each subtended by a
single bristle; blades not plaited Ixophorus.
Spikelets paniculate, the subtending bristles 2 or more, or if only
one, the blades plaited Setaria.
Bristles deciduous, falling with the spikelet Pennisetum.
Spikelets enclosed in spiny burs Cenchrus.
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 9
Spikelets neither subtended by bristles nor enclosed in spiny burs.
Spikelets arranged on one side of spikelike racemes.
Margins of fertile lemma thin, not inrolled.
Spikelets densely covered with long tawny silky hairs . . Trichachne.
Spikelets glabrous or pubescent but not long-silky Digitaria.
Margins of fertile lemma inrolled, indurate.
Rachilla joint and first glume adnate, forming a swollen ring-like
callus Eriochloa.
Rachilla joint and first glume neither adnate nor swollen.
Racemes solitary (see also Paspalum).
Spikelets sunken in a thick corky rachis; rachis disarticulating
at maturity Stenotaphrum.
Spikelets not sunken in a thick corky rachis; rachis not dis-
articulating at maturity.
Spikelets conspicuously tuberculate-hispid; first glume acu-
minate, longer than the sterile lemma; raceme stout,
stiffly spreading Echinolaena.
Spikelets glabrous or hairy but not conspicuously tuber-
culate-hispid.
Rachis rather broadly winged, partially enfolding the
spikelets; spikelets paired but rather distant, appear-
ing as if solitary in a single row, the spikelets of
each pair placed back to back Thrasya.
Rachis wingless; spikelets solitary, the back of the fertile
lemma turned from the rachis Mesosetum.
Racemes 2 to many (sometimes solitary in Paspalum).
Spikelets awned or awn-pointed.
Base of spikelet elongate, forming a sharp-pointed bearded
callus; both glumes long-awned Chaetium.
Base of spikelet blunt, not bearded.
First glume long-awned, the body nearly as long as the
spikelet; spikelets glabrous or pubescent but not
hispid Oplismenus.
First glume awnless, less than half as long as the spikelet;
spikelets hispid Echinochloa.
Spikelets awnless.
Fertile lemma with small wings at the base, these some-
times reduced to scars Ichnanthus.
Fertile lemma wingless.
First and second glume equal, nearly as long as the
spikelet, the second becoming spiny at maturity;
racemes loosely flowered Pseudechinolaena.
First glume not more than half as long as the spikelet,
or wanting, the second as long as the spikelet,
glabrous or pubescent but not spiny.
10 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Back of the fruit turned away from the rachis.
First glume well developed Brachiaria.
First glume wanting Axonopus.
Back of the fruit turned toward the rachis.
First glume always present Panicum.
First glume usually wanting (often present in P.
langei and occasionally in other species).
Paspalum.
Spikelets paniculate (panicles dense and spikelike in Sacciolepis and
Hymenachne amplexicaulis) .
Spikelets villous with appressed or spreading hairs.
First glume present; spikelets with rose-colored, silky hairs ob-
scuring the spikelet Rhynchelytrum.
First glume wanting; spikelets with pale hairs, not obscuring the
spikelet Leptocoryphium.
Spikelets glabrous or pubescent.
Fertile lemma with small wings at the base, these sometimes
reduced to scars Ichnanthus.
Fertile lemma wingless.
Spikelets with 2 fertile florets Isachne.
Spikelets with only 1 fertile floret.
Second glume inflated, saccate at the base; spikelets un-
symmetrical Sacciolepis.
Second glume not inflated; spikelets symmetrical.
First and second glume equal, similar, as long as the spike-
let; plants widely decumbent-spreading. . .Homolepis.
First glume rarely more than half as long as the second,
the latter usually equalling or exceeding the fruit.
Panicles dense, spikelike or with narrowly ascending
branches; fruit scarcely indurate, open at summit.
Hymenachne.
Panicles mostly open, loosely flowered; fruit indurate,
closed at summit, the lemma tightly enclosing the
palea.
Spikelets with a tuft of woolly hairs at the tip of the
second glume and sterile lemma; plants woody,
clambering Lasiacis.
Spikelets without woolly hairs; plants herbaceous.
Panicum.
Glumes indurate; fertile lemma hyaline or membranaceous, the sterile lemma
like the fertile one in texture; spikelets arranged in pairs in narrow spikes
or racemes.
Spikelets with perfect flowers, each perfect spikelet usually paired with a
staminate or reduced sterile spikelet, or sometimes all the spikelets
perfect and alike.
Blades ovate, cordate-clasping; plants creeping; annual Arthraxon.
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 11
Blades linear; culms erect.
Racemes paniculate (see also Andropogon saccharoides) .
Panicles conspicuously silky; spikelets awnless.
Panicles white or pinkish, loose but rather dense.
Rachis continuous; spikelets unequally pedicellate. . .Imperata.
Rachis breaking up at maturity; lower spikelet sessile, the
upper pedicellate Saccharum.
Panicles golden brown, very dense and compact Eriochrysis.
Panicles not silky; spikelets awned.
Pedicellate spikelet staminate Sorghum.
Pedicellate spikelet wanting, only the pedicel present.
Sorghastrum.
Racemes solitary, paired, or digitate, sometimes aggregate in a large
compound inflorescence; if paniculate, the racemes crowded in a
dense, silky, terminal panicle.
Spikelets all perfect, alike; racemes digitate; spikelets awnless.
Ischaemum.
Spikelets of each pair unlike, the lower sessile, perfect, the upper
pedicellate, usually reduced (conspicuous in Hackelochloa and
Diectomisi).
Spikelets awnless.
Plants annual; rachis joint and the pedicel of the upper spikelet
grown together; first glume of sessile spikelet globose,
alveolate Hackelochloa.
Plants perennial; rachis joint and pedicel distinct.
Rachis joints and pedicels much thickened at the summit,
glabrous; pedicellate spikelet rudimentary. . .Manisuris.
Rachis joints and pedicels not much thickened at the summit;
pedicellate spikelet staminate or neuter Elyonurus.
Spikelets, at least the fertile ones, awned.
Culms simple, usually with a single terminal erect raceme.
Glumes of staminate spikelets conspicuous; both spikelets of
the lower few to several pairs staminate or neuter, awn-
less, the rest of the sessile spikelets perfect, long-awned.
Heteropogon.
Glumes of staminate spikelets inconspicuous; all pairs of
spikelets alike, the sessile bearing a relatively slender
plumose awn Trachypogon.
Culms branching, at least toward the summit; awns glabrous
or scabrous.
Pedicellate spikelet conspicuous, the first glume broad, awned,
obscuring the spikelets; awn of fertile lemma 4-5 cm.
long, geniculate; plants annual Diectomis.
Pedicellate spikelet inconspicuous; awn of fertile lemma us-
ually less than 15 mm. long; plants perennial.
12 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
First glume sharply 2-keeled, at least toward the summit.
Spikelets of all pairs unlike, the sessile fertile, the pedi-
cellate sterile Andropogon.
Spikelets of the lower pairs alike, staminate or neuter.
Cymbopogon.
First glume of sessile spikelet rounded on the back, the
margins involute Hyparrhenia.
Spikelets unisexual, the staminate and pistillate spikelets in separate in-
florescences or the staminate above and the pistillate below in the
same spike.
Staminate spikelets in a terminal tassel, the pistillate in the axils of the
leaves.
Pistillate spikes distinct, the spikelets embedded in the hardened
rachis, this disarticulating at maturity Euchlaena.
Pistillate spikes grown together forming an ear, the grains at maturity
much exceeding the glumes Zea.
Staminate spikelets above, the pistillate below in the same spike.
Spikes short, the 1- or 2-flowered pistillate portion enclosed in a bead-
like sheathing bract Coix.
Spikes elongate, many-flowered, the pistillate portion breaking up into
joints, not enclosed in a sheathing bract Tripsacum.
AEGOPOGON Humb. & Bonpl.
Spikelets in groups of 3, the groups pedunculate, spreading, falling entire,
arranged alternately on opposite sides of a slender flattened axis, the central
spikelet fertile, the lateral ones staminate or neuter; spikelets 2-flowered; glumes
equal, 1-nerved, notched at the apex, awned from between the lobes; lemmas
3-nerved, longer than the glumes, the nerves extending into awns.
Slender perennials with short, narrow, flat blades and small racemes, the
groups of spikelets all turned to one side.
Species three, southwestern United States to Bolivia.
Lobes of glumes acute or awned, firm, purplish A. cenchroides.
Lobes of glumes broad, obtuse, papery A. lenellus.
Aegopogon cenchroides Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd. Sp. PL 4:
899. 1806. A. geminiflorus H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 133. pi. 43.
1815. A. guatemalensis Gandog. Bull. Soc. Bot. France 66: 298.
1920. Pajdn del rio (Quezaltenango) .
Shady banks, brushy hillsides, open grassy places, and roadsides,
1,350-2,700 meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Guatemala; Sacatepe"quez;
Solola; Quezaltenango. Mexico to Bolivia and Brazil.
Slender, spreading, perennial; culms 20-50 cm. long, erect, or the longer ones
spreading, freely branching; sheaths glabrous, keeled; ligule hyaline, 1-2 mm.
long, obtuse; blades 2-6 cm. long, 1-2 mm. wide, flat, acuminate, scabrous;
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA
13
FIG. 1. Aegopogon lenellus. Plant, X l /i\ group of spikelets, X 5; lateral
spikelets and central spikelet, X 10.
racemes slender, 2-5 cm. long, usually purple; spikelets about 3 mm. long, the
central awn of the first floret about 10 mm. long, the others half as long or less.
Aegopogon tenellus (Cav.) Trin. Gram. Unifl. 164. 1824.
Lamarckia tenella DC. Cat. Hort. Monsp. 1813. Cynosurus tenellus
Cav. ex DC. Cat. Hort. Monsp. 120. 1813. Aegopogon unisetus
Roem. & Schult. Syst. Veg. 2: 805. 1817. Figure 1.
14 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Pastures, moist shady banks, and cultivated places, 1,500-2,100
meters; Guatemala; Sacatep^quez; Quezaltenango. Arizona; Mex-
ico; El Salvador; Honduras; Costa Rica.
Similar to A. cenchroides but differing primarily in the broad obtuse lobes
of the glumes.
AGROSTIS L.
Spikelets 1-flowered, the rachilla disarticulating above the glumes, sometimes
prolonged beyond the floret; glumes equal or subequal, longer than the floret,
usually acute or acuminate; lemma usually obtuse, thinner than the glumes,
awnless, or awned from the back, glabrous or more or less hairy on the callus;
palea wanting or nearly equaling the lemma.
Slender perennials with flat or involute blades and narrow or open panicles
of small spikelets.
Species about 125, in temperate and cold regions of both hemi-
spheres, and in the tropics at higher altitudes.
Palea well developed, as long as the lemma or nearly so.
Rachilla prolonged beyond the palea; panicles open, few-flowered. .A. exserta.
Rachilla not prolonged; panicles dense, many-flowered A. semiverticillata.
Palea minute or wanting.
Panicles narrow, dense, the branches floriferous from the base. . . .A. tolucensis.
Panicles open, or if narrow, the branches naked toward the base.
Lemma awnless.
Culms 5-10 cm. high, densely tufted; blades short, firm, arcuate. .A. arcta.
Culms more than 20 cm. high; blades lax.
Ligule truncate, 0.5-1 mm. long; spikelets 1.6-1.8 mm. long. . .A. vesca.
Ligule 3-5 mm. long; spikelets 2-3 mm. long A. perennans.
Lemma awned.
Culms weak, decumbent-spreading, 50-60 cm. long; spikelets 2 mm.
long A. laxissima.
Culms erect, not more than 45 cm. high; spikelets 2.3-3 mm. long.
Panicles diffuse, the branchlets stiffly divaricate; spikelets 2.3-2.5 mm.
long; awn tightly twisted below A. abietorum.
Panicles narrow with ascending branches; spikelets 2.5-3 mm. long; awn
straight or nearly so A. vinosa.
Agrostis abietorum Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29: 403.
1950.
Known only from the type, Volcan Tajumulco, Dept. San Mar-
cos, Steyermark 35652.
Perennial; culms tufted, erect, 25-45 cm. high; sheaths a little shorter than
the internodes, glabrous; ligule 2-4 mm. long, decurrent; blades 4-7 cm. long,
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 15
1-1.5 mm. wide, flat or becoming involute, rather firm, scabrous; panicles 7-12
cm. long, diffuse, the branches solitary or in pairs, sparsely scabrous, naked at
the base, the branchlets and usually the pedicels stiffly divaricate with a pul-
vinus in the axils; spikelets 2.3-2.5 mm. long; glumes acute, equal, or the first a
little longer, scabrous on the keel; lemma 2 mm. long, scabrous on the nerves,
these slightly excurrent, the awn 3 mm. long, inserted about one-fourth above the
base, geniculate, tightly twisted below the bend, the callus sparsely bearded on
the sides, the hairs short; anthers 1 mm. long.
Related to A. laxissima but differs in the stiff habit, the stiffly
divaricate panicle branchlets, the longer lemma and anthers, and the
tightly twisted awn.
Agrostis arcta Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29: 405. 1950.
Known only from the type collection, moist roadside at Santa
Elena, Dept. Chimaltenango, Skutch 422.
Perennial; culms rather densely tufted, erect from a decumbent, rhizome-like
base, 5-10 cm. high; sheaths glabrous, somewhat keeled; ligule 1-2 mm. long,
decurrent; blades firm, folded or involute, curved, blunt, 2-6 cm. long, smooth
below, scabrous above and on the margins; panicles 2-3.5 cm. long, the more or
less scabrous branches appressed, naked at the base; spikelets 2.1-2.3 mm. long;
glumes equal, acute, rather strongly scabrous on the keel; lemma 1.5-1.7 mm.
long, truncate, minutely scabrous in lines, the nerves rather prominent at the
summit, awnless or with a very slender short awn from the middle of the back;
palea minute; anthers 0.6 mm. long.
Agrostis exserta Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29: 404. 1950.
Alpine areas, 3,400-3,700 meters, Huehuetenango (type from
Tojquia, Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, Steyermark 50119).
Perennial; culms slender, densely tufted, 10-20 cm. high, erect or ascending,
glabrous, without culm nodes; sheaths glabrous, those of the innovations very
short, the single culm sheath as much as 5.5 cm. long; ligule 1.5-2 mm. long;
blades firm, involute, glabrous, curved, 1-4 cm. long; panicles 1-5 cm. long,
few-flowered, purple, the short, smooth branches stiffly ascending, branching
above the middle, the branchlets bearing one or two spikelets; spikelets 1.5-1.6
mm. long; glumes equal, somewhat cucullate, subacute, minutely scabrous on
the keel; lemma about as long as the glumes, very obtuse, minutely erose, awnless
or with a short, straight, slender awn from the middle of the back; palea a little
shorter than the lemma; rachilla joint one-third as long as the floret.
This species is related to A. bacillata Hack., which differs in having
culms with one or two nodes, longer, finer, and softer blades, more
slender, flexuous, implicate panicle branches, and a much longer
rachilla.
Agrostis laxissima Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29: 402.
1950.
16 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Damp shady banks, dense Abies-Cupressus forests, and sandy
Alnus forests, 2,400-3,200 meters; Totonicapan ; Quezaltenango ; San
Marcos (type from along road between San Marcos and Serchil,
Standley 85379).
Perennial; culms slender, weak, apparently decumbent-spreading, 50-60 cm.
long; sheaths about as long as the internodes or a little shorter, glabrous; ligule
3-4 mm. long, decurrent; blades flat, lax, mostly 8-15 cm. long, 1-3 mm. wide,
glabrous; panicles 7-8 cm. long, open, relatively few-flowered, the slender, sparsely
scabrous branches ascending or spreading, somewhat flexuous, naked in the lower
half; spikelets 2 mm. long; glumes equal, acute, scabrous on the keel; lemma
1.5 mm. long, thin, truncate, the nerves minutely excurrent, awned, the awn
inserted one-third from the base, 3 mm. long, curved, scarcely twisted below, the
callus with short hairs on the sides; palea minute; anthers 0.5 mm. long.
A specimen from Volcan Santa Maria, Department of Quezal-
tenango (Steyermark 34160), has spikelets 3 mm. long, and is doubt-
fully referred to this species.
Agrostis perennans (Walt.) Tuckerm. Amer. Jour. Sci. 45:
44. 1843. Cornucopiae perennans Walt. Fl. Carol. 74. 1788. Tricho-
dium perennans Ell. Bot. S. C. and Ga. 1: 99. 1816.
In swamps, along streams, slopes, fields, and pastures, 1,300-
3,700 meters; Alta Verapaz; Huehuetenango. Eastern United
States and eastern Mexico.
Perennial; culms erect or ascending from a very slender base, as much as 1
meter high; sheaths smooth, mostly shorter than the internodes; ligule 3-5 mm.
long; blades soft, lax, the lowermost often filiform, those of the culm 5-15 cm.
long, 1-3 mm. wide; panicles 10-30 cm. long, the slender branches in rather distant
whorls, naked below, the lower whorls with short branches intermixed; spikelets
2-3 mm. long, the glumes acuminate, scabrous on the keel; lemma 1.5-2 mm.
long, awnless palea minute or wanting.
Agrostis semiverticillata (Forsk.) C. Christ. Dansk. Bot.
Arkiv. 4, pt. 3: 12. 1922. Phalaris semiverticillata Forsk. Fl. Aegypt.
Arab. 17. 1775. Agrostis verticillata Vill. Prosp. PI. Dauph. 16.
1779. A. alba var. verticillata Pers. Syn. PI. 1: 76. 1805.
Wet ground along streams and ditches, 1,250-1,800 meters;
Sacatepe"quez ; Chimaltenango; Quezaltenango. Western United
States to Argentina; introduced from the Eastern Hemisphere.
Culms erect to widely decumbent-spreading and rooting at the nodes, 15-50
cm. long or sometimes longer; sheaths shorter than the internodes, glabrous;
blades mostly 4-12 cm. long, 3-6 mm. wide, firm, scabrous; panicles 3-10 cm.
long, densely flowered, lobed, the branches bearing spikelets to the base; spikelets
2 mm. long, usually falling entire, the glumes equal, subobtuse, very scabrous;
lemma 1 mm. long, truncate, awnless; palea nearly as long as the lemma, awnless.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 17
Agrostis tolucensis H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 135. 1815.
Rocky slopes, summits, and volcano craters, 3,000-4,400 meters;
Chimaltenango; Solola; Huehuetenango; Quezaltenango; San Mar-
cos. Southern Mexico to Chile.
Perennial; culms densely tufted, erect, 10-30 cm. or sometimes as much as
50 cm. high; blades soft to rather firm, loosely involute or the culm blades flat,
usually less than 1 mm. wide; ligule 1-3 mm. long, decurrent; panicles 3-10 cm.
long, narrow, rather dense, the branches appressed, most of them floriferous to
the base; spikelets about 3 mm. long, the glumes subequal, acuminate, scabrous
on the keel; lemma about 2 mm. long, minutely dentate, awned from near the
base, about as long as the glumes, somewhat bent; palea wanting.
Agrostis vesca Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29: 406. 1950.
Moist roadsides and clay slopes, 2,400-4,600 meters; San Mar-
cos; Chimaltenango (type from Santa Elena, Skutch 420).
Perennial; culms very slender, erect from a decumbent base, 20-30 cm. high;
sheaths about as long as the internodes, glabrous; ligule truncate, erose, 0.5-1 mm.
long; culm blades mostly 5-9 cm. long, about 1 mm. wide, flat, smooth below,
scaberulous above, those of the innovations involute, filiform, sometimes elon-
gate; panicle 4-8 cm. long, purple, the slender nearly glabrous branches ascending,
branching above the middle, the branchlets few-flowered; spikelets 1.6-1.8 mm.
long; glumes equal or nearly so, rather broadly acute; lemma 1.3-1.4 mm. long,
truncate, minutely erose, awnless; palea minute; anthers 0.8 mm. long.
Agrostis vinosa Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29: 402. 1950.
Alpine meadows and p'me-Juniperus woodland, 3,100-3,750
meters; Huehuetenango (type from Che"mal, Steyermark 50290).
Perennial; culms tufted, erect, 9-26 cm. high, with only one node evident
above the base; leaves mostly crowded at the base, the blades firm, stiff, mostly
arcuate, 1-4 cm. long, involute, scabrous; ligule 1-2 mm. long, decurrent; panicles
3-10 cm. long, dark purple, the slender scabrous branches appressed, in fascicles
of 2-4, rarely with short branches intermixed, usually spikelet-bearing well above
the middle, the lower ones as much as 4 cm. long; spikelets 2.5-3 mm. long; glumes
unequal, acute or acuminate, scabrous on the keel; lemma 1.6-1.8 mm. long,
truncate, awned, the awn inserted one-fourth above the base, about 2 mm. long,
scabrous, straight or nearly so, the callus bearded on the sides with short hairs;
palea wanting; anthers 1.2-1.3 mm. long.
ANDROPOGON L.
Spikelets arranged in pairs at each node of a disarticulating rachis, one sessile
and perfect, the other pedicellate and staminate or neuter, often very much
reduced, the rachis and sterile pedicels sparsely to usually densely ciliate or
villous; glumes of sessile spikelet indurate, the first flat, sulcate, or rounded on the
back, several-nerved, the median nerve obscure or wanting, the margins keeled
18 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
toward the summit; sterile lemma hyaline; fertile lemma hyaline, narrow, shorter
than the glumes, awnless or usually awned from the apex or from between lobes,
the awn straight, or geniculate and twisted below; pedicellate spikelet as large as
the sessile, or more or less reduced, sometimes only the pedicel present, the glumes
not indurate.
Annuals or usually coarse perennials with solid culms, the spikelets arranged
in racemes, these sessile and crowded on a common axis, paniculate, or usually
solitary or paired, sometimes in 3's or 5's, the common peduncle enclosed or
exserted from a spathe-like sheath, these sheaths often aggregate in a loose or
dense, often silky, compound inflorescence.
The genus, in the broad sense, comprises nearly 200 species, in
warm-temperate and tropical regions of both hemispheres.
Racemes solitary on each peduncle.
Plants annual.
Culms very slender, widely spreading, freely branching A. brevifolius.
Culms erect or nearly so, relatively coarse, the branches short, appressed.
Blades pilose on the upper surface toward the base; rachis joints and
sterile pedicels glabrous above, villous below, the hairs not obscuring
the spikelets A. semitectus.
Blades not pilose; rachis joints and sterile pedicels densely villous through-
out, the hairs obscuring the spikelets A. malacostachyus.
Plants perennial.
Spikelets awnless; inflorescence dense.
Racemes 1 cm. long, nearly glabrous A. virgatus.
Racemes 2-3 cm. long, densely hairy A. bicornis.
Spikelets awned; inflorescence loose, the racemes usually scattered.
Racemes very flexuous, conspicuously villous A. microstachyus.
Racemes straight, not conspicuously villous, the spikelets appressed.
First glume of sessile spikelet usually densely villous A. hirtiflorus.
First glume of sessile spikelet glabrous.
Sessile spikelet 5 mm. long; blades 2-5 mm. wide A. semiberbis.
Sessile spikelet 4 mm. long; blades usually not more than 1.5 mm.
wide A. tener,
Racemes two or more.
Racemes numerous, sessile, crowded along a common axis in a dense, white or
silvery inflorescence.
Sessile spikelet 5 mm. long, pitted above the middle A. altus.
Sessile spikelet 4 mm. long, not pitted A. saccharoides.
Racemes few to several, paniculate, the panicles terminal on the main culm
and short branches.
Culms decumbent or straggling, rooting at the nodes; panicle branches
flexuous, pilose in the axils A. condylotrichus.
Culms erect; panicle branches straight, glabrous in the axils. .A. hypogynus.
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 19
Racemes 2-5, sessile, paired, or digitate.
Spikelets awnless.
Ligule 2 mm. long; tips of blades acute, not boat-shaped; spikelets 3 mm.
long A. leucostachyus,
Ligule less than 1 mm. long; tips of blades boat-shaped; spikelets about
4 mm. long A. selloanus.
Spikelets awned.
Spikelets of the lower pair alike; second glume with a slender divergent
awn A. angustattis.
Spikelets of the lower pair unlike; second glume awnless.
Pedicellate spikelet as long as the sessile, staminate A. gerardi.
Pedicellate spikelet greatly reduced, neuter.
Racemes aggregate in a dense inflorescence, the ultimate branchlets
densely villous below the spathes.
Spathes broad, conspicuous; some of the peduncles of the terminal
inflorescences elongate A. elliottti.
Spathes narrow, inconspicuous; inflorescence plume-like.
A. glomeratus.
Racemes scattered in a long, loose inflorescence, the ultimate branch-
lets glabrous or nearly so below the spathes A. virginicus.
Andropogon altus Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 17: 208. 1913.
Open places, up to 1,500 meters; Huehuetenango; Chiquimula;
Guatemala. Mexico; El Salvador; Bolivia; Argentina.
Perennial; culms in small clumps, 1-1.5 meters high, erect or ascending at the
base, smooth, the nodes bearded with stiff ascending hairs, these usually rather
short; sheaths longer or shorter than the internodes, glabrous; ligule membrana-
ceous, 3-4 mm. long; blades 15-30 cm. long, 5-10 mm. wide, acuminate, scabrous,
with a few long hairs on the upper surface near the base; panicles 15-20 cm.
long, dense, the racemes narrowly ascending or appressed, the rachis joints and
sterile pedicels densely villous with white hairs 5-8 mm. long; sessile spikelet
5 mm. long, bearded at the base, scabrous on the keels toward the summit, the
first glume pitted above the middle; awn 1.5-2 cm. long, geniculate, tightly
twisted below the bend, loosely twisted above; pedicellate spikelet reduced, 3-4
mm. long, awnless.
Andropogon angustatus (Presl) Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 370.
1854. Diectomis laxa Nees, Agrost. Bras. 340. 1829. Not Andropogon
laxus Willd. 1806. Diectomis angustata Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 333.
1830. Andropogon apricus Trin. Me"m. Acad. St. Pe"tersb. VI. Sci.
Nat. 2 (1):83. 1836.
Brushy or rocky slopes and pine-clad hills; Jalapa; Jutiapa;
Santa Rosa. Cuba; southern Mexico; Nicaragua; Panama to
Colombia and northern Brazil.
20 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Slender, erect perennial; culms 50-120 cm. high, glabrous; sheaths much
shorter to longer than the internodes, compressed, keeled, auriculate, glabrous;
ligule firm, 1-2 mm. long, fused with the auriculate summit of the sheath; blades
linear, attenuate, 2-3 mm. wide, glabrous beneath, scabrous above and on the
margins; flowering branches few to several from the upper sheaths, forming a
loose inflorescence; racemes paired, rarely solitary, about 3 cm. long, at first
partly included, finally exserted on long, slender, somewhat flexuous peduncles
5-10 cm. long; rachis joints and sterile pedicels thickened above, stiffly ciliate
with white hairs; sessile spikelet 6 mm. long, the callus densely bearded with
white hairs; first glume narrow, obtuse, deeply sulcate, glabrous; second glume
compressed, keeled, with a slender divergent awn about 1 cm. long; awn of fertile
lemma 3-4 cm. long, rather stout, brown, hispidulous, 2-geniculate, the lower
segments tightly twisted, the upper straight; pedicellate spikelet 5 mm. long, the
first glume not sulcate, long hairy on the margins, with a straight slender awn
2-6 mm. long.
Andropogon bicornis L. Sp. PI. 1046. 1753. Navajuela (Izabal).
Savannas, open or brushy slopes, and pine uplands, up to 1,500
meters; Pete*n; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Huehuetenango; Solola; Santa
Rosa; Guatemala; Suchitepe"quez; Retalhuleu. British Honduras;
southern Mexico and the West Indies to Bolivia and Argentina.
Coarse perennial; culms 1-2.5 meters high, erect, in rather large clumps,
glabrous; sheaths usually shorter than the internodes or the lower ones overlapping,
broad, loose, keeled toward the summit, glabrous; ligule 1-1.5 mm. long, minutely
erose-ciliate; blades elongate, 2-5 mm. wide, the lower surface glabrous on the
midnerve, scabrous, the upper pubescent, the margins very scabrous, especially
near the tip; flowering branches numerous from the upper sheaths, very compound,
forming a very dense, corymbose feathery inflorescence; racemes paired, 2-3 cm.
long, partly enclosed or exserted on long slender peduncles from the narrow
inconspicuous spathes, the rachis and sterile pedicels densely hairy, the hairs
spreading, as much as 5 mm. long; sessile spikelet 3 mm. long, awnless, glabrous;
pedicellate spikelet rudimentary, or occasionally larger than the sessile one.
Andropogon brevifolius Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 26.
1788. A. obtusifolius Poir. in Lam. Encycl. Suppl. 1: 583. 1810.
Pollinia brevifolia Spreng. PI. Pugill. 2: 13. 1815. Schizachyrium
brevifolium Nees ex Kunth, Enum. PI. 1: 488. 1833. Sorghum brevi-
folium Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 2: 791. 1891.
Dry hills and rocky slopes, up to 2,500 meters; Sacatepe"quez ;
Guatemala; Escuintla. British Honduras (El Cayo District); tropi-
cal regions of both hemispheres.
Slender annual; culms 15 cm. to nearly 1 meter long, forming loose tangles
or dense mats, ascending from a decumbent base or trailing, freely branching,
glabrous; sheaths usually much shorter than the internodes, compressed, keeled,
glabrous; ligule membranaceous, about 0.5 mm. long; blades oblong, obtuse,
navicular, 1-4 cm. long, 1-5 mm. wide, glabrous, the margins scaberulous, minutely
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 21
ciliate at the base; flowering branches slender, numerous, from the middle and
upper nodes; racemes solitary, delicate, 1-2 cm. long, partly included in the
spathe, the rachis and sterile pedicel glabrous; sessile spikelet 2.5-3 mm. long,
the callus bearded, otherwise glabrous, the slender awn about 8 mm. long, genicu-
late, tightly twisted below the bend; pedicellate spikelet reduced to a minute
slender-awned rudiment.
Andropogon condylotrichus Hochst. ex Steud. Syn. PL Glum.
1: 377. 1854. A. piptatherus Hack, in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2 (3): 293.
1883. Amphilophis piptatherus Nash, N. Amer. Fl. 17: 127. 1912.
Euclasta condylotricha Stapf in Prain, Fl. Trop. Afr. 9: 181. 1917.
Grassy plains and brushy slopes, 400-900 meters; Chiquimula.
Mexico and the West Indies to Colombia, Venezuela, and northern
Brazil.
Annual; culms commonly 1-2 meters long, decumbent or straggling, rooting
at the nodes, sending up numerous weak branches, the nodes densely bearded,
otherwise glabrous; sheaths usually shorter than the internodes, keeled toward
the summit, glabrous on the back, villous in the throat and on the collar; ligule
1 mm. long, membranaceous, with a line of stiff hairs behind it; blades 15-20 cm.
long, 4-8 mm. wide, flat, acuminate, sparsely papillose, the margins scabrous;
racemes 2-5 cm. long, paniculate, the panicles terminal on the main culm and
short branches from the upper sheaths, the panicle branches flexuous, densely
villous in the axils; lower pairs of spikelets homogamous; fertile sessile spikelets
4 mm. long, the first glume densely villous, the awn 3-4 cm. long, 2-geniculate,
the lower segments brown, tightly twisted, hispidulous, the terminal segment
loosely twisted, scabrous; pedicellate spikelets 5-6 mm. long, sparsely papillose-
pilose, the keels scabrous.
Andropogon elliottii Chapm. Fl. South. U. S. 581. 1860.
A. clandestinus Wood, Class-book ed. 3: 809. 1861. Not A. clandes-
tinus Nees, 1854. Sorghum elliottii Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PL 2: 791. 1891.
Sandy pine uplands, British Honduras (El Cayo District, Lundell
6727, 6785). Eastern United States; Cuba.
Perennial; culms slender to rather coarse, as much as 80 cm. high, rather
sparingly branching from the upper nodes, densely bearded below the ultimate
spathes; sheaths keeled, sparsely pilose, the lower ones broad, the upper ones
becoming dilated and conspicuous; blades 3-4 mm. wide, usually pilose with long
hairs on the upper surface toward the base; racemes usually in pairs, sometimes
3 or 4, partly included in the spathe or exserted on a long slender peduncle; racemes
3-5 cm. long, flexuous, the rachis and pedicels conspicuously villous; sessile
spikelet narrow, 4-5 mm. long, the first glume acute, concave, the fertile lemma
bearing a loosely twisted awn 10-15 mm. long; pedicellate spikelet very small or
obsolete.
Andropogon gerardi Vitm. Summa. PL 6: 16. 1792. A.furcatus
Muhl. in Willd. Sp. PL 4: 919. 1806.
22 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Pine forests and limestone hills; Huehuetenango; Jalapa. United
States; Mexico; Honduras.
Slender or coarse perennial; culms tufted, erect, as much as 2 meters high,
simple or sparingly branching from the upper nodes; sheaths keeled or the upper
ones rounded on the back, glabrous, or the lower ones sometimes pilose; blades
elongate, commonly 3-5 mm. or as much as 10 mm. wide, often sparsely pilose
toward the base, the margins very scabrous; racemes 2-6, sometimes solitary on
the branches, straight, usually purple, the rachis joints and pedicels densely
ciliate; sessile spikelet 7-10 mm. long, the first glume acuminate, sulcate, scabrous
toward the tip, the awn 1-2 cm. long, geniculate, twisted below; pedicellate
spikelet as long as the sessile but narrower, staminate, awnless.
Andropogon glomeratus (Walt.) B.S.P. Prel. Cat. N. Y. 67.
1888. Cinna glomerata Walt. Fl. Carol. 59. 1788. Andropogon mac-
rourus Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer. 1: 56. 1803. Sorghum glomeratum
Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 2: 790. 1891. Andropogon virginicus var.
corymbosus Beal, Grasses N. Amer. 2: 52. 1896. A. corymbosus Nash
in Britton, Man. 69. 1901.
Marshes, brushy banks, rocky places and open plains; Pete"n;
Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Huehuetenango; Sacatepe"quez; Solola;
Guatemala. Southeastern United States and the West Indies to
Panama.
Similar in habit and aspect to A. bicornis; sheaths sometimes appressed-
hirsute on the margins and toward the summit; ultimate branchlets densely hairy
below the spathes; sessile spikelet 3-4 mm. long, awned, the awn slender, straight,
about 1.5 cm. long; pedicellate spikelet very greatly reduced or usually wanting,
the pedicel only present.
Andropogon hirtiflorus (Nees) Kunth, Rev. Gram. 1: Suppl.
39. 1830. Streptachne domingensis Spreng. ex Schult. Mant. 2: 188.
1824. Not Andropogon domingensis Steud., 1821. Schizachyrium
hirtiflorum Nees, Agrost. Bras. 334. 1829. Sorghum hirtiflorum
Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 2: 792. 1891. Schizachyrium oligostachyum
Nash in Small, Fl. Southeast. U. S. 59. 1903. Andropogon domin-
gensis F. T. Hubb. Proc. Amer. Acad. Sci. 49: 493. 1913. Pajdn
bianco (Huehuetenango).
Open or brushy slopes, pine and pine-oak forests, and meadows,
1,500-2,500 meters; Zacapa; Huehuetenango; Jalapa; Sacatepe"quez ;
Solola; Guatemala. Southern United States and the West Indies to
Bolivia and Uruguay.
Perennial; culms tufted, erect, 0.4-1.5 meters, commonly about 1 meter high,
glabrous; sheaths shorter than the internodes, or the lower ones overlapping, gla-
brous, keeled, at least toward the summit; ligule 1-1.5 mm. long, brownish; blades
10-20 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide, or on robust plants as much as 30 cm. long and 8
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 23
mm. wide, scaberulous, the margins scabrous; racemes mostly 4-8 cm. long, few to
numerous, scattered on the flowering branches from the upper nodes, forming a
loose inflorescence; rachis joints and pedicels densely villous all over or only on
the sides; sessile spikelets 5-6 mm. long, sparsely to densely villous, the middle
of the back sometimes glabrous, the awn about 1 cm. long, geniculate, tightly
twisted below the bend, loosely twisted above; pedicellate spikelet reduced to a
small short-awned rudiment.
An extremely variable species in size, habit, and pubescence of
the racemes.
Andropogon hypogynus Hack, in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2 (3): 290.
pi. 66. 1883. Hypogynium campestre Nees, Agrost. Bras. 365. 1829.
Not Andropogon campestris Kunth, 1830, nor Trin., 1832. A.
hypogynus genuinus Hack, in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2 (3) : 290. pi. 66. 1883.
A. hypogynus anatherus Hack, in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2 (3) : 290. pi. 66.
1883.
Open grassy plains; Izabal. Colombia; Brazil; Paraguay; nor-
thern Argentina.
Perennial; culms rather coarse, erect, 1-2 meters high; sheaths compressed,
keeled, glabrous, the upper ones much shorter than the internodes; blades flat,
15-40 cm. long, 3-5 mm. wide, glabrous; racemes several, nearly straight, fascicled
on a short axis, unequal, as much as 6 cm. long, the rachis joints and pedicels
ciliate, the hairs inconspicuous; sessile spikelet 4 mm. long, bearded at the base,
the first glume acute, somewhat concave, glabrous, the fertile lemma awnless or
with a rather short straight awn; pedicellate spikelet larger than the sessile one,
staminate, awnless, the first glume acuminate, rather strongly nerved.
Andropogon leucostachyus H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 187.
1816. A. lanuginosus H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 187. 1816. Cola
de venado (Izabal).
Open fields, plains, banks, and pine ridges at low altitudes; Pete*n;
Alta Verapaz; Izabal. British Honduras; southern Mexico and the
West Indies to Argentina.
Slender perennial; culms in small dense tufts, erect, 25-70 cm. high, glabrous;
sheaths narrow, compressed, glabrous, the lower ones crowded; ligule 1-1.5 mm.
long, thin, truncate, minutely erose; blades 5-15 cm. long, or those on the innova-
tions as much as 35 cm. long, 1-3 mm. wide, acute, scaberulous; flowering branches
few, long and slender, sparingly branched; racemes paired, sometimes 3, exserted
on long slender peduncles, the spathes rather long, but very narrow and incon-
spicuous; rachis and sterile pedicels slender but straight, densely villous, the
spreading hairs commonly 10 mm. long; sessile spikelet 3 mm. long, glabrous,
awnless; pedicellate spikelet wanting.
Andropogon malacostachyus Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 337. 1830.
Schizachyrium malacostachyum Nash, N. Amer. Fl. 17: 102. 1912.
24 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Rocky hills, 600-1,500 meters; Alta Verapaz; Guatemala. Mex-
ico (Guerrero, type).
Annual; culms 8-35 cm. high, erect or geniculate at the lower nodes, scabrous,
or strigose below the nodes, with short flowering branches from the upper nodes,
sometimes from all the nodes; sheaths usually much shorter than the internodes,
these sometimes elongate; ligule membranaceous, minutely ciliate, about 1 mm.
long; blades 2-5 cm. long, 2-3 mm. wide, flat or usually folded, very scabrous on
the margins; racemes solitary on the short branches, mostly shorter than the
spathes, these becoming flat and rather conspicuous; rachis joints thickened upward,
lunar in cross section, densely villous across the back, the sterile pedicel similar but
narrower; sessile spikelet 7-8 mm. long, acuminate, minutely toothed, densely
villous over the back, the callus densely bearded; fertile lemma awned from near
the base, the awn about 1.5 cm. long, geniculate, tightly twisted below the bend,
loosely twisted above; pedicellate spikelet narrow, 3 mm. long, with a straight
awn about 5 mm. long.
Andropogon microstachyus Desv. ex Hamilt. Prodr. PL Ind.
Occ. 8. 1825. Pollinia microstachya Desv. Opusc. 70. 1831.
Dry fields, open pine forests, and rocky or brushy slopes, up to
1,600 meters; Pete"n; Alta Verapaz; Huehuetenango; Chiquimula;
Sacatepe"quez; Chimaltenango. Southern Mexico and the West
Indies to Argentina.
Rather coarse perennial; culms 1-1.5 meters high, erect, glabrous; sheaths
mostly shorter than the internodes, sometimes overlapping, strongly compressed,
keeled, glabrous or scaberulous; ligule firm, truncate, about 2 mm. long; blades
10-20 cm. or even 25 cm. long, 5-10 mm. wide, conduplicate or becoming flat,
glabrous, the margins scaberulous; flowering branches numerous from the upper
sheaths, ascending or appressed, forming a large, dense, feathery, corymbose,
compound inflorescence; racemes solitary, 2-3 cm. long, partly included in the
short inconspicuous spathes, the rachis strongly flexuous, the rachis joints and
sterile pedicels long- villous on the sides; sessile spikelet 4 mm. long, narrow,
acuminate, the callus shortly bearded, the delicate awn 8-12 mm. long, geniculate,
tightly twisted below the bend, loosely twisted above; pedicellate spikelet rudi-
mentary, awnless or with a short thread-like awn.
Andropogon saccharoides Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 26.
1788. A. argenteus DC. Cat. Hort. Monsp. 77. 1813. A. laguroides
DC. Cat. Hort. Monsp. 78. 1813. A. torreyanus Steud. Norn. Bot.
ed. 2. 1: 93. 1840. Sorghum saccharoides Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 2:
792. 1891. Amphilophis saccharoides Nash, N. Amer. Fl. 17: 125.
1912. Bothriochloa saccharoides Rydb. Brittonia 1 : 81. 1931. Figure 2.
Prairies, meadows, pine forests, and roadsides, 1,000-1,800
meters; Quiche"; Huehuetenango; Chimaltenango; Santa Rosa;
Guatemala. Southwestern United States and the West Indies to
Argentina.
FIG. 2. Andropogon saccharoides, X
25
26 FIELDI ANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Tufted perennial; culms erect, brittle, 0.5-2 meters high, the nodes usually
glabrous but sometimes some of them densely pubescent, but scarcely bearded;
sheaths rounded on the back, glabrous; blades flat, acuminate, 10-20 cm. or even
30 cm. long in robust plants, 2-8 mm. wide, scabrous, papillose-hirsute near the
base; panicles 5-15 cm. long, dense, white-silky, the usually numerous branches
appressed or narrowly ascending; sessile spikelet 4 mm. long, the geniculate
twisted awn mostly 1-1.5 cm. long; pedicellate spikelet as long as the sessile, but
much narrower, awnless.
Andropogon selloanus (Hack.) Hack. Bull. Herb. Boiss. II.
4: 266. 1904. A. leucostachyus selloanus Hack, in DC. Monogr.
Phan. 6:420. 1889.
Pine woods and margins of swamps to about 1,300 meters; Pete"n;
Huehuetenango; Chiquimula. British Honduras; Mexico (Chiapas);
the West Indies and Panama to Argentina.
Densely tufted perennial resembling A. leucostachyus; culms erect, 45-100
cm. high, solitary or few in each tuft, glabrous; sheaths compressed, keeled,
glabrous; ligule 0.5 mm. long; blades conduplicate, becoming flat, 3-5 mm. wide,
those of the culm 5-8 cm. long, the uppermost much reduced or wanting, those
of the innovations sometimes as much as 20 cm. long; flowering branches long and
slender, solitary from the middle and upper sheaths, unbranched; racemes 3-5,
exserted from the long and narrow but inconspicuous spathes, densely villous
with tawny hairs more than 10 mm. long; sessile spikelet 3-4 mm. long, awnless,
glabrous; pedicellate spikelet wanting.
Andropogon semiberbis (Nees) Kunth, Rev. Gram. Suppl. 1:
39. 1830. Schizachyrium semiberbe Nees, Agrost. Bras. 336. 1829.
Dry or rocky hills and plains; Chiquimula; Jalapa. British
Honduras; Florida, eastern Mexico, and the West Indies to Ecuador
and Argentina.
Very similar to A. hirtiflorus, differing primarily in the glabrous or scabrous
first glume of the sessile spikelet, and the glabrous or only sparsely hairy rachis
joints and sterile pedicels, the hairs confined to the margins near the summit;
culms stouter, on the average, the blades rarely less than 4 mm. wide.
Andropogon semitectus Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29:
427. 1950.
Type from Baiios de Santa Maria, Zacapa, Standley 73919.
Mexico (Jalisco; Guerrero).
Annual; culms erect, 21-55 cm. high, glabrous, with flowering branches from
the middle and upper nodes, all the internodes of about equal length; sheaths
about half as long as the internodes, keeled, glabrous; ligule 0.5 mm. long,
minutely ciliate; blades mostly 4-9 cm. long, 1.5-3 mm. wide, flat or folded,
papillose-pilose on the upper surface toward the base with long hairs, the margins
scabrous; spathes 2.5-3.5 cm. long; racemes solitary, mostly included, only the
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 27
uppermost spikelets exserted from the spathe, the peduncle very short; rachis
joints and sterile pedicels broad but rather thin, lunate in cross section, densely
villous on the lower part of the back, the upper part glabrous, the rachis joint
somewhat widened at the summit with thin, almost wing-like margins, the tip
cup-shaped; sessile spikelet 6 mm. long, narrow, the glumes acuminate, the first
densely villous in the lower half; lemma 2.5 mm. long, awned, the awn inserted
one-third from the base, 14 mm. long, tightly twisted below, geniculate, the
twisted part dark brown, 6 mm. long; pedicellate spikelet greatly reduced, sca-
brous, bearing a slender straight scabrous awn 3-5 mm. long.
Andropogon tener (Nees) Kunth, Rev. Gram. 1: Suppl. 39.
1830. Schizachyrium tenerum Nees, Agrost. Bras. 336. 1829. An-
dropogon gracilis Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 336. 1830. Not A. gracilis
Spreng., 1825. A. preslii Kunth, ReV. Gram. 1: Suppl. 39. 1830.
A. kptophyllus Trin. Me"m. Acad. St. Pe"tersb. VI. Math. Phys. Nat.
2: 264. 1832. Sorghum tenerum Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 2: 792. 1891.
Along roads; Huehuetenango. British Honduras (El Cayo Dis-
trict); southeastern United States; eastern Mexico; the West Indies;
Panama to Argentina.
Densely tufted perennial; culms usually very slender, erect or reclining,
30-100 cm. long, glabrous; sheaths narrow, keeled, glabrous, the lower longer,
the upper shorter than the internodes; ligule about 0.2 mm. long; blades commonly
5-10 cm. long, 1-3 mm. wide, flat or conduplicate, sometimes subinvolute, more
or less curved or flexuous, sparsely papillose-hirsute near the base; flowering
branches rather few and distant, slender, some of the racemes exserted on long
slender peduncles; racemes slender, but straight, 2-5 cm. long, the rachis joints
and sterile pedicels with a few long hairs on the sides near the summit, otherwise
glabrous; sessile spikelet 5-6 mm. long, acute or acuminate, scabrous at least
toward the tip, the callus rather densely bearded, the awn 7-12 mm. long, genicu-
late, tightly twisted below the bend ; pedicellate spikelet as large as the sessile one,
awnless.
Andropogon virgatus Desv. ex Hamilt. Prodr. PI. Ind. Occ. 9.
1825. Hypogynium spathiflorum Nees, Agrost. Bras. 366. 1829.
Andropogon spathiflorus Kunth, ReV. Gram. 1: Suppl. 40. 1830.
Marshy prairies and stream banks at low altitudes; Izabal.
British Honduras (El Cayo District); Costa Rica; the West Indies;
Panama to Bolivia and Argentina.
Perennial; culms relatively slender, tufted, commonly 1-1.5 meters high,
erect, glabrous, usually tinged dull red or brownish; sheaths usually much shorter
than the long internodes, compressed, keeled, glabrous; ligule membranaceous,
0.5 mm. long; blades elongate, especially those of the innovations, 2-5 mm. wide,
conduplicate, becoming flat, the lower surface glabrous, the upper often more or
less villous, the margins obscurely scabrous, sometimes ciliate near the base;
inflorescence long and narrow, the slender, relatively short branches closely
appressed, bearing numerous solitary racemes 1 cm. long, partly enclosed in small
28 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
reddish or purplish spathes; spikelets green, 3 mm. long, awnless, the pedicellate
as large as the sessile one; first glume scabrous on the keels.
Andropogon virginicus L. Sp. PL 1046. 1753. Cinna lateralis
Walt. Fl. Carol. 59. 1788. Andropogon dissitiflorus Michx. Fl. Bor.
Amer. 1: 57. 1803. Anatherum virginicum Spreng. PI. Pugill. 2:
16. 1815. Andropogon vaginatus Ell. Bot. S. C. and Ga. 1: 148. 1816.
A. tetrastachyus Ell. Bot. S. C. and Ga. 1: 150. pi. 8, f. 4- 1816.
A. eriophorus Scheele, Flora 27 : 51. 1844. A. louisianae Steud. Syn. PI.
Glum. 383. 1854. A. curtisianus Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 390. 1854.
Sorghum virginicum Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 2: 792. 1891. Figure 3.
Pine woods; Jalapa; Quezaltenango; Huehuetenango. British
Honduras; southern United States; the West Indies; Mexico (Vera-
cruz); Costa Rica; Panama.
Densely tufted perennial; culms erect, 1-1.5 meters high, glabrous; lower
leaves crowded in a dense basal cluster, the sheaths flattened, keeled, glabrous, or
somewhat hirsute at the summit, the blades elongate, 2-4 mm. wide, the upper
surface scabrous, more or less villous toward the base; culm sheaths much shorter
than the internodes; ligule about 0.5 mm. long, minutely ciliate; flowering branches
from the middle and upper nodes forming a loose inflorescence nearly half the
length of the culms; racemes paired, slender, flexuous, partly enclosed in the
broad conspicuous spathes, the rachis and sterile pedicels villous with long slender
white hairs; sessile spikelet 3-4 mm. long, bearing a straight slender awn 10-15
mm. long; first glume acuminate, scabrous on the keels near the summit.
ANTHEPHORA Schreb.
Spikelets 1-flowered, in groups of 4, the first glumes many-nerved, indurate,
thickened and united at the base, forming a false involucre around the spikelets,
the groups short-pedicellate, falling entire; second glume 5-nerved, narrowed to
a blunt tip; lemma ovate-acuminate, 3-nerved, firm but not indurate, the broad
flat margins curved around and enclosing the palea.
Weedy annuals, in our species, with flat blades and terminal spikelike racemes.
Species five, four in Africa and one in tropical America.
Anthephora hermaphrodita (L.) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PL 2:
759. 1891. Tripsacum hermaphrodita L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 2: 1261.
1759. Anthephora elegans Schreb. Beschr. Gras. 2: 105. pi. 44. 1810.
A. villosa Spreng. Neu. Entd. 3: 14. 1822. Cenchrus villosus Spreng.
Syst. Veg. 1: 301. 1825. Figure 4.
Open ground, roadsides, and waste places, sea level to about
2,000 meters; Izabal; Santa Rosa; Escuintla; Guatemala. British
Honduras; the West Indies; Mexico to Peru and Brazil. A common
weed in tropical America.
FIG. 3. Andropogon virginicus. Plant, X Yz', spikelet with rachis joint and
pedicel, X 5.
29
30
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
FIG. 4. Anthephora hermaphrodite, X
Annual; culms erect or decumbent at the base, branching, rooting at the
lower nodes, 15-50 cm. high; sheaths glabrous or papillose-hirsute near the summit;
ligule 2-3 mm. long, thin, brownish; blades 5-20 cm. long, 3-8 mm. wide, flat,
acuminate, scabrous; racemes 5-10 cm. long, erect; first glumes 5-7 mm. long,
broad, acute or acuminate, scabrous.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 31
ARISTIDA L.
Spikelets 1 -flowered, disarticulating above the glumes; glumes usually unequal,
1-nerved, or rarely 3-5-nerved, acuminate or awned; lemma indurate at maturity,
terete, convolute around the palea, glabrous or scabrous toward the tip with a
sharp, entire or minutely bifid, bearded callus; awns 3, the lateral sometimes very
short or wanting, sometimes united at the base in a slender twisted column.
Densely tufted annuals or perennials with involute or narrow flat blades and
open or contracted, occasionally spikelike panicles.
Species probably about 200, in warmer parts of both hemispheres.
Lateral awns wanting or very much reduced.
Awn (column) twisted at base A. schiedeana.
Awn not twisted.
Plants annual; culms freely branching; panicles narrow, the short branches
spikelet-bearing to the base; central awn curved or flexuous, the lateral
ones wanting A. jorullensis.
Plants perennial; culms simple; panicles open, diffuse, the long branches
naked below; central awn straight, the lateral ones present but very
much reduced A. ternipes.
Lateral awns well developed, nearly as long as the central one.
Plants annual.
Column twisted, as long as the lemma; awns about 5 mm. long. .A. capillacea.
Column wanting; awns 10-15 mm. long A. adscensionis.
Plants perennial.
Panicles open, the branches spreading or drooping, naked below.
Summit of lemma with a twisted neck A. laxa.
Summit of lemma not twisted.
Panicle branches drooping, loosely few-flowered at the ends.
A. longifolia.
Panicle branches stiffly spreading, rather densely flowered above the
middle A. hamulosa.
Panicles narrow, usually dense, the branches appressed or narrowly ascend-
ing.
Lemma narrowed above in a slender twisted column.
Column 3-5 cm. long; glumes long-awned A. implexa.
Column short, not more than 5 mm. long; glumes awnless.
Panicles dense, interrupted; lemma 3.5-4 mm. long, much shorter
than the glumes; awns loosely twisted below A. recurvata.
Panicles narrow but loose; lemma 8-12 mm. long, about as long as the
glumes; awns divergent, not twisted A. orizabensis.
Lemma not twisted above, 5-7 mm. long A. purpurascens.
Aristida adscensionis L. Sp. PI. 82. 1753. Chaetaria ascensionis
Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 30, 151, 158. 1812. Aristida bromoides H.B.K.
Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 122. 1815. A. coarctata H.B.K. Nov. Gen. &
32
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Sp. 1: 122. 1815. Chaetaria bromoides Roem. & Schult Syst Veg
2: 396. 1817. Figure 5.
Fields and dry open ground, up to 1,500 meters; Alta Verapaz;
El Progreso; Zacapa; Guatemala. Southwestern United States and
FIG. 5. Aristida adscensionis, X 1.
the West Indies to Chile and Argentina; warmer parts of the Old
World.
Annual; culms freely branching, erect or geniculate ascending, glabrous,
0-80 cm. tall; sheaths glabrous; blades as much as 10 cm. long, 2 mm. wide, flat
or often short and involute, scabrous above; panicles mostly 5-15 cm. long, dense
or often loose and drooping; glumes 1-nerved, the first 5-7 mm. long, obtuse or
subacute, the second 8-10 mm. long, acute or blunt; lemma 6-9 mm. long, sca-
brous on the keel above, the callus subobtuse, densely short-pilose; awns 10-15
mm. long, subequal, equally divergent, flat at the base, gradually narrowed to a
fine point.
Aristida capillacea Lam. Tabl. Encycl. 1: 156. 1791. A. elegans
Rudge, PI. Guian. 22. pi. 30. 1805. Chaetaria capillacea Beauv. Ess.
Agrost. 30, 158. pi. 8, f. 6. 1812. Aristida sanctae-luciae Trin. Gram.
Pan. 25. 1826. Chaetaria capillaris Nees, Agrost. Bras. 388. 1829.
Pine forests, about 1,500 meters; Chiquimula. British Honduras;
southern Mexico; Honduras; Costa Rica; Panama; Colombia to
Bolivia and Brazil.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 33
Delicate annual; culms 5-25 cm. high, erect, freely branching; blades 1-5
cm. long, less than 1 mm. wide, scabrous on the margins, often sparsely pilose
with long white hairs; panicles 2-8 cm. long, usually tinged with purple, the
capillary branches ascending or spreading, more or less flexuous, naked below,
not more than 2 cm. long; glumes narrow, acuminate, the first 2-2.5 mm. long, the
second 2.5-3 mm. long, sometimes subequal; lemma 2 mm. long, tapering into a
slender twisted column 1.5-2 mm. long; awns about 5 mm. long, divergent.
Aristida hamulosa Henr. Med. Rijks Herb. Leiden 54: 219.
1926.
Dry hills and scrub oak forests, 1,400-1,600 meters; Jalapa;
Guatemala. Southwestern United States; Mexico.
Perennial; culms rather slender, erect, 40-70 cm. or even as much as 1 meter
tall; sheaths glabrous or scaberulous, all longer than the internodes; blades as
much as 30 cm. long, less than 3 mm. wide, flat or becoming involute, glabrous
beneath, finely scabrous above; panicles commonly 25-40 cm. long, sometimes
three-fourths the height of the plant, the branches stiffly spreading, more or less
drooping, naked in the lower half, the lower ones as much as 20 cm. long; spikelets
appressed; glumes 12-15 mm. long, subequal, acuminate; lemma about 12 mm.
long, usually strongly scabrous, not twisted, the central awn 1.5-2.5 cm. long, the
lateral ones shorter, somewhat divergent.
Aristida implexa Trin. Me"m. Acad. St. P^tersb. VI. Sci. Nat.
2, no. 1:48. 1836.
Abundant in sandy pine uplands, San Augustin, Mountain Pine
Ridge, El Cayo District, British Honduras, Lundell 6904. El Sal-
vador; Brazil.
Perennial; culms caespitose, erect, as much as 1 meter high, glabrous; sheaths
glabrous, the lower ones crowded ; blades elongate, attenuate, flexuous, flat at the
base, 2-3 mm. wide, glabrous beneath, finely scabrous above, the lower ones
becoming curled with age; panicles dense, spikelike, 10-25 cm. long, the short
branches appressed; glumes subequal, about 1 cm. long, strongly scabrous, awned,
the awns 5-10 mm. long; lemma 5-6 mm. long, the twisted neck 3-5 cm. long, the
awns divergent, 2-4 cm. long.
Aristida j or u lien sis Kunth, Rev. Gram. 1: 62. 1829. Strep-
tachne pilosa H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 124. 1815. Not Aristida
pilosa Labill., 1824. Ortachne pilosa Nees, Seem. Bot. Voy. Herald
225. 1854. Aristida manzanilloana Vasey, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
1:282. 1893.
Deserts and rocky slopes at low altitudes; Zacapa; Jutiapa.
Mexico to Panama.
Erect annual in small tufts; culms 10-45 cm. high, rarely more, slender, freely
branching from all the nodes; blades mostly less than 10 cm. long, 1-2 mm. wide,
34 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
flat or becoming involute, tapering to a fine point, scabrous on the upper surface
and bearing scattered long white hairs; panicles 5-20 cm. long, finally long ex-
serted, the short, stiff, rather distant, ascending to spreading branches floriferous
to the base, bearing scattered long fine hairs; glumes narrow, acuminate, subequal,
5-7 mm. long, glabrous; lemma gradually narrowed into a curved or flexuous
awn, the lemma and awn together 15-35 mm. long, the division indistinct, the
lateral awns wanting.
Aristida laxa Cav. Icon. PI. 5: 44. pi. J+70, f. i. 1799. A. spadicea
H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 123. 1815. Chaetaria spadicea Roem. &
Schult. Syst. Veg. 2: 397. 1817. Aristida lagascae Henr. Med. Rijks
Herb. Leiden 54: 281. 1927.
This species has been credited to British Honduras by A. S.
Hitchcock (Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 24: 601. 1930) but no specimen
has been observed by the author. Mexico; Honduras; Nicaragua;
Colombia; Ecuador.
Resembling A. hamulosa, but the panicles larger with long drooping branches,
and the summit of the lemma with a twisted neck 3-5 mm. long.
Aristida longifolia Trin. Me"m. Acad. St. Pe"tersb. VI. Math.
Phys. Nat. 1:84. 1830.
Wet sand at edge of stream; Rio On, Mountain Pine Ridge, El
Cayo District, British Honduras, Lundell 6801. Northeastern
Brazil.
Perennial; culms tufted, about 60 cm. high, erect; sheaths compressed, gla-
brous, the lower ones crowded; blades elongate, 2-3 mm. wide, attenuate, firm,
strongly nerved, glabrous beneath, scabrous and sometimes sparsely pilose above;
panicle more than half the length of the culm, the distant branches ascending or
spreading, bearing a few appressed spikelets toward the ends; glumes 10-12 mm.
long, acuminate, subequal or the second a little longer than the first; lemma about
10 mm. long, the central awn 2-3 cm. long, the lateral half to two-thirds as long,
suberect, scabrous.
Aristida orizabensis Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 78. 1886. A. pseudo-
spadicea Hubb. Proc. Amer. Acad. 49: 500. 1913. A. orizabensis
var. pseudospadicea Henr. Med. Rijks Herb. Leiden 54B: 473. 1928.
Oak and pine forests, brushy rocky slopes, and dry places,
850-2,200 meters; Jalapa; Jutiapa; Guatemala; Chimaltenango;
Huehuetenango. British Honduras; Mexico; El Salvador; Hon-
duras; Costa Rica; Panama.
Perennial; culms slender, 50 cm. to more than 1 meter high, smaller in de-
pauperate plants, glabrous; blades 10-30 cm. long, 1-3 mm. wide, scabrous on the
upper surface, flat at the base, becoming involute pointed, the older ones at the base
of the plant finally flattened and coiled; panicles 15-30 cm. long, the branches
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 35
distant, the upper ones appressed, the lower ones often spreading, somewhat
flexuous, usually less than 8 cm. long; spikelets appressed to the branches; glumes
8-10 mm. long, narrow, acuminate, awn-pointed, the second a little longer than
the first; lemma 8-12 mm. long with a slender twisted beak about 3 mm. long;
awns 1-2.5 cm. long, about equally divergent, the central a little longer than the
lateral ones.
Aristida purpurascens Poir. in Lam. Encycl. Suppl. 1: 452.
1810. Chaetaria purpurascens Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 30, 152, 158.
1812.
Common in sandy pinelands, British Honduras. Not known
from Guatemala. Southeastern United States.
Perennial; culms mostly 40-70 cm. high, erect, the base slender and rather
weak; sheaths somewhat compressed, glabrous or nearly so, especially the lower
ones overlapping; blades usually 10-20 cm. long, less than 2 mm. wide, flat, more
or less flexuous, scabrous above with a few hairs toward the base; panicles narrow,
rather lax, as much as half the length of the culm, the branches appressed, usually
1-2 cm. long; glumes subequal, 5-8 mm. long, rarely longer, usually mucronate;
lemma 5-7 mm. long, the body glabrous, the callus slightly pubescent; awns
equal or the central a little longer, 1.5-2.5 cm. long, equally divergent, horizontally
spreading or somewhat reflexed, more or less contorted toward the base.
Aristida recurvata H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 123. 1815.
Chaetaria recurvata Roem. & Schult. Syst. Veg. 2: 397. 1817. Aristida
neesiana Trin. & Rupr. M&n. Acad. St. Pe"tersb. VI. Sci. Nat. 5
(1): 113. 1842. A. riedeliana Trin. & Rupr. Mem. Acad. St. Pdtersb.
VI. Sci. Nat. 5(1): 114. 1842.
Along Rio Privacion, Mountain Pine Ridge, El Cayo District,
British Honduras. Not known from Guatemala. Panama; Colom-
bia; Venezuela; British Guiana; Peru; Brazil.
Densely tufted perennial with numerous old blades flattened and coiled at
the base of the plants; culms 60-100 cm. high, relatively slender, glabrous, or
scabrous below the panicle; sheaths longer than the internodes, glabrous; blades
15-30 cm. long, 1-3 mm. wide, tapering to a long involute point, glabrous beneath,
scaberulous above, with thickened scabrous margins; panicles 10-30 cm. long,
narrow, dense, somewhat interrupted, the branches ascending or appressed, re-
branching from near the base, the branchlets appressed and dense, giving the
panicle a lobed appearance, the lower internodes as much as 3 cm. long, the upper
ones gradually shortened; glumes 8-10 mm. long, narrow, acuminate or awn-
pointed, the first very scabrous; lemma 3.5-4 mm. long, glabrous, the slender
slightly twisted column 2-3 mm. long, the callus blunt, densely pubescent, about
0.4 mm. long; awns 10-12 mm. rarely 15 mm. long, the central slightly longer
than the lateral ones, all loosely twisted together at the base, divergent.
Aristida schiedeana Trin. & Rupr. Me"m. Acad. St. Pe"tersb.
VI. Sci. Nat. 5 (1): 120. 1842.
36
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Grassy or brushy slopes, pine and pine-oak forests, sometimes
in cultivated ground, 1,000-2,000 meters; Zacapa; Jalapa; Guate-
mala; Sacatepe"quez; Huehuetenango. Mexico.
Culms tufted, erect, 30-80 cm. high, several-noded ; sheaths much longer than
the internodes, glabrous, or rather conspicuously villous on the collar; blades
firm, elongate, attenuate, as much as 3 mm. wide, the lower ones becoming curled
with age; panicles open, as much as 30 cm. long, the branches solitary or in pairs,
distant, spreading, naked at the base; glumes subequal, 8-10 mm. or as much
as 15 mm. long; lemma narrowed into a slender twisted column, 10-15 mm. long
including the column; central awn 5-10 mm. long, divergent, the lateral ones
minute or obsolete.
FIG. 6. Aristida ternipes, X 1.
Aristida ternipes Cav. Icon. PI. 5: 46. 1799. Streptachne
scabra H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1 : 124. pi. 40. 1815. S. tennis H.B.K.
Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 124. 1815. Aristida scabra Kunth, Rev. Gram.
1: 62. 1829. Ortachne scabra Fourn. Bull. Soc. Bot. France 27: 295.
1880. Figure 6.
Hills, thickets, and brushy fields, up to 1,200 meters; Zacapa;
Jutiapa; Santa Rosa; Guatemala. British Honduras; southwestern
United States to Colombia; Cuba; Bahamas.
Perennial; culms in small tufts, erect, 50-150 cm. high; blades flat, elongate,
flexuous, involute toward the tip, tapering into a fine point; panicles large, diffuse,
drooping, one-third to one-half the length of the culm, the branches relatively
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA
37
stout, scabrous, naked below; spikelets appressed toward the ends of the branches;
glumes 8-10 mm. long; lemma 15-18 mm. long, including the flattened and
tapering summit, scabrous on the keel, the central awn subterete, straight or
arcuate, 10-15 mm. long, the lateral awns usually less than 1 mm. long.
ARTHRAXON Beauv.
Perfect spikelets sessile, the secondary spikelet and its pedicel wanting or
rarely present at the lower joints of the articulate rachis; fertile lemma entire or
minutely bidentate, awned from the back above the base.
Slender annuals with cordate blades and few paniculate racemes.
Species about 20, in the tropics of the Old World; introduced in
America.
FIG. 7. Arthraxon quartinianus, X
38 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Arthraxon quart inianus (A. Rich.) Nash, N. Amer. Fl. 17:
99. 1912. Arthraxon ciliaris subsp. quartinianus Hack, in D.C.
Monog. Phan. 6: 356. 1889. Figure 7.
Moist thickets and banks, Huehuetenango ; Quezaltenango.
Mexico (Chiapas). West Indies. Introduced from the tropics of
the Old World.
Annual; culms very slender, creeping, freely branching; sheaths much shorter
than the internodes, papillose or papillose-pilose especially toward the summit;
blades ovate, subcordate, 1-4 cm. long, 4-12 mm. wide, sparsely hispid with long
hairs; racemes 1-3 on very slender peduncles, mostly 1-2 cm. long; spikelets
3 mm. long, pale or usually purplish, acute, hispid near the tip, the awn 3-5 mm.
long.
f-
ARTHROSTYLIDIUM Rupr.
Caespitose, unarmed bamboos with determinate rhizomes and erect or climb-
ing, often apically pendulous culms; the branches either numerous, slender and
subequal or few and very unequal, the central one at each node then strongly
dominant and flanked by one to several pairs of progressively shorter and more
slender ones; the culm sheaths sooner or later deciduous in most species; leaf
blades typically without conspicuous transverse veins. Inflorescences spicate,
racemose or paniculate, the spikelets several-many-flowered, usually readily
disarticulating when mature; empty glumes 1-several; lodicules typically 3;
stamens 3; style 1, sometimes divided almost to the base, stigmas usually 2;
fruit a caryopsis.
About 35 species have been named; all are native to tropical
America. As a rule, they are of no great economic importance.
Three clearly distinct species have been found in Guatemala.
Branches few at each culm node, unequal; spikelets distant A. excelsum.
Branches numerous at each culm node, slender, subequal; spikelets approximate.
Spikelets conspicuously flattened, not crowded, lemma tightly amplectant,
mucronate A. bartlettii.
Spikelets not conspicuously flattened, somewhat crowded, lemmas loosely
amplectant, aristate A. pittieri.
Arthrostylidium bartlettii McClure, Phytologia 5: 81-82.
1954.
Known only from the type (Bartlett 12154) from the "jungle near
a dry arroyo at Uaxactun," and one other collection from the
vicinity of La Libertad, Pete"n. The recorded data are very meager.
Culms of unknown height, the upper internodes to 29 cm. X 3 mm., thin-
walled, glabrous; nodes scarcely inflated; culm sheaths deciduous (lacking in the
type); branches numerous, very slender, subequal, rebranched with solitary twigs
at basal nodes and occasionally at the upper ones, 5-35 cm. long; leaf sheaths
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 39
very slender, compressed-keeled and with nerves salient below the insertion of
the petiole, puberulent here and there along the ciliate margins, otherwise glabrous
or nearly so; auricles lacking; oral setae lacking, or few and weakly developed,
glabrous; petiole collar only slightly flared, the margin arcuate, entire; ligule
short, not exceeding 1 mm., the apex usually convex, the margin ciliolate; petiole
very short (2-3 mm.), slender, scabrous on the upper surface, glabrous or nearly
so on the lower surface, dark brown and very brittle when dry; leaf blades 20-120
X 2-9 mm., lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, acute, rounded at the base, pli-
catulate, scabrous throughout on the upper surface, lightly glaucous except along
one edge on the lower surface, hirsute on one side at the base only, otherwise
glabrous or weakly asperous on the lower surface, the midrib and primary veins
scarcely discernible on the upper surface, weakly so on the lower surface.
Inflorescences subspicate racemes terminating leafy or leafless branches of
first or second order, exserted 5-16 cm., the main axis glabrous; spikelets some-
what flattened, 15-20 mm. long, subsessile, the pedicels about 1 mm. long, ap-
pressed, about 10 mm. apart on the rachis; empty glumes 2 or 3, glabrous, keeled,
mucronate or more commonly scabro-aristate, I: narrowly triangular, 2.5-3 mm.
long, 1-3 nerved, II: triangular, acute, 3-5 mm. long, 3-5 nerved, III: lanceolate,
acute, 5-6 mm. long, 5-7 nerved; florets 1.5-3.5, somewhat flattened and slightly
divergent, the lowest one sometimes incomplete, the uppermost always tabescent;
rachilla segments one-half to two-thirds as long as the palea, slender, abruptly
flared at the cupulate apex, glabrous (the uppermost one scabrous) below, the
cupule white-strigose with ciliolate margin; lemmas thin, pale, stramineous, about
5-9-nerved, lanceolate, acute, scabro-mucronate, ciliolate along the margins above,
otherwise glabrous, I: about 6 mm. long, sometimes sterile, II and III: 8-10 mm.
long; palea generally exserted 1-3 mm., commonly tinted with wine, ciliate at the
apex and on the keels near the apex, otherwise glabrous; lodicules 3, similar,
about 1 mm. long, lanceolate, acute, hyaline, with inconspicuous nerves, sparsely
ciliolate at the apex; anthers greenish yellow, about 5 mm. long; ovary slender
subfusiform, glabrous, pale brown, about 1.5 mm. long, passing above into a
white, glabrous style crowned by 2 plumose stigmas. Fruit not seen.
Arthrostylidium excelsum Griseb., Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 529.
1864.
Plant of dense, wet forests at elevations of 1,500-1,600 meters;
Alta Verapaz; Zacapa. Dominican Republic (whence the type).
"Small, slender vine" (Standley), "shrubby" (Steyermark). Culms (not
present in the type; described from Steyermark 42626) forming caespitose clumps,
slender, to 2.5 mm. in diameter at the base, stiff, the internodes glabrous, shining
(III: up to 93 mm. X 2 mm.); nodes slightly swollen, all gemmiferous. Culm
sheaths apparently more or less persistent (represented in Steyermark 42626 by
decaying fragments). Branches solitary or the principal one flanked by usually
two smaller ones, the principal one to 45 cm. long, appressed to ascending, the
internodes elongate (to 12 cm. X 1-1.5 mm.), glabrous, glossy, the nodes some-
what inflated. Leaf sheaths lightly compressed-keeled, salient-nerved, glabrous
or nearly so dorsally and on the margins; auricles lacking; oral setae few to several,
approximate, parallel, antrorse-erect throughout or the tips bent back, glabrous,
persistent, at first chestnut brown gradually fading to stramineous; petiole collar
40 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
only slightly flared, the apex straight to faintly emarginate, the margin entire
or nearly so; leaf blades 7.5 cm. X 11 mm. to 15 cm. X 23 mm., lanceolate to
linear-lanceolate, acuminate, often apiculate, rounded to cuneate-rounded at the
base, white strigose at the base and above this antrorse-scabrous near the outer
margin on the upper surface, microscopically papillose between the nerves on the
lower surface, otherwise glabrous or nearly so on both surfaces, sometimes antrorse-
scabrous on the lower surface near the apex, often plicatulate, the midrib and
nerves inconspicuous on both surfaces.
Inflorescence a slender raceme terminal to leafy branches or leafless, appressed
twigs, exserted 15-20 cm., the stiff, sulcate axis nearly straight throughout or
zigzag above (geniculate at the point of insertion of each of the penultimate 2-3
pedicels), entirely glabrous; spikelets distant, subsessile, appressed or divaricate,
flattened, somewhat lax; pedicels about 1 mm. long, appressed, glabrous, 10-25
mm. apart; empty glumes usually 3, stramineous, glabrous, few-nerved, mu-
cronate or submucronate, I: about 4 mm., II: about 5 mm., Ill: about 6 mm. long;
rachilla segments strongly compressed, sulcate-striate when dry, flaring to the
cupulate apex, obscurely ciliolate on the margin of the cupule, otherwise glabrous,
the lower ones two-fifths, the upper ones two-thirds as long as the lemma; florets
usually 5-6, the uppermost tabescent; lemmas 8-10 mm. long, nerve-keeled toward
the acute, submucronate tip, with a strong tendency to roll inward along the
margins, greenish stramineous often touched with wine, and showing about 11
colorless veins, glabrous or obscurely strigose throughout, or more commonly
coarsely so only along the margins near the base on the outside, white sericeous
toward the apex on the inner surface; palea not at all or only slightly exserted, the
keels ciliolate toward the truncate, densely ciliate apex, sometimes sparsely
sericeous toward the apex between the keels, otherwise glabrous throughout,
weakly veined, the margins thick and gaping below, membranaceous and slightly
overlapped above; lodicules 2 and subequal or 3 and very unequal, 1.5-2 mm. long,
narrowly triangular to lanceolate to oblong, acute to acuminate to abruptly
acuminate, thickish and soft, brown, opaque, minutely ciliolate on the margins,
otherwise glabrous; anthers not seen; ovary 1 mm. long, linear, glabrous, crowned
by a slender, white, glabrous style about 1 mm. long, divided at the top into two
irregularly branched stigmas; fruit not seen.
Arthrostylidium pittieri Hack. Oesterr. Bot. Zeitschr. 53: 75.
1903.
Plant with apparent preference for shade and moist atmosphere,
found in forests, in deep ravines and on wet cliffs; Santa Rosa;
Jalapa. Costa Rica (whence the type) and Panama.
The following description is based on specimens from Guatemala
matched with material from the type collection.
Densely caespitose plant with apically scandent culms 5-8 meters tall and
1-2 cm. in diameter, the internodes elongate, thin-walled, glabrous, not sulcate
above the insertion of the branches, the nodes not inflated; culm sheaths deciduous,
unknown; branches very numerous, all slender, up to 50 cm. long, rebranched
with usually solitary twigs at basal and (more rarely) other nodes; leaf sheaths
short, narrow, with somewhat salient veins, ciliolate on the margins, otherwise
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 41
glabrous, or roughish between the veins; auricles not at all developed; oral setae
absent or few; petiole collar scarcely flared, the apex straight, the margin glabrous;
ligule up to 1.5 mm. long, broadly convex at the apex, sparsely ciliolate on the
margin, dorsally glabrous; petiole 2-3 mm. long, glabrous on both surfaces, very
brittle when dry; leaf blade up to 120 X 18 mm., lanceolate, acute above, broadly
rounded to cuneate at the base, midrib salient at the base, otherwise scarcely
distinguishable from the very obscure secondary veins; inflorescences mostly
secund, spicate racemes, terminal to leafy or (rarely) leafless branches, exserted
6-15 cm., the axis slender, glabrous; pedicels about 1 mm. long, inserted about
5 mm. apart, appressed; spikelets pale stramineous, imbricate, usually bearing 2
or 3 functional florets, the terminal floret tabescent; rachilla segments often tardily
disarticulating; empty glumes 3 or 2, glabrous, I (sometimes lacking): subulate,
2-3 mm. long, 1-nerved, II: 4-5 mm. long, ovate-acuminate, 3-5-nerved, mu-
cronate or aristate, III: 5-8 mm. long, keeled ovate-lanceolate, or aristate, 5-7-
nerved; lemmas lanceolate, acuminate, aristate, 10-15 mm. long, 5-7-nerved,
glabrous or nearly so on the back, the margins conspicuously ciliate below the
scabrous awn; paleas exserted, ciliate on the keels near the apex; lodicules 2;
stamens not seen; ovary linear, about 1 mm. long, glabrous; style 1, stigmas 3;
mature fruit unknown.
The mature culms of a bamboo of this genus called "carrizo" are
used in the vicinity of Lake Atitlan for finishing the walls and par-
titions of peasant homes. The whole, unsplit culms are fastened in
close order to the horizontal members of the frame by means of bark
lashings. Within the household, the long hollow internodes are
used to make flutes, and fire-blowing tubes (fuquneras), a simple
substitute for the bellows, useful in starting or reviving fires.
ARUNDINARIA Michx.
Dumetose bamboos with indeterminate, cylindrical rhizomes and erect culms,
the culm sheaths persistent or deciduous, the branches solitary or, when fascicled,
the central one at each node strongly dominant and flanked by one or more pairs
of progressively shorter and more slender ones, the leaf blades with conspicuously
and regularly tessellate venation. Inflorescences racemose or paniculate, the spike-
lets several- to many-flowered; lodicules 3; stamens 3; style solitary, the stigmas
usually 3; fruit a caryopsis.
Probably upward of one hundred species, found principally in
southeastern Asia and adjacent islands, Japan to Madagascar, have
been assigned to this genus. Two of doubtful generic affinity have
been described from Africa. The greatest concentration of species of
Arundinaria is found in Japan, where apparently a good deal of
natural hybridization has taken place. Two species, including the
type of the genus, and several varieties, have been described from
southeastern United States. The bamboos native of the Western
Hemisphere outside of the United States that have been placed in
this genus apparently belong elsewhere.
Tab. VI.
FIG. 8. Arundinaria simonii (Carr.) A. and C. Riv. A, portion of culm,
bearing persistent sheath from which the blade has fallen away, X K; B, mid-culm
branch complement, X K; C, upper-culm branch complement with leaves, X K;
D, junction of leaf sheath and petiole of leaf blade, showing ligule and oral setae,
X 2.5; E, portion of inflorescence, X K; F, floret, with two segments of the
rachilla, X IK; G, Gl, lower empty glume, X IK; H, HI, upper empty glume,
X IK; I, II, lemma, X IK; K, Kl, K2, KB, palea, X IK; L, LI, lodicules, X 3;
M, Ml, stamen, X 3; N, pistil, X 3. From Nakai, Flora Sylvatica Koreana,
Part xx, pi vi. 1933.
42
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 43
The genus is represented in Guatemala by two introduced species.
Branches solitary or nearly so; auricles and oral setae well developed on both culm
sheaths and leaf sheaths, the oral setae dark, scabrous; leaf blades broad.
A. longiaurita.
Branches fascicled; auricles and oral setae lacking entirely on culm sheaths, oral
setae lacking or weakly developed on leaf sheaths, pale, glabrous; leaf blades
narrow A. simonii.
Arundinaria longiaurita Hand.-Mzt. Symb. Sin. 7 (5): 1271.
1936. Indocalamus longiauritus Hand.-Mzt. Anz. Akad. Wiss. Math.
Naturw. (Wien) 62: 254. 1926.
A Chinese species introduced into the Western Hemisphere by
the United States Department of Agriculture. Plants from this
source were introduced into Guatemala by Dr. Wilson Popenoe and
established at Sr. Pedro Cofino's plantation, Finca Pintado (elev.
about 1,547 meters), near Antigua, Suchitepe"quez. The following
description is based on the plant as it was found growing at Finca
Pintado, in May, 1948 (McClure no. 21655).
A small bamboo, with slender, wide-ranging rhizomes, and stiff culms up to
about 1 meter tall and 3-6 mm. in diameter; internodes up to 15 cm. long, thick-
walled, pale fawn velutinous for some distance below the nodes, gradually gla-
brescent; nodes flaring abruptly at the sheath scar and appreciably inflated above it,
particularly when geniculate. Culm sheaths persistent, striate with salient nerves,
glabrous on the back, prominently ciliate on the upper margins; oral setae strongly
developed, delicate, fugaceous, long, slender, falcate, bearing numerous long,
spreading, dark, scabrous, oral setae; ligule very short, long-fimbriate on the margin
with coarse, scabrous bristles; sheath blades lanceolate, appressed to the culm at
first, later usually more or less strongly reflexed, salient- veined, glabrous or nearly
so on both surfaces, usually abscissile at length. Branches short, appressed,
mostly solitary, sometimes once-branched at the basal and other nodes. Leaf
sheaths coarse, closely imbricate, salient- veined, glabrous or fawn velutinous on
the back, ciliate on the outer margin, fringed at the base with a dense band of
spreading brown hairs, furnished on one or each shoulder with a long, delicate,
falcate, spreading, fugacious, setiferous auricle or furnished on one shoulder with
numerous strong, appressed scabrous bristles alone instead of an auricle; petiole
collar up to about 1 mm. long, thin, densely ciliolate along the irregular margin;
ligule very short, not exserted, fringed on the margin with numerous, close-set
cilia; petiole long, thick, glabrous or glabrescent; leaf blades lanceolate or oblong-
lanceolate, acuminate above, broadly or cuneately rounded at the base, glabrous
or nearly so on both surfaces, midrib and primary veins salient on the lower
surface, often more or less depressed on the upper surface.
In its native habitat, this bamboo produces culms up to 4 meters
tall and 15 mm. in diameter, with very long, straight, thick- walled
internodes which find many uses locally. The leaves of such plants
are very large (up to 30 or 35 cm. long and 7 or 8 cm. broad) and are
44 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
much used locally for lining (rain-proofing) bamboo hats and the
awning of boats.
Arundinaria simonii (Carr.) A. & C. Riv. Bull. Soc. Acclim.
Ill: 5: 774. 1878. Pleioblastus simoni (Carr.) Nakai, Jour. Arn.
Arb. 6: 147. 1925. Figure 8.
A Japanese bamboo introduced into Europe nearly a hundred
years ago, and from that source it reached the Western Hemisphere
through the agency of the United States Department of Agriculture,
which sent plants to the Institute Agropecuario Nacional for trial
in Guatemala. The plants were established at Labor Ovalle, Que-
zaltenango, but have been hindered in their development by the
severity of the dry seasons in that area. The species is variable in
stature, and horizontal forms with narrower leaves, often striped with
white, and with reduced stature occur. This bamboo, in its various
forms, is generally considered solely as an ornamental, but the larger
form produces culms that have been used as fishing poles, and for
making the handles of shuffle-board sticks (in Florida). They make
satisfactory garden stakes, though for this purpose they do not last
well.
The following description is based in part on that of the Rivieres
(op. cit.) :
A dumetose bamboo with slowly spreading, slender rhizomes and stiffly upright
culms reaching a height of 6 to 8 meters and a diameter of 2 cm.; internodes
glabrous, shining, with fine, faintly salient ridges, reaching a midculm length of
40 to 45 cm., hollow, the lumen lined with a white pith; the nodes somewhat
inflated. Culm sheaths persistent, striate with salient veins, glabrous on the back,
ciliate on the margins; auricles and oral setae usually lacking entirely; ligule
truncate, up to 3 or 4 mm. long, ciliolate on the margin; sheath blade linear-
lanceolate, arch-reflexed, glabrous or nearly so on both surfaces. Branches short,
fasciculate, appressed at the base, then spreading, usually suppressed in the lower
part of the culm in large plants. Leaf sheaths slender, strongly imbricate, lightly
striate with salient veins, glabrous; auricles only slightly or not at all developed;
oral setae few, small, pale, glabrous; ligule well developed, truncate or slightly
convex at the apex, glabrous or minutely ciliolate on the margin; petiole slender,
glabrous; leaf blade linear-lanceolate, acuminate, cuneate at the base, glabrous
on the upper surface, lightly glaucous and glabrous or nearly so on the lower
surface, the midrib and primary veins salient on the lower surface, scarcely so on
the upper surface.
ARUNDINELLA Raddi
Spikelets short-pediceled in rather dense contracted panicles; glumes acu-
minate, the first 3-5-nerved, the second 5-nerved, much longer than the first; sterile
lemma acute, 3-5-nerved, a little shorter to a little longer than the first glume,
containing a well developed palea; fertile floret much shorter than the sterile
lemma, with a short bearded callus and a terminal geniculate awn.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 45
Slender to coarse perennials with narrow blades and small to larger contracted
panicles.
Species about 45, in the tropics of Asia and America.
Awns 2-5 mm. long, tightly twisted below the bend A. confinis.
Awns 8-12 mm. long, not twisted.
Culms coarse, 1-2.5 meters high; sheaths densely papillose-hispid.
A. deppeana.
Culms slender, 30-60 cm. high; sheaths glabrous A. berteroniana.
Arundinella berteroniana (Schult.) Hitchc. & Chase, Contr.
U. S. Nat. Herb. 18: 290. 1917. Trichochloa berteroniana Schult.
Mant. 2: 209. 1824. Arundinella peruviana Steud. Syn. PI. Glum.
1: 115. 1854. A. cubensis Griseb. Mem. Amer. Acad. (n. s.) 8:
533. 1862.
Damp thickets, open banks, among rocks along streams, up to
1,500 meters; Alta Verapaz; Chiquimula; Jalapa; Quezaltenango;
Retalhuleu; San Marcos. British Honduras; West Indies; Mexico
to Brazil.
Slender perennial; culms densely tufted, erect, 30-60 cm. or sometimes as much
as 1 meter high, glabrous, the nodes appressed-pubescent; sheaths glabrous, sparsely
hispid in the throat and on the collar, the margins glabrous or ciliate; ligule ciliate,
very short; blades commonly 10-20 cm. long, 2-5 mm. wide, flat or sometimes
involute, papillose or papillose-hispid; panicles 10-30 cm. long, rather lax, the
ascending branches not densely flowered, floriferous to the base; spikelets 4-5 mm.
long, the slender awn of the fertile floret 8-12 mm. long, not twisted below, genic-
ulate, the terminal portion spreading or reflexed.
Arundinella confinis (Schult.) Hitchc. & Chase, Contr. U. S.
Nat. Herb. 18: 290. 1917. Piptatherum confine Schult. Mant. 2:
184. 1824. Arundinella martinicensis Trin. Gram. Pan. 62. 1826.
A. pallida Nees, Agrost. Bras. 465. 1829. Figure 9.
Prairies and dry slopes at low altitudes; Izabal; Jutiapa. Mex-
ico; Costa Rica; Panama; West Indies.
Perennial; culms erect, relatively slender, up to 2.5 meters high; sheaths
papillose-hispid, papillose only, or glabrate; blades linear, attenuate, flat, com-
monly 5-10 mm. wide, scabrous; panicles 20-40 cm. long, densely flowered,
sometimes interrupted below, the branches narrowly ascending or appressed;
spikelets 4.5-5 mm. long, the awn of the fertile floret commonly 5 mm. long, the
lower twisted portion about 2 mm. long, distinctly longer than the sterile lemma.
Arundinella deppeana Nees in Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 115.
1854. A. phragmitoides Griseb. Cat. PL Cuba 234. 1866. Cola de
venado (Quezaltenango).
FIG. 9. Arundinella confinis. Panicle, X /1>; spikelet and floret, X 10.
46
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 47
Pine forests, brushy slopes, moist thickets, clay hills, and gra-
velly banks, up to 1,300 meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Jalapa;
Santa Rosa; Guatemala; Retalhuleu; Quezaltenango; San Marcos.
British Honduras; West Indies; Mexico to Brazil.
Coarse perennial; culms erect, 1-2.5 meters high, glabrous; sheaths all much
longer than the internodes, rather firm but loose, densely papillose-hispid with
appressed hairs, especially toward the summit; ligule membranaceous, about 0.5
mm. long; blades elongate, attenuate, flat, scabrous and sparsely to densely
papillose-hispid; panicles 25-70 cm. long, dense, somewhat interrupted below, the
slender straight or commonly flexuous branches in dense closely overlapping
fascicles, some naked at the base, the lower ones 10-15 cm. or rarely as much as
25 cm. long; spikelets 4-5 mm. long, appressed; glumes acuminate, the first
3-nerved, the second much longer than the first, 5-nerved; sterile lemma acute;
awn of fertile floret about 1 cm. long, geniculate, not twisted, slender and flexuous
above the bend.
AVENA L.
Spikelets 2- or 3-flowered, the rachilla bearded, disarticulating above the
glumes and between the florets; glumes about equal, 7- to 9-nerved, longer than
the lower floret; lemmas indurate, 5-9-nerved, bidentate, bearing a dorsal, genic-
ulate, twisted awn.
Annuals with rather broad, flat blades and open panicles of large spikelets.
Species about 10, all in the Old World ; introduced in America.
Avena fatua L. Sp. PI. 80. 1753.
In wheat field, Volcan Zunil, Quezaltenango. Introduced from
Europe.
Culms erect, 30 cm. to more than 1 meter high, slender to rather coarse,
smooth and shining; sheaths smooth, usually shorter than the internodes; blades
flat, linear, 4-15 mm. wide, scabrous; panicles 15-30 cm. long, loose, the branches
ascending or spreading, more or less flexuous; spikelets 3-flowered on slender
curved peduncles; glumes about 2.5 cm. long; lemmas 2 cm. long, the lower part
covered with long, stiff, brownish or whitish hairs, the teeth acuminate; awn 3-4
cm. long, geniculate, twisted below.
AXONOPUS Beauv.
Spikelets solitary, sessile in two rows on one side of the 3-angled rachis, the
back of the fruit turned from the rachis; first glume wanting; second glume and
sterile lemma equal, often pointed beyond the fruit; fertile lemma and palea
indurate, the lemma oblong-elliptic, the margins slightly inrolled.
Caespitose or stoloniferous perennials with flat or folded, rounded or pointed
blades, and few to several slender racemes, digitate or racemose on the common
axis.
48 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Species about 80; tropical and subtropical America.
Rachis conspicuously hispid with stiffly spreading golden yellow hairs. .A. aureus.
Rachis glabrous or scabrous.
Plants stoloniferous.
Spikelets 2-2.5 mm. long, the second glume and sterile lemma extending well
beyond the fruit; blades commonly 8-10 mm. wide A. compressus.
Spikelets 2 mm. long, the second glume and sterile lemma only slightly
pointed beyond the fruit; blades commonly 2-4 mm. wide, rarely as
much as 5-6 mm. wide A. affinis.
Plants not stoloniferous.
Second glume and sterile lemma much longer than the fruit; blades lax, 6-10
mm. wide. Sheaths strongly compressed, glabrous A. centralis.
Second glume and sterile lemma scarcely exceeding the fruit.
Spikelets 3.6-4.2 mm. long A. elongatus.
Spikelets not more than 3 mm. long.
Plants with usually well-developed scaly rhizomes.
Spikelets 2-2.3 mm. long; fruit dark brown A. ciliatifolius.
Spikelets 2.5-3 mm. long; fruit pale A. rhizomatosus.
Plants caespitose, without rhizomes.
Spikelets not more than 2 mm. long A. purpusii.
Spikelets 3 mm. long.
Spikelets glabrous or nearly so; nodes appressed pubescent.
A. poiophyllus.
Spikelets densely hairy on the margins; nodes conspicuously bearded.
Sheaths and blades rather densely papillose-pilose. . .A. blakei.
Axonopus affinis Chase, Jour. Washington Acad. Sci. 28: 180.
/. 2. 1938.
Moist banks, thickets, swamps, and open ground, sea level to
1,500 meters; Alta Verapaz; Chiquimula. Southeastern United
States, Mexico and the West Indies to Argentina.
Similar in habit and aspect to A. compressus and formerly included with it;
blades narrower, often elongate; spikelets 2 mm. long; second glume and sterile
lemma about as long as the fruit, not pointed beyond it.
Axonopus aureus Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 12, 154. 1812. Paspalum
aureum H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 93. 1815. Axonopus pulcher
Kuhlm. Comm. Linhas Telegr. Estrat. Matto Grosso 67: 88. 1922.
Savannas and pine ridges, 1,200-1,400 meters; Chiquimula.
British Honduras (El Cayo, Belize, and Toledo Districts) to Brazil
and Bolivia; Puerto Rico; Trinidad.
Perennial; culms 35-90 cm. high, rarely more than 1 meter, erect, branching;
sheaths compressed, keeled, glabrous, the margins sometimes ciliate; ligule ciliate,
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 49
about 0.5 mm. long; blades 4-15 cm. long, 3-9 mm. wide, spreading, firm, flat or
drying involute toward the tip, glabrous, the margins scabrous, sometimes sparsely
ciliate toward the rounded base; racemes 2-15, slender, ascending, crowded on a
short hairy axis; rachis 0.4-0.7 mm. wide, conspicuously papillose-ciliate with
stiff golden yellow or brt>wn hairs, bearing below each spikelet a tuft of similar
hairs; spikelets 1.3 mm. long, glabrous or sparsely appressed-hispid.
Axonopus blakei Hitchc. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 40: 85.
1927.
Open grassy plains; Izabal (type from Cristina, Blake 7611).
Honduras.
Perennial; culms densely tufted, erect, about 60 cm. tall, the nodes densely
villous with ascending hairs; sheaths pilose, especially toward the summit; blades
flat, folded at the base, as much as 25 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide, papillose-pilose;
racemes 3-4, 7-12 cm. long, ascending, pubescent or pilose at the base; spikelets
3 mm. long, the second glume and sterile lemma densely pilose on the margins,
sparsely pilose or glabrous on the back, the hairs at the summit as much as 1 mm.
long.
Axonopus cen trails Chase, Jour. Washington Acad. Sci. 17:
143. 1927.
Damp brushy slope, 870 meters; Chiquimula. Honduras; El
Salvador; Nicaragua; Panama.
Perennial; culms in large clumps, 40-90 cm. high, erect to stiffly spreading,
simple, compressed, glabrous; sheaths keeled, usually pubescent on the margins
at least toward the summit and on the collar, otherwise glabrous; ligule short,
firm, fimbriate; blades 15-50 cm. long, 6-10 mm. wide, flat, or folded at the base,
sparsely pubescent on the upper surface, glabrous on the lower, the margins
ciliate toward the base; inflorescences terminal and axillary, finally long-exserted ;
racemes 2-6, 8-15 cm. long, ascending or spreading, the upper 2 or 3 approximate,
the lower remote, the rachis about 0.5 mm. wide, flexuous, minutely scabrous on
the margins; spikelets 3 mm. long, oblong, rather distant, the glume and sterile
lemma equal, extending beyond the fruit, silky pubescent on the internerves;
fruit 2 mm. long, oblong-elliptic, pale.
Axonopus ciliatifolius Swallen, Jour. Washington Acad. Sci.
23:458. 1933.
Known only from the type, collected at Mountain Pine Ridge,
El Cayo District, British Honduras, Bartlett 11746.
Culms densely tufted, erect from short scaly rhizomes, 50-70 cm. tall, with
terminal and axillary inflorescences; leaves mostly crowded toward the base, the
sheaths keeled, sparsely pubescent, the blades flat, 7-16 cm. long (or those on the
innovations sometimes longer), 1-2 mm. wide, pilose on both surfaces, the margins
papillose-ciliate, especially toward the base; ligule 0.1 mm. long; racemes 2-5,
racemose, ascending or appressed, 3-11.5 cm. long; spikelets 2-2.3 mm. long,
50 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
glabrous or sparsely pubescent, the second glume and sterile lemma subequal,
obtuse, scarcely covering the fruit; fruit dark brown, smooth and shining.
Axonopus compressus (Swartz) Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 12. 1812.
Milium compressum Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 24. 1788. Pas-
palum compressum Raspail, Ann. Sci. Nat. 5: 301. 1825. P. laticul-
mum Spreng. Syst. Veg. 1: 245. 1825. Anastrophus compressus
Schlecht. ex Doell in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2 (2): 102. 1877. Paspalum
raunkiaerii Mez, Repert. Sp. Nov. Fedde 15: 60. 1917. Figure 10.
Open ground, brushy hillsides, and along roads, usually in moist
places, sea level to more than 1,300 meters; Pete"n; Alta Verapaz;
Izabal; Huehuetenango; Quezaltenango; Escuintla; Suchitepe"quez.
British Honduras; southeastern United States and the West Indies
to Argentina; warmer parts of the Old World.
Stoloniferous perennial; culms in small tufts, 15-60 cm. high, compressed,
erect or ascending, the nodes appressed-pubescent or sometimes bearded; sheaths
keeled, glabrous, pubescent on the collar, the margins hyaline, glabrous or ciliate,
the lower ones relatively short, much longer than the internodes, the upper one
elongate; blades 5-15 cm. long, or those of the innovations elongate, 6-10 mm.
wide, rarely as little as 4 mm. or as much as 12 mm. wide, obtuse, rounded at the
base, glabrous, the margins usually ciliate at least toward the base; inflorescences
terminal and axillary from the upper sheaths, composed of 2-5 ascending or spread-
ing racemes, 3-9 cm. long, the upper two conjugate, the others a short distance
below; spikelets 2-2.5 mm. long (rarely 3 mm.); second glume and sterile lemma
pointed beyond the fruit, glabrous or sparsely pubescent on the internerves; fruit
1.5-2 mm. long, oblong, minutely roughened.
Axonopus elongatus Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29: 414.
1950.
Pine forests, 1,700-2,000 meters; Zacapa (Sierra de las Minas,
below Finca Alejandria, Steyermark 29781, type).
Perennial, probably with rhizomes; culms erect, about 1 meter tall, glabrous;
sheaths longer than the internodes, compressed, keeled, appressed pilose on the
margins toward the summit or nearly glabrous, the uppermost elongate, about
40 cm. long; ligule a ciliate membrane 0.5-1 mm. long; blades 23-24 cm. long,
3.5-4.5 mm. wide, flat, firm, scabrous at least on the margins, more or less papil-
lose-ciliate at the base; inflorescences terminal and axillary, long-exserted; racemes
2-6, 8-13 cm. long, stiffly ascending, the rachis 0.6 mm. wide, scabrous on the
margins; spikelets 3.6-4.2 mm. long, 1.2 mm. wide, the pedicels 0.5 mm. long;
second glume and sterile lemma equal, acute, exceeding the fruit, sparsely pilose
between the nerves or nearly glabrous, the midnerve of the glume rather prom-
inent; fruit 3.2 mm. long, subobtuse, pale, glabrous.
Axonopus poiophyllus Chase, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 24:
133. 1911. Anastrophus poiophyllus Nash, N. Amer. Fl. 17: 163.
1912.
FIG. 10. Axonopus compressiis. Plant, X 1 A; two views of spikelet, and
floret, X 10.
51
52 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Grassy hills and ravines, at low altitudes; Alta Verapaz (Secan-
quim, Cook & Doyle 58, type). Honduras.
Perennial; culms densely tufted, erect, as much as 80 cm. tall, the nodes ap-
pressed-pilose; basal sheaths crowded, pilose with appressed or spreading hairs,
those of the culm elongate, glabrous; blades elongate, flat, conduplicate at the
base, 2-7 mm. wide, glabrous, or more or less pilose at the base; inflorescence
long-exserted, of 3-4 narrowly ascending racemes; spikelets 3 mm. long, acute,
the second glume and sterile lemma slightly exceeding the fruit, glabrous or
sparsely pilose on the margins.
Axonopus purpusii (Mez) Chase, Jour. Washington Acad.
Sci. 17: 144. 1927. Paspalum purpusii Mez, Bot. Jahrb. Engler 56:
Beibl. 125: 10. 1921.
Savannas and pinelands; Pete"n; Izabal. British Honduras;
southern Mexico to Argentina.
Perennial; culms very slender, densely tufted, erect, 15-40 cm. high; leaves
crowded toward the base, only one about the midculm, this with elongated sheath
and reduced blade; sheaths compressed, keeled, glabrous to sparsely pilose with a
dense tuft of hairs at the mouth; blades flat, conduplicate at the base, mostly
5-10 cm. long, rarely as much as 20 cm., 1-4 mm. wide, densely hairy on the upper
surface toward the base, otherwise sparsely pilose or nearly glabrous; inflorescences
terminal and sometimes axillary, composed of 2-4 slender ascending racemes 3-8
cm. long; spikelets 2 mm. long; second glume and sterile lemma somewhat pointed
beyond the fruit, the margins stiffly appressed-pilose, the hairs longer at the
summit, forming a rather prominent tuft at the tip of the spikelet.
Axonopus rhizomatosus Swallen, Jour. Washington Acad. Sci.
23:458. 1933.
Open pine forests and pine ridges, up to 1,400 meters; Alta Vera-
paz; Izabal. British Honduras (Toledo District); Honduras.
Culms caespitose, erect from short scaly rhizomes, 45-85 cm. tall, the nodes
densely pubescent; sheaths keeled, rather densely pilose, especially on the collar,
or nearly glabrous; blades flat, as much as 25 cm. long, 1-4 mm. wide, the upper-
most reduced, not over 2 cm. long, sometimes nearly wanting, smooth or scaber-
ulous, more or less pilose toward the base, the margins papillose-ciliate for a
short distance at the base; ligule 0.1-0.2 mm. long; racemes 2-4, appressed, 5-13
cm. long, subdigitate with one a short distance below the others; spikelets 2.5-3
mm. long; second glume and sterile lemma equal, acute, slightly exceeding the
pale or lead-colored fruit, the margins densely pilose, especially toward the summit.
BAMBUSA Schreb.
Caespitose, unarmed or spiny-branched bamboos with stout, determinate
rhizomes; culms erect or ascending, usually more or less nodding or arched at the
tip, but not climbing; culm sheaths promptly deciduous in most species; culm
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 53
branches rarely solitary in part, usually fasciculate, the central one at each node
strongly dominant and flanked by several pairs of progressively shorter, more
slender ones; leaf blades without typically tessellate venation. Inflorescences in
subsessile pseudospikelets, solitary or more commonly in more or less dense
aggregates, at the nodes of very short axes lateral to leafy or more commonly
leafless branches, the aggregates usually growing more dense in time, as the buds
basal to the pseudospikelets develop, successively, into additional pseudospikelets;
spikelets terminal to pseudospikelets and preceded on the same axis by one to
three glumes subtending buds; rachilla usually disarticulating more or less readily
at maturity; florets several to many, each subtended by a lemma and a two-keeled
palea; lodicules usually 3; stamens 6, the filaments filiform and free, or rarely
flattened, with some of them more or less firmly adhering at the margins at first
(as in B. vulgaris); ovary typically solitary, with a single style and 1-3 plumose
stigmas. Fruit a caryopsis.
About 85 recognizable species known to science are properly
assigned to this genus. All are native to the Old World tropics,
their principal center of distribution being in southeastern Asia.
A number of those that afford useful raw materials or are desirable
ornamental plants have become rather widespread in cultivation.
Lower branches spiny B. arundinacea.
Lower branches unarmed.
Auricles of culm sheath not at all or scarcely developed.
Culm internodes solid B. multiplex, H.F. Chinese Goddess.
Culm internodes hollow.
Culm internodes glabrous (large bamboos, with culms erect to tip).
B. oldhami.
Culm internodes antrorse-hispid (small bamboos, the culms broadly
arched above).
Culm internodes green B. multiplex.
Culm internodes green-striped yellow. .B. multiplex, H.F. Alphonse Karr.
Auricles of culm sheaths more or less well developed.
Lower culm sheaths narrowly subtriangular, the sheath blade with a long,
slender tip.
Culm sheath proper truncate at apex B. textilis.
Culm sheath proper broadly convex at apex.
Culm internodes always cylindrical; small branches at the nodes relatively
few; culm sheaths drying nearly flat B. tuldoides.
Culm internodes often more or less shortened and flask-shaped; twigs
at culm nodes very numerous, the principal branch very long; culm
sheaths drying with margins inrolled B. ventricosa.
Lower culm sheaths relatively short and broad, not narrowly triangular; the
sheath blade relatively short, abruptly acuminate at apex.
Sheath blade much narrower than the apex of the sheath proper, auricles
equal, falcate spreading.
Culms and branches green B. vulgaris.
54 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Culms and branches green-striped yellow B. vulgaris, H.F. vittata.
Sheath blade as wide as the apex of the sheath proper, auricles dissimilar,
one orbicular, the other oblong decurrent.
Culm internodes glabrous B. tulda.
Culm internodes more or less conspicuously scabrous below the nodes.
B. longispiculata.
Bambusa arundinacea Willd. sensu Gamble, J. S., Ann. Roy.
Bot. Card. Calcutta 7: 51. pi. 48. 1896.
Although the name here used cannot be given authentic legal
standing as applied to this bamboo, it is the one most consistently
used in the literature for over a hundred years; cf. F. A. McClure,
The genus Bambusa and its first-known species. Blumea, Suppl.
111:90-112. 1946.
The Giant Thorny Bamboo native and widely cultivated in India,
where it is important as a source of structural materials; commonly
planted to form living barriers around villages. Introduced here and
there, but apparently nowhere abundant, in the tropics of both hemi-
spheres. Propagating material from the United Fruit Company's
Botanic Garden at Lancetilla, Honduras, introduced into Guate-
mala in 1946 by the Institute Agropecuario Nacional, has been
established at Finca Chocola, Suchitepe"quez, for observation and
trial.
Clumps densely compact; the culms here reaching a height of 20 or 25 meters
and a diameter of 10 or 15 cm., erect to the tip, or more commonly broadly arched
above; the internodes relatively short, glabrous, the basal ones very thick- walled
(to about 2 cm.), the middle ones only moderately so (to about 1 cm.), the lower
nodes prominent, fringed at first with stiff brown hairs; culm sheaths deciduous
(somewhat tardily so at the basal nodes), leathery, with a zone of brown hairs
along the base, otherwise dorsally glabrous; auricles and oral setae not at all
developed; sheath blades broadly triangular, appressed (reflexed at the upper
nodes), persistent, densely strigose with coarse black hairs on the inner surface,
glabrous on the outer surface; branches thorny, solitary and very long in the lower
part of the culm, then in 2's and 3's, and shorter, above; leaf sheaths glabrous or
sparsely hispid; auricles and oral setae irregularly developed, the latter fugacious;
leaf blades linear-lanceolate, acuminate, up to 20 X 2.5 cm., glabrous or with a
few long hairs near the base on the upper surface, glabrous or puberulent on the
lower surface.
Bambusa longispiculata Gamble ex Brandis, Indian Trees
668. 1906.
Native of India, introduced into the Western Hemisphere by the
United States Department of Agriculture. The Institute Agrope-
cuario Nacional secured from the Federal Experiment Station at
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 55
Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, propagating material for the bamboo col-
lection at Finca Chocola, Suchitepe'quez, where it is now well
established.
In appearance and morphological characteristics this bamboo is closely similar
to Bambusa tulda, from which it may be distinguished in the field by the pubes-
cent, aciculate surface of the lower internodes of the culm. Besides this, the clump
growth is somewhat more open, and the ultimate mature culm stature is smaller
(culms reach a height of 12 or 15 meters and a diameter of about 5 cm. under
favorable conditions), and the culm walls are relatively thinner.
This species was set up by Gamble principally on the basis of the
unusual length of the spikelets, which are said to reach 4 inches
(10 cm.).
Also established at Finca Chocola is a form of this bamboo
which differs from the species in having the culms and culm sheaths
variegated with vertical stripes of a greenish cream tint.
Bambusa multiplex (Lour.) Raeusch. ex Schult. Syst. Veg. 7:
1350. 1830. B. nana Roxb. Fl. Ind. 2: 199. 1832.
Native of China; pantropic in cultivation, principally as an
ornamental. Introduced by the Institute Agropecuario Nacional
from the Experiment Gardens, Canal Zone, and established at
Finca Chocola, Suchitepe'quez, for trial in the local economy.
Usually a small bamboo, in densely crowded clumps, the culms ascending
(rarely erect), straight or broadly arched, commonly 3-4 meters tall and 1.5-2
cm. in diameter, rarely 9 meters tall and 2.5 cm. in diameter, the internodes
relatively long (up to 60 cm.), hollow, thin-walled, the surface antrorse-hispid and
aciculate; nodes very slightly or not at all flared at the sheath scar, not at all
inflated. Culm sheaths somewhat tardily deciduous, glabrous, narrowly trian-
gular; auricles and oral setae not at all or only slightly developed; the sheath
blade appressed, abscissile, usually antrorse-hispid on both surfaces, then glabres-
cent. Branches very numerous and relatively slender. Leaf sheaths glabrous;
auricles and oral setae absent or weakly developed; leaf blades linear-lanceolate,
of variable size, sometimes to 15 X 2 cm., glabrous on the upper surface, conspic-
uously glaucous and pubescent on the lower surface.
Horticultural Form, Alphonse Karr.
A native of China, this bamboo occurs rarely as a garden plant
in Guatemala City. The history of its introduction is not known.
This form differs from the species, Bambusa multiplex, principally
in the coloration of the culms and branches and their sheaths, which
are typically green-striped yellow. In the young shoots, this color-
ation is often tinged with a flush of pink. This form has been
observed to revert to the species, losing its distinctive coloration
completely.
56 FIELDI ANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Horticultural Form, Chinese Goddess.
Native of China, pantropic in cultivation, as an ornamental.
Introduced by the Institute Agropecuario Nacional from the United
States Department of Agriculture collection at Savannah, Georgia,
and established at Finca Chocola, Suchitepe"quez, for trial.
Distinguished from Bambusa multiplex by its small stature (culms
here scarcely exceeding 1.5 meters), the solid (not fistulose), glabrous
internodes, and the more numerous, very small leaf blades (common-
ly 15-30 X 3-5 mm., rarely 50 X 10 mm.).
Bambusa oldhami Munro, Trans. Linn. Soc. 26: 109. 1868.
Sinocalamus oldhami (Munro) McClure, Lingnan Univ. Sci. Bull. 9:
67. 1940.
Native of Formosa, early introduced into the United States
through the agency of private West Coast horticulturists, and now
commonly cultivated in California and Florida as an ornamental,
under the misapplied name Dendrocalamus latiflorus. Frequent in
Lima, Peru, as an ornamental; otherwise rarely seen in the Western
Hemisphere outside of the United States and Puerto Rico. Prop-
agating material from the Federal Experiment Station at Maya-
guez, Puerto Rico, was introduced by the Institute Agropecuario
Nacional, and established at Finca Chocola, Suchitepe"quez, for trial
in the local economy.
Clump compact, slow-spreading, the culms very erect almost or quite to the
tip, somewhat sinuous, the internodes of moderate length, glabrous, the wood
about one cm. thick, the nodes only slightly inflated. Culm sheaths promptly
deciduous, oblong, rounded at the shoulders, irregularly appressed brown-seri-
ceous, gradually glabrescent; the auricles and oral setae rather small when present;
sheath blade broadly subtriangular with concave sides, apically acuminate, ap-
pressed, abscissile, lightly antrorse-hispid on the inner surface, glabrous on the
outer surface. Branches few, irregularly developed, coarse, relatively short, the
central one at each node often tardily developed and often rooting spontaneously
at the bulbous base in older culms. Leaf sheaths glabrous or sparsely hispidulous;
auricles and oral setae usually lacking; leaf blades oblong-lanceolate, abruptly
acuminate, up to 22 X 3 cm., glabrous on the upper surface, puberulent at first,
then glabrescent, on the lower surface.
Bambusa textilis McClure, Lingnan Univ. Sci. Bull. 9: 14. 1940.
A cultivated bamboo, presumably native of southern China,
whence it was introduced into the Western Hemisphere by the
United States Department of Agriculture. From the Federal Ex-
periment Station at Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, the Institute Agro-
pecuario Nacional secured propagating material for the collection
J SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 57
at Finca Chocola, Suchitepe"quez, where it is under trial. In southern
China, this bamboo is one of the most useful species, being one of
the principal sources of withes for weaving basketry and matting,
and for fabricating cables for towing boats. It is also much used
in making furniture. Small culms from plants grown under un-
favorable conditions are much used, and are very durable, as garden
stakes, and for making picket fences. The plant is a very desirable
garden ornamental.
Clumps compact, with erect culms reaching, under favorable conditions, a
height of 12 meters and a diameter of 5 cm., the internodes up to 40 cm. or more
in length, hollow, relatively thin-walled (about 5 mm.), antrorse-hispid, aciculate,
the nodes not inflated but flaring appreciably at the sheath scar. Culm sheaths
promptly deciduous (drying nearly flat), glabrous or nearly so in mature plants
(pubescent at first in young ones), narrowly subtriangular; auricles and oral setae
slightly to moderately well developed; sheath blade narrowly triangular or ovate-
lanceolate, basally nearly as wide as the apex of the sheath proper, appressed,
partially abscissile, antrorse-hispid or subglabrous on the inner surface, sometimes
sparsely strewn with acicular appressed hairs near the base, otherwise glabrous
on the outer surface. Branches beginning to develop only some months after
the culm reaches its full height, numerous, slender, the central one less markedly
dominant than in most species of the genus; the branch complement, and the bud
from which it arises, lacking at all nodes in the lower one-half or so of culms in
mature clumps. Leaf sheaths slender, glabrous or glabrescent, auricles and oral
setae usually well developed, fugacious; leaf blades narrowly ovate-lanceolate,
acuminate, 15-20 X 1.2-2 cm., glabrous on the upper surface, lightly glaucous
and pubescent throughout on the lower surface.
Bambusa tulda Roxb. Fl. Ind. 2: 193. 1832.
Native of India, where it is important in the local economy,
principally as a source of culms for structural purposes, this bamboo
was introduced into the Western Hemisphere by the United States
Department of Agriculture. Propagating material was obtained by
the Institute Agropecuario Nacional from the Federal Experiment
Station at Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and established in the bamboo
collection at Finca Chocola, Suchitep^quez, for trial in the local
economy.
Clump rather compact, the culms reaching, under favorable conditions, a
height of 20 meters and a diameter of 10 cm., ascending or suberect, broadly
arched at the tip, the internodes elongate, thick-walled, sometimes nearly solid,
entirely glabrous, the lower nodes appreciably inflated. Culm sheaths deciduous,
broadly triangular, more or less densely clothed with black, deciduous, acicular
hairs, the auricles well developed, strongly unequal, one suborbicular, the other
oblong, decurrent, wavy, both fringed with oral setae; sheath blade partially
abscissile, subovate, abruptly acuminate above, concave below to conform to the
strongly convex apex of the sheath proper. Branches several, strongly unequal.
Leaf sheaths usually glabrous, the auricles and oral setae lacking or more often
FIG. 11. Bambusa vulgaris Schrad. ex Wendl. 1, leaf-branch, X K; 2, part
of flowering branch, X Y<i', 3, portion of young culm, X M; 4, culm-sheath (var.
striata), about X Y%; 5, young branch (var. striata), X Y^ 6, leaf-sheath, X 1; 7,
spikelet, ca. X 1; 8, empty glume, slightly enlarged; 9, flowering glume, ca.
X 1; 10, palea, slightly enlarged; 11, lodicule, slightly enlarged; 12, anther,
slightly enlarged; 13, ovary with style and stigmas, slightly enlarged. From
J. S. Gamble, Bambuseae of British India, Calcutta Botanic Gardens, Annals 7 :
pi. kQ. 1907.
58
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 59
well developed, fugacious; leaf blades oblong or linear-lanceolate, acuminate,
15-25 X 2-3 cm., glabrous on the upper surface, faintly glaucous and pubescent
on the lower surface.
Bambusa tuldoides Munro, Trans. Linn. Soc. 26: 93. 1868.
This cultivated bamboo from southern China, where it is locally
important for structural purposes, basketry and punting poles, was
introduced into the Western Hemisphere by the United States De-
partment of Agriculture. Propagating material from the Federal
Experiment Station at Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, was secured by the
Institute Agropecuario Nacional and established at Finca Chocola,
Suchitepe"quez, for trial in the local economy.
Clumps compact, culms stiffly erect (spreading in very young plants), reaching
15 meters X 5 cm. under favorable conditions; internodes of moderate length,
glabrous, glaucous at first, the nodes only slightly inflated. Culm sheaths de-
ciduous, narrowly triangular, glabrous, commonly bearing two fine white vertical
stripes on one side of the sheath proper, the auricles well developed, unequal, one
suborbicular, the other oblong-ovate, fringed with oral setae; sheath blade ap-
pressed, partially abscissile, narrowly ovate-lanceolate, antrorsely scabrous on the
inner surface, glabrous on the outer surface. Branches developed at all but the
lower one or two nodes of the culm, numerous, strongly unequal. Leaf sheaths
glabrous, the auricles and oral setae irregularly developed, fugacious; leaf blades
narrowly lanceolate, acuminate, up to 25 X 2.5 cm., glabrous on the upper surface,
lightly glaucous and pubescent throughout on the lower surface.
Bambusa ventricosa McClure, Lingnan Sci. Jour. 17: 57. pi.
5. 1938.
Plant of unknown origin, cultivated in southern China as a
potted ornamental for the curious form which its culms assume
under unfavorable conditions of growth. It was introduced into
the Western Hemisphere by the United States Department of
Agriculture. From the Federal Experiment Station at Mayaguez,
Puerto Rico, the Institute Agropecuario Nacional secured propa-
gating material for its collection at Finca Chocola, Suchitepe"quez,
principally for trial as an ornamental, a windbreak, and a supplemen-
tary source of forage for semi-arid areas.
Clumps compact, culms erect or ascending, reaching, under favorable condi-
tions, a height of 12 or 15 meters and a diameter of 4 cm., the internodes moderately
thick-walled, glabrous, very dark green. (Under unfavorable conditions the inter-
nodes of the culms and the principal branches are shortened and basally inflated
to a somewhat asymmetrical flask-like shape, with a corresponding reduction in
culm stature.) Nodes only very slightly flared at the sheath scar, scarcely inflated.
Culm sheaths deciduous (tending to roll inward longitudinally along the edges
on drying), narrowly triangular, glabrous; auricles and oral setae only moderately
developed; the sheath blade often slightly asymmetrical, narrowly triangular or
60 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
ovate-lanceolate, basally nearly as wide as the sheath proper, appressed, partially
abscissile, scabrous on the inner surface, glabrous on the outer surface. Branches
developed at all nodes, the smaller ones very numerous, the central one at each
node usually very long. Leaf sheaths glabrous, the auricles and oral setae not
or only moderately developed, fugacious; leaf blades narrowly oblong-lanceolate,
up to 21 X 3.3 cm., glabrous on the upper surface, pubescent on the lower sur-
face.
Bambusa vulgaris Schrad. ex Wendl. Coll. PL 2: 26. pi. 47. 1810.
Figure 11.
A bamboo of doubtful origin, probably a native of Madagascar,
possibly also of India, now pantropic in cultivation. The culms are
much used for structural purposes and for banana props. The wood is
highly susceptible to invasion by the powder post beetle (Dinoderus
spp.) unless specially treated. The young shoots are eaten in Java;
in Nicaragua, they are canned for the market by Chinese residents.
Long since introduced in Guatemala, probably by the early
Spanish colonists, this species as represented by the green-striped
yellow form (H. F. vittata) is now widespread at lower and medium
elevations. Doubtless to be found in every Department, it occa-
sionally is seen at an elevation exceeding 1,400 meters.
Clumps naturally open (becoming crowded when only outer culms are cut),
the culms erect or usually more or less spreading, broadly arched above, in Guate-
mala rarely exceeding a height of about 15 meters and a diameter of 7-8 cm.
(elsewhere to 20 meters X 10 cm.), the internodes up to 45 cm. long, glabrous, the
nodes appreciably inflated and flaring at the hirsute, glabrescent sheath scar; culm
sheaths promptly deciduous, the lower ones broader than long, densely clothed
with brown, appressed, deciduous hairs, the auricles well developed, equal,
falcate-spreading, sparsely fringed with oral setae, the sheath blade appressed,
usually persistent, ovate-triangular, abruptly acuminate, much narrower than the
apex of the sheath proper, strigose with coarse, dark, partly deciduous bristles on
the inner surface, glabrous on the outer surface; branches developed at all but a
few of the lower culm nodes in young clumps, suppressed in the lower part of the
culm in mature and crowded clumps; leaf sheaths glabrous or sparsely hispidulous;
auricles and oral setae irregularly developed, fugacious; leaf blades linear-lance-
olate, acuminate, to 25 X 4 cm., glabrous or nearly so on both surfaces.
Horticultural Form, vittata A. & C. Riv.
This form, with green-striped yellow culms and branches is
almost universally found here, as throughout the Central American
mainland, with the green form (typical of the species) appearing
here and there as a pure green clump, but principally as an occasional
reverted culm in an otherwise yellow clump. In the Caribbean
islands, on the other hand, the green-culmed species predominates,
while the green-striped yellow form occurs as the exception. Re-
ciprocal reversions between this and the green form occur frequently.
J SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 61
! BOUTELOUA Lag.
Spikelets few- to several-flowered, with one fertile floret and one or two
rudimentary florets above it, the second floret often staminate and sometimes
perfect; glumes 1-nerved, the first narrow, the second much broader, twice as long
as the first, or both broad, similar and subequal; fertile lemma 3-nerved, glabrous
or bearded at the base, glabrous or pilose on the margins and sometimes pilose
across the back, the tip variously lobed or dentate, the nerves usually excurrent in
short awns; rudiment reduced to 3 awns, or glumaceous, lobed or dentate, with 3
usually conspicuous awns.
Perennial, usually tufted grasses, with slender culms and few to many short
1-sided spikes, racemose on a short or often elongated axis.
Species 40, America, mostly in North America.
Spikes persistent; spikelets pectinate B. glandulosa.
Spikes deciduous; spikelets not pectinate.
Plants annual B. disticha.
Plants perennial.
Spikes fewer than 15.
Second glume hairy B. chondrosioides.
Second glume glabrous or scabrous, sometimes hispid on the keel.
Sheaths and blades glabrous or sparsely pilose.
Lemma of the upper floret deeply cleft B. repens.
Lemma of the upper floret minutely dentate B. filiformis-
Sheaths and blades densely pubescent B. pubescens.
Spikes usually more than 20.
Spikes with only one spikelet B. triaena.
Spikes with two or more spikelets B. curtipendula.
Bouteloua chondrosioides (H.B.K.) Benth. ex S. Wats. Proc.
Amer. Acad. Sci. 18: 179. 1883. Dinebra chondrosioides H.B.K.
Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 173. pi. 53. 1816. Chondrosium humboldtianum
Kunth, Rev. Gram. 1: 93. 1829. Bouteloua havardii Vasey ex S.
Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. Sci. 18: 179. 1883.
Rocky slopes, near Santa Rosalia, 250-300 meters, Department
Zacapa, Steyermark 29043. Texas and southern Arizona to Costa
Rica.
Perennial; culms tufted, erect, 15-55 cm. tall, glabrous; leaves clustered
toward the base, the sheaths glabrous, hispid at the throat, the blades flat, firm,
4-12 cm. (rarely more than 15 cm.) long, 2-3 mm. wide, glabrous or sparsely
hispid, the margins often papillose-ciliate toward the base; ligule ciliate, about
0.5 mm. long; spikes 3-8, falling entire, ascending or spreading, rhomboid, tinged
with purple, 1-1.5 cm. (rarely to 2 cm.) long, the rachis densely long-ciliate on
the margin; spikelets crowded, appressed or more or less pectinately arranged;
first glume 3-5 mm. long, acuminate, ciliate on the keel; second glume 7-8 mm.
62 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
long, acuminate, hairy; lemma about 7 mm. long, hairy, especially on the midnerve
and margins, the tip three-toothed, awnless; awns of the rudimentary floret
5-10 mm. long, scabrous.
Bouteloua curtipendula (Michx.) Torr. in Emory, Mil. Notes
Reconn. 154. 1848. Chloris curtipendula Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer. 1:
59. 1803. Bouteloua racemosa Lag. Var. Cienc. 2, no. 4: 141. 1805.
Atheropogon curtipendulus Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 138. 1886. A. acu-
minatus Fourn. Mex. PL Gram. 2: 139. 1886. Bouteloua acuminata
Griffiths, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 14: 406. 1912. Figure 12.
Known in Guatemala only from Naranjo, Department Santa
Rosa, Heyde & Lux 3930. Canada (Ontario) and United States to
El Salvador; Ecuador to Argentina.
Perennial; culms erect from short rhizomes, 30 cm. to more than a meter
tall; sheaths mostly shorter than the internodes, rounded, glabrous or sparsely
papillose-pilose, more or less pilose at the throat; ligule 0.5 mm. long, ciliate;
blades as much as 25 cm. long, 2-5 mm. wide, flat, attenuate, scabrous, especially
on the margins, the upper surface sometimes pilose; spikes mostly 20-40, 0.5-2
cm. long, spreading or reflexed, falling entire; spikelets crowded, appressed or
somewhat spreading; first glume about 4 mm. long, narrow, acuminate, scabrous
on the keel; second glume 6-8 mm. long, much broader than the first, acute,
scabrous; lemma 5-6 mm. long, glabrous or sparsely pilose, the tip 3-toothed;
rudiment from nearly obsolete to as much as 5 mm. long and rather broad, awned
from between the teeth of the bifid apex, the awn mostly 3-6 mm. long, the
lateral nerves excurrent in slender awns, from minute to 4 mm. long, often en-
closing a second very small rudiment; spikelets in the upper spikes smaller, the
rudiment inconspicuous or nearly obsolete.
Bouteloua disticha (H.B.K.) Benth. Jour. Linn. Soc. 19: 105.
1881. Polyodon distichum H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 175. 1816.
Atheropogon distichus Spreng. Syst. Veg. 1: 294. 1825. Eutriana
pilosa Hook. f. Trans. Linn. Soc. 20: 173. 1847. Bouteloua pilosa
Benth. ex S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. Sci. 18: 179. 1883.
Thickets, llanos, and dry open ground, up to 900 meters; Chi-
quimula; Santa Rosa; Suchitepe"quez. West Indies to Peru and
Argentina; Galapagos Islands.
Annual; culms slender, branching, usually decumbent-spreading; sheaths
glabrous or usually papillose-pilose, especially toward the summit, the collar often
densely pubescent; ligule ciliate, about 0.5 mm. long; blades flat, acuminate, 5-20
cm. long, 2-7 mm. wide, scabrous and more or less papillose-pilose; spikes 10-25,
5-8 mm. long, usually spreading, falling entire; glumes acuminate, scabrous, the
first 3-5 mm. long, the second 5-8 mm. long; fertile lemma 5-6 mm. long, 3-
toothed, the teeth aristate, the central one minutely bifid; rudiment small, usually
reduced to an awn scarcely longer than the fertile floret.
FIG. 12. Bouteloua curtipendula. Plant, X M; spikelet and florets, X 5.
63
64 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Bouteloua filiformis (Fourn.) Griffiths, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
14: 413. 1912. Atheropogon filiformis Fourn. Mex. PL 2: 140. 1886.
Brushy or open hillsides, sandbars, and cultivated fields, up to
900 meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Jutiapa; Guatemala; Santa Rosa;
Huehuetenango. Southwestern United States to Panama.
Perennial; culms in small dense tufts, simple or branching, erect or decumbent-
spreading at the base, 15-50 cm. high, glabrous; sheaths glabrous or sparsely
pilose; blades flat, acuminate, mostly 5-10 cm. long, 1-2 mm. wide, glabrous or
pilose, the margins scabrous, usually more or less papillose-ciliate; ligule ciliate,
less than 1 mm. long; spikes 5-10, ascending or spreading, mostly 1-2 cm. long,
falling entire, the rachis shortly ciliate, densely pubescent at the base; glumes
acuminate/subequal or the second a little longer, mostly 5-7 mm. long, glabrous,
the keel scabrous to hispid; lemma about 7 mm. long, glabrous or bearded at the
base, acuminate, the awns about 1 mm. long, scabrous; upper floret usually
staminate, sometimes perfect, glabrous or bearded at the base, the lemma minutely
bifid, the central awn thickish, 3-8 mm. long, the lateral ones more slender, a
little shorter than the central.
Bouteloua glandulosa (Cerv.) Swallen, N. Amer. Fl. 17: 621.
1939. Erucaria glandulosa Cerv. Naturaleza 1 : 347. 1870. Bouteloua
hirticulmis Scribn. Circ. U. S. Dept. Agr. Agrost. 30: 4. 1901.
Limestone bald knobs, 500-800 meters, between Nenton and
Miramar, Sierra de los Cuchumatanes (Steyermark 51472, 51485,
Department Huehuetenango. Mexico.
Very similar in habit and appearance to B. hirsuta, differing mostly in the
conspicuously papillose-hirsute culms; awns of the rudiment somewhat longer,
the spike therefore more bristly.
Bouteloua pubescens Pilger, Verh. Bot. Ver. Brand. 51: 193.
1909.
Damp meadows, about 1,800 meters; Huehuetenango, San Mar-
cos. Known only from Guatemala; described from Malacatan, Seler
3234, type.
Perennial; culms tufted, erect or ascending, 20-30 cm. tall, simple or sparingly
branched, the lower internodes rather short; sheaths much longer than the inter-
nodes or the uppermost shorter, densely velvety-pubescent; ligule ciliate, 0.2 mm.
long; blades 5-11 cm. long, 2-5 mm. wide, flat, acuminate, densely soft-pubescent
or pilose, the margins papillose; spikes 6-8, ascending or spreading, falling entire,
approximate, or the lower ones remote, 1-2 cm. long, the rachis scabrous; glumes
acuminate, 5 mm. long, scabrous on the keels; fertile floret bearded at the base;
lemma 5-6 mm. long, glabrous, acute, the nerves excurrent 1 mm., the lateral
ones about 1 mm. from the summit; palea a little longer than the lemma, narrowed
toward the summit, the keels approximate, scabrous; upper floret 6-7 mm. long,
staminate, glabrous at the base, the lemma deeply 3-cleft, the lateral lobes very
narrow, the central 2-dentate, the awns 3-4 mm. long, scabrous.
I SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 65
Bouteloua repens (H.B.K.) Scribn. & Merr. Bull. U. S. Dept.
Agr. Div. Agrost. 24: 26. 1901. Dinebra repens H.B.K. Nov. Gen.
6 Sp. 1: 172. 1816. Atheropogon repens Roem. & Schult. Syst. Veg.
2: 416. 1817. Eutriana repens Trin. Gram. Unifl. 241. 1824.
Prairies, open ground, and rocky slopes, about 1,500 meters;
Guatemala; Santa Rosa. Western Mexico to Panama.
Perennial; culms 20-50 cm. high, erect or ascending, branching; sheaths
glabrous or sparsely papillose-pilose; ligule minutely ciliate, 0.5 mm. long; blades
firm, flat, 8-15 cm. long, 2-5 mm. wide, glabrous or scabrous, sometimes more or
less papillose or papillose-pilose; spikes 5-10, 1.5-2.5 cm. long, rather close to-
gether, appressed or spreading, falling entire; glumes acuminate, subequal, about
7 mm. long, scabrous or hispid on the keel; lemma of fertile floret 8 mm. long, the
central awn 2-4 mm. long, the lateral 1.5-2 mm. long; rudiment glabrous, about
6 mm. long, deeply cleft, the awn from between the lobes 8-10 mm. long, the
lateral awns much more slender and a little shorter than the central one.
Bouteloua triaena (Trin.) Scribn. Proc. Acad. Phila. 1891: 307.
1891. Triaena racemosa H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1 : 179. 1816. Eutri-
ana triaena Trin. Gram. Unifl. 239. 1824. Atheropogon triaena
Spreng. Syst. 1: 293. 1825. Triathera gracilis Fourn. Mex. PI. Gram.
2: 141. 1886.
Open banks and oak forests, about 195 meters; Pete"n; Huehue-
tenango. Central and southern Mexico.
Perennial; culms tufted, erect to widely spreading, 20-45 cm. tall, or in widely
spreading plants as much as 80 cm. long; sheaths glabrous; ligule ciliate, 0.5-1
mm. long; blades flat, 5-20 cm. long, 1-3 mm. wide, glabrous or scabrous, the
margins more or less papillose-ciliate near the base; spikes numerous, approximate
on the elongate axis, spreading, short-pedicellate, falling entire, bearing a single
spikelet, the axis prolonged beyond the spikelet in a rather slender bristle; glumes
subacute, glabrous or scabrous, the first about 3 mm. long, the second about 5
mm. long; fertile lemma acuminate, awnless, 5-7 mm. long, glabrous or sparsely
pilose; rudiment narrow, inconspicuous, not cleft, the body about 2 mm. long, the
awns 6-10 mm. long, scabrous.
BRACHIARIA Griseb.
Spikelets solitary, subsessile in two rows on one side of a flattened or trian-
gular rachis, the first glume turned toward the rachis; first glume 3-5-nerved,
broad and clasping, one- third to one-half as long as the spikelet; second glume and
sterile lemma equal, longer than the fruit, 5-7-nerved, glabrous or pubescent;
fruit indurate, usually papillose-roughened, the margins of the lemma inrolled.
Annual, stoloniferous or decumbent-spreading grasses with flat blades and
few to several racemes approximate or rather distant on a common axis.
Species about 15, in warmer regions of both hemispheres.
Brachiaria plantaginea (Link) Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
12: 212. 1909. Panicum plantagineum Link, Hort. Berol. 1: 206.
66 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
1827. P. leandri Trin. Gram. Icon. 3: pi. 335. 1836. P. disciferum
Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 19. 1886.
Fields and roadsides, up to 1,500 meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal;
Guatemala; Quiche". Mexico to Bolivia and Brazil. Grama Ban-
der 'ita.
Annual; culms decumbent-spreading, rooting at the nodes, the ascending ends
and flowering branches commonly 20-30 cm. high; sheaths compressed, keeled,
glabrous, usually ciliate on the margins; ligule ciliate, about 1 mm. long; blades
5-20 cm. long, 8-12 mm. wide, rather lax, rounded at the base, the margins
scabrous, sparsely ciliate near the base; racemes usually 3-6, or sometimes 1 or 2
on the branches, 3-10 cm. long, rather distant, ascending to spreading, the rachis
1-1.5 mm. wide; spikelets 4-4.7 mm. long, acute, glabrous; fruit 3-3.5 mm. long,
plano-convex, subobtuse, minutely striate and papillose-roughened.
BRAGHYPODIUM Beauv.
Spikelets several-flowered, subterete except in anthesis, short-pediceled,
usually appressed, rather distant in simple racemes; glumes strongly nerved, the
second broader and a little longer than the first; lemmas rounded on the back,
obscurely nerved, awned from the tip; palea about as long as the lemma, strongly
ciliate on the keels.
About 15 species, two in the mountains of tropical America, the
others in the Eastern Hemisphere.
Brachypodium mexicanum (Roem. & Schult.) Link, Hort.
Berol. 1: 41. 1827. Festuca mexicana Roem. & Schult. Syst. Veg.
2: 732. 1817. Figure 13.
Dry, open or shady banks, 2,000-3,500 meters; Jalapa; Saca-
tepe"quez; Quezaltenango; San Marcos. Mexico; Costa Rica; Pan-
ama; Colombia and Venezuela to Bolivia.
Perennial; culms slender, wiry, branching, usually geniculate-spreading, 15-90
cm. long, sparsely pilose, densely bearded at the nodes; sheaths much shorter than
the internodes, pilose; ligule 2-3 mm. long, erose-ciliate; blades 5-12 cm. or some-
times as much as 20 cm. long, 2-5 mm. wide, scabrous, sparsely to rather densely
pilose on the upper surface; racemes 4-12 cm. long, sometimes reduced to one or
two spikelets; spikelets 2-2.5 cm. long, 4-8-flowered, the pedicels 2-3 mm. long,
densely pubescent; glumes subobtuse, the first 6-9 mm. long, the second 8-11 mm.
long, glabrous; lemma of lowest floret 8-10 mm. long, scabrous at least toward
the summit, the awn mostly 2-5 mm. long, or rarely as much as 1 cm. long.
BRIZA L.
Spikelets several-flowered, inflated, the rachilla disarticulating readily above
the glumes and between the florets, the uppermost floret reduced; lemmas several-
nerved, broad, cordate, obtuse or acute, with spreading scarious margins; palea
much shorter and narrower than the lemma.
FIG. 13. Brachypodium mexicanum. Inflorescence, X I 1 >.
67
68 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Species about 20, three in the Old World, one in Mexico and
Central America, the rest in South America.
Plants annual; panicles open, loose; lemmas obtuse B. minor.
Plants perennial; panicles contracted, rather dense; lemmas abruptly acute or
acuminate B. rotundata.
Briza minor L. Sp. PI. 70. 1753.
Moist ground along stream northwest of San Marcos, Dept. San
Marcos, 2,700-3,800 meters, Steyermark 35738. Europe, introduced
in America. Figure 14.
Annual; culms weak, erect or ascending, 10-50 cm. high; blades flat, as much
as 1 cm. wide, glabrous; panicles as much as 15 cm. long, the branches stiffly
ascending to spreading, the branchlets divaricate; spikelets ovate, 3-5 mm. long,
3-8-flowered, the long slender pedicels flexuous; lemmas about 3 mm. long, broad,
obtuse, more or less pubescent on the middle of the back.
Briza rotundata (H.B.K.) Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 284. 1854.
Bromus rotundatus H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 152. 1815.
Along trail between Jacaltenango and Todos Santos, Sierra de
los Cuchumatanes, Dept. Huehuetenango, 1,500-2,500 meters, Stey-
ermark 51869. Mexico.
Perennial; culms tufted, erect, 20-60 cm. high; sheaths glabrous, usually
shorter than the internodes; blades linear, elongate, 1-3 mm. wide, scaberulous;
panicles commonly 2-8 cm. long, rarely longer, rather dense, the short branches
stiff or somewhat flexuous, narrowly ascending; spikelets 4-5 mm. long, nearly as
broad as long, mostly 8-10-flowered; lemmas about 4 mm. long, broadly ovate,
abruptly narrowed to a triangular acuminate tip, mucronate or minutely awned;
palea half as long as the lemma, circular, flat.
BROMUS L.
Spikelets several-flowered, the rachilla disarticulating above the glumes and
between the florets; glumes acute, the first 1- or obscurely 3-nerved, the second
3-5-nerved; lemmas keeled, 5-9-nerved, awned from between the teeth of the
minutely bifid apex; palea shorter than the lemma, thin, ciliate on the keels,
adherent to the caryopsis.
Slender perennials with closed sheaths, flat narrow blades, and open panicles
of relatively large spikelets.
Species about 100, in temperate regions or in the tropics at
higher altitudes.
First glume narrow, 1-nerved; lemmas pubescent, especially on the margins.
B. exaltatus.
First glume broader, 3-nerved; lemmas glabrous or nearly so B. laciniatus.
FIG. 14. Briza minor. Plant, X Yi; spikelet and floret, X 5.
69
70 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Bromus exaltatus Bernh. Linnaea 15: Litt. 90. 1841. B.
subalpinus Rupr. ex Fourn. Mex. PL 2: 128. 1886.
Open pine woods, about 3,700 meters; Huehuetenango; Saca-
tepe*quez. Mexico; Costa Rica; Panama.
Perennial; culms erect from a more or less decumbent base, 0.5 to more than
one meter high, retrorsely pilose at the nodes; sheaths longer than the internodes or
the upper ones shorter, appressed- or spreading-pilose especially toward the sum-
mit; ligule membranaceous, erose, about 1 mm. long; blades flat, mostly 15-30
cm. long, 3-5 mm. wide, rarely wider, scabrous, more or less pilose toward the
base; panicles 10-20 cm. long, nodding, the slender drooping branches naked
below, bearing 1-3 spikelets; glumes narrow, acuminate, subequal or the second
longer, the first 1- or obscurely 3-nerved, 8-12 mm. long; lemmas mostly 12-15
mm. long, acuminate, rather evenly hairy across the back, the awn 4-7 mm. or
sometimes as much as 1 cm. long.
Bromus laciniatus Beal, Grasses N. Amer. 2: 615. 1896. B.
pendulinus Sesse" ex Lag. Gen. & Sp. Nov. 4. 1816. Not B. pendu-
linus Schrad., 1810. B. proximus Shear, Bull. Torrey Club 28: 245.
1901.
Shady ravines and pine-clad slopes, 2,500-4,200 meters; Guate-
mala; Solola; Sacatepe"quez; Huehuetenango; Quezaltenango; San
Marcos. Mexico.
Similar in aspect to B. exaltatiis; panicles coarser and stiffer; first glume
broader, 3-nerved; lemmas glabrous or nearly so.
CALAMAGROSTIS Adans.
Spikelets 1-flowered, the rachilla disarticulating above the glumes, prolonged
beyond the floret in a usually hairy bristle; glumes equal, acute or acuminate;
lemma equalling the glumes or usually shorter, awned from the back, the awn
straight or geniculate, often tightly twisted below the bend, the callus bearded,
the hairs very short to long and copious; palea thin, shorter than the lemma.
Slender to rather coarse perennials with firm, flat or involute blades and
dense or open panicles of relatively small spikelets.
Species probably about 150, in cool or temperate regions or in
the tropics at higher altitudes.
Culms erect from a creeping base; blades flat at least at the base.
Sheaths much shorter than the long internodes; culms more than 1 meter
high C. pinetorum.
Sheaths usually much longer than the relatively short internodes; culms not
more than 60 cm. high C. guatemalensis.
Culms densely caespitose, not creeping; blades tightly involute to the base.
Ligule very short, not decurrent, at least on the lower leaves; blades densely
pilose on the upper surface C. vulcanica.
Ligule prominent, decurrent; blades not pilose on the upper surface.
C. junciformis.
[ SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 71
Calamagrostis guatemalensis Hitchc. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash-
ington 40: 82. 1927.
Oak-pine forests, mostly 2,500-3,000 meters; Sacatepe"quez (type
from Volcan Agua, A. S. Hitchcock 9120); Quezaltenango; San
Marcos.
Perennial; culms erect from a creeping base, 30-60 cm. high, simple or spar-
ingly branching; sheaths usually longer than the relatively short internodes, gla-
brous or scaberulous; ligule 2-5 mm. long, obtuse, firm, decurrent; blades scabrous,
firm, flat, becoming involute, 2-3 mm. wide; panicles 7-12 cm. long, dense, some-
times spikelike, the branches ascending or appressed, usually floriferous to the
base; spikelets 4-5 mm. long, the glumes equal, acute, scabrous; lemma about 4
mm. long, usually scaberulous, the nerves excurrent in short teeth; awn 3-6 mm.
long, attached about one-fourth above the base, geniculate, twisted below the
bend, the terminal segment 3-6 mm. long; callus hairs about half as long as the
lemma; rachilla 1 mm. long, the hairs 2 mm. long.
Calamagrostis junciformis (H.B.K.) Steud. Norn. Bot. ed. 2.
1: 250. 1840. Deyeuxia junciformis H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1:
143. 1815.
Near Tunima, Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, Dept. Huehueten-
ango, 3,300-3,500 meters, Steyermark 48269. Mexico, the type from
Nevado de Toluca.
Perennial; culms densely tufted, erect, about 50 cm. high, the leaves mostly
crowded in a basal cluster; ligule firm, decurrent, 2 mm. long; blades slender,
firm, involute, scabrous, 15-20 cm. long; panicle long-exserted, 10 cm. long, the
slender somewhat flexuous branches ascending to spreading, naked below; spike-
lets 4-5 mm. long, the glumes acute; lemma equaling or slightly exceeding the
glumes, glabrous, minutely toothed; awn attached near the middle, 4-5 mm. long,
weakly geniculate, loosely twisted or contorted below the bend; callus bearded,
the hairs very short and inconspicuous; rachilla one-third as long as the lemma,
plumose, the hairs about 1 mm. long.
The description is based entirely on material from Guatemala
which does not compare well with Mexican specimens. The dif-
ferences do not seem sufficient, however, to consider the Guatemala
plants distinct, at least with only the present inadequate material
at hand.
Calamagrostis pinetorum Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
29: 406. 1950.
Dry pine slopes, 2,100-2,500 meters; El Progreso, the type from
near Finca Piamonte, Steyermark 43454; Zacapa.
Perennial; culms erect from a rhizome-like base, 120 cm. high, glabrous;
sheaths scaberulous, the lower ones longer, the upper ones much shorter than the
internodes; ligule 4.5 mm. long, obtuse, decurrent; blades 26-33 cm. long, 5-6
72 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
mm. wide, scabrous, the uppermost much shorter and narrower; panicle 16 cm.
long, about 3 cm. wide, dense, interrupted below, the branches narrowly ascend-
ing, long and short ones intermixed; spikelets 5.5-6 mm. long; glumes subequal,
3-nerved, scabrous; lemma 4 mm. long, scabrous, the nerves excurrent as short
awns, the awn inserted 1 mm. above the base, 3 mm. long, geniculate, tightly
twisted below the bend, the callus sparsely bearded on the sides with short hairs;
palea a little shorter than the lemma; rachilla 1 mm. long, bearded with appressed
hairs 0.5 mm. long, bearing a rudimentary second floret 2 mm. long.
Calamagrostis vulcanica Swallen, Phytologia 4, no. 7: 424.
1953.
Pine forests and open places, summits of volcanos, mostly 3,000-
4,600 meters; Sacatepe"quez; Quezaltenango (type from Volcan de
Santa Maria, Skutch 836); San Marcos. Mexico (Volcan Tacana).
Figure 15.
Perennial; culms densely tufted, erect, 40-80 cm. high; sheaths smooth or
nearly so, usually longer than the internodes, the lower ones crowded; ligule very
short, not visible from the side on the lower leaves; blades convolute, firm, up to
40 cm. long, more or less curved, smooth or scaberulous on the under surface,
strongly nerved and rather densely pilose above, especially toward the base;
panicles pyramidal, 8-14 cm. long, the slender, spreading to recurved branches
in rather distant fascicles, the lower ones as much as 7 cm. long, naked below the
middle; spikelets 6-7 mm. long, the glumes equal, acuminate, 3-5-nerved; lemma
5 mm. long, scabrous, the tip hyaline, the nerves excurrent, awned from about the
middle of the back, the awn about 10 mm. long, geniculate, tightly twisted below
the bend, appressed pilose; callus hairs dense, about 2 mm. long; rachilla 2 mm.
long, densely hairy, the hairs about 2 mm. long.
Specimens of this species were formerly referred to C. junciformis,
but are readily distinguished by the short ligule, pilose blades, and
pilose awn.
CATHESTECUM Presl
Spikes falling entire, consisting *of three spikelets, the lateral ones 2-flowered,
staminate or sterile, rarely pistillate, the upper floret sometimes much reduced;
central spikelet 3-flowered, the lower floret usually pistillate, sometimes staminate,
very rarely perfect, the upper florets staminate or sterile; first glume short, that
of the central spikelet usually flabellate; second glume about as long as the spikelet,
acuminate, sometimes minutely lobed and mucronate; lemmas dissimilar, the
lower ones cleft about one-fourth their length, the awns from between the lobes
equaling or slightly exceeding them, the upper ones deeply cleft, the awns villous
in the lower part, extending as much as 3 mm. beyond the lobes; in spikes wholly
staminate, the lemmas all alike; palea nearly equaling the lemma, the nerves
excurrent in short awns.
Annual or perennial grasses, frequently stoloniferous, with relatively short
flat blades and 3 to 10 V-shaped or rhomboid, spreading spikes, evenly arranged
on opposite sides of the slender flattened axis.
FIG. 15. Calamagrostis vulcanica. Plant, about X \i\ spikelets, X \\i\ floret, X 6.
73
74 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Species 6, in southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central
America.
Lateral spikelets with well-developed, usually staminate florets; blades, at least
some of them, commonly more than 2 cm. long, often involute, not becoming
curled; stolons comparatively short, conspicuously arching C. erectum.
Lateral spikelets imperfectly developed, the florets mostly sterile, the lemmas
reduced; blades flat, mostly 1-2 cm. long, rarely longer, becoming curled with
age; stolons long, widely spreading, not arching C. brevifolium.
Cathestecum brevifolium Swallen, Jour. Washington Acad.
Sci. 27: 500. 1937. Pastojueno.
Moist open hillsides and rocky slopes, 200-300 meters; Zacapa.
Mexico.
Perennial, stoloniferous, the stolons slender, wiry, widely spreading, the
internodes as much as 12 cm. long (usually less than 10 cm.), not conspicuously
arched as in C. erectum; culms in small dense tufts, slender, usually branching,
erect or geniculate at the nodes, 5-10 cm. tall (rarely to 15 cm.), glabrous; lower
sheaths crowded, glabrous or sparsely pilose with a tuft of long hairs at the mouth,
the lowermost densely villous at the base; blades firm, flat, acute, becoming
conspicuously curled with age, glabrous on the lower surface, scabrous and pilose
on the upper, the margins scabrous, 1-2.5 cm. long (rarely to 5 cm.), 1-2 mm.
wide; spikes 3-8, usually purple, spreading, dimorphous as in C. erectum; stam-
inate spike: first glume narrow, 1 mm. long; second glume broader, acute or
acuminate, usually glabrous or sometimes sparsely pilose on the keel, those of
the lateral spikelets 2.5 mm. long, that of the central spikelet 3 mm. long, minutely
lobed, mucronate; lower lemmas 3 mm. long, sparsely pilose, shallowly lobed,
mucronate from between the lobes, the upper ones 2.5 mm. long, similar to the
lower but with somewhat deeper lobes; pistillate spikelets: lateral spikelets im-
perfectly developed, the first glume 1 mm. long, the second glume acuminate, 2.5
mm. long, pilose to hirsute-villous on the keel, the florets much reduced, sterile, or
the lower one rarely staminate; first glume of central spikelet similar to those of the
lateral spikelets, the second 3 mm. long, minutely lobed, mucronate, hirsute-villous
at least on the keel, the lower floret pistillate, the lemma 3 mm. long, sparsely
pubescent on the back, the lobes one-fourth the length of the lemma, the awns
from between the lobes slightly exceeding them, the upper florets staminate or
neuter, the lemmas 2.5 mm. long, deeply cleft, the awns extending 1-3 mm.
beyond the lobes; stamens 1.3-1.6 mm. long.
Cathestecum erectum Vasey & Hack. Bull. Torrey Club 11:
37. pi 45. 1884. Figure 16.
Abundant in arenal, Banos de Santa Marta, north of Zacapa,
about 200 meters, Standley 73918. Mexico; El Salvador; Honduras.
Perennial, stoloniferous, the stolons slender, wiry, conspicuously arching, the
internodes elongate; culms in small dense tufts, simple or branching, erect or some-
what geniculate-spreading, 15-30 cm. tall, glabrous; lower sheaths crowded,
pilose in the throat, the lowermost densely villous at the base, the upper ones
more distant, glabrous; ligule ciliate, about 0.3 mm. long; blades flat or commonly
FIG. 16. Cathestecum erectum, X 1.
75
76 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
loosely involute, 3-6 mm. long, 1-1.5 mm. wide, glabrous on the lower surface,
scabrous and sparsely pilose on the upper; spikes usually pale, dimorphous, one
form entirely staminate, the other with the lower floret of the central spikelet
pistillate, the upper floret and those of the lateral spikelets staminate or neuter,
the spikes all of the same kind in a single inflorescence, parts of the same plant
(joined by stolons) sometimes with both kinds of spikes; staminate spikes: first
glume 1 mm. long, second glume acuminate, glabrous or nearly so, that of the
lateral spikelets 3 mm. long, that of the central spikelet about 4 mm. long; lemmas
similar, 3 mm. long, glabrous, irregularly lobed, awnless or mucronate; pistillate
spikes: glumes villous, otherwise like those of the staminate spikes; lemmas of the
lateral spikelets similar, 3 mm. long, glabrous, cleft to the middle, the awns from
between the lobes equaling or barely exceeding them, more or less hispid; florets
of the central spikelet unlike, the lower lemma glabrous or sparsely pubescent,
cleft one-third of the length, the awns from between the lobes glabrous, subequal
or the central a little longer, somewhat exceeding the lobes; upper florets similar
to those of the lateral spikelets, the awns slightly longer, extending 1-2 mm.
beyond the lobes; anthers 2 mm. long.
CENCHRUS L.
Spikelets sessile, enclosed in spiny burs composed of united sterile branches,
the burs falling entire, the body of the bur irregularly lobed, the lobes rigid, the
spines barbed; spikelets 1 to several in each bur, usually glabrous; first glume
narrow, 1-nerved, much shorter than the spikelet, sometimes wanting; second
glume and sterile lemma nearly equal, 3-5-nerved, the lemma enclosing a palea
and usually a staminate flower; fruit indurate, the lemma acuminate, the margins
thin, flat.
Annual with flat blades and terminal racemes of burs.
Species about 25, in sandy or arid regions of both hemispheres.
Bristles antrorsely scabrous, much exceeding the body of the bur C. pilosus.
Bristles retrorsely barbed, not exceeding the body of the bur.
Burs not more than 4 mm. wide, densely crowded in a long raceme, the lobes
interlocking; first glume obsolete C. brownii.
Burs 5-7 mm. wide, not crowded, the lobes usually erect; first glume present.
C. echinatus.
Cenchrus brownii Roem. & Schult. Syst. Veg. 2: 258. 1817.
C. viridis Spreng. Syst. Veg. 1: 301. 1825. C. echinatus var. viridis
Spreng. ex Griseb. Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 556. 1864. Figure 17.
Thickets, open banks, fields, and waste places, to about 1,000
meters; Pete"n; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Santa Rosa; Escuintla;
Retalhuleu. British Honduras; Florida; West Indies; Mexico to
Bolivia and Brazil.
Annual; culms erect to decumbent-spreading and rooting at the lower nodes,
simple to freely branching; sheaths mostly longer than the internodes, compressed,
keeled, glabrous; ligule ciliate, less than 1 mm. long; blades 10-30 cm. long, mostly
6-8 mm., or sometimes as much as 12 mm. wide, scabrous to nearly glabrous;
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA
77
spikes 4-10 cm. long, dense, the axis minutely scabrous or pubescent; burs about
4 mm. wide, subtended by a ring of slender irregular bristles, the lobes pubescent,
interlocking; spikelets usually 3 in each bur, 4-4.5 mm. long; first glume obsolete;
second glume two-thirds to three-fourths as long as the subequal fruit and sterile
lemma; fruit acuminate, minutely roughened, the nerves evident near the tip.
FIG. 17. Cenchrus brownii. Bur, two views of spikelet, and floret, X 5.
FIG. 18. Cenchrus echinatus. Bur, two views of spikelet, and floret, X 5.
Cenchrus echinatus L. Sp. PL 1050. 1753. C. pungens H.B.K.
Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1 : 115. 1815. C. macrocarpus Ledeb. ex Steud. Nom.
Bot. ed. 2. 1: 317. 1840. C. brevisetus Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 50. 1886.
C. echinatus brevisetus Scribn. in Millsp. Field Mus. Bot. 2: 26. 1900.
Mozote. Figure 18.
Open banks, sand bars, fields and waste places, especially in
sandy soil, up to 1,500 meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Escuintla;
Guatemala; Suchitepe"quez; San Marcos. British Honduras; south-
ern United States; West Indies; Mexico to Argentina.
78 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Annual; culms erect to geniculate or decumbent-spreading, often rooting at
the nodes, branching, as much as 1 meter long, glabrous; sheaths compressed,
keeled, glabrous, or ciliate on the margins near the summit; ligule ciliate, 1 mm.
long; blades mostly 6-20 cm. long, 3-8 mm. wide, acuminate, more or less pilose;
spikes 3-10- cm. long, the axis rather stout, flexuous, scabrous; burs scarcely
crowded, 4-7 cm. long, usually broader than long, pubescent, containing 3-6
spikelets, the bristles below the bur fewer and stouter than in C. brownii, the lobes
or spines erect to spreading, retrorsely barbed at the tip; spikelets 4.5-6 mm. long;
first glume small, narrow, 1-nerved, the second two-thirds to three-fourths as long
as the nearly equal fruit and sterile lemma; fruit acuminate, the nerves of the
lemma apparent near the tip.
Cenchrus pilosus H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 116. pi. 36. 1815.
C. pallidus Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 50. 1886.
Sand bars and rocky slopes at low altitudes; Izabal; Zacapa.
Mexico; El Salvador; Nicaragua; Colombia and Venezuela to Peru.
Annual; culms 10 cm. to nearly 1 meter high, erect or decumbent at the base,
simple or sparingly branching; blades rather thin, flat, scabrous, or sometimes
papillose-pilose, 10-40 cm. long, 6-12 mm. wide; spikes 2-14 cm. long, dense,
erect, usually long-exserted on relatively stout peduncles; body of bur about
5 mm. thick, densely pilose, the bristles antrorsely scabrous, much exceeding the
bur; spikelets usually 3.
CHAETIUM Nees
Spikelets short-pedicellate, dorsally compressed, the rachilla between the
glumes elongate, the bearded base of the first glume adnate to it, forming a long
slender callus; glumes narrow or broad, extending into long awns; sterile lemma
short-awned or awn-tipped only; fruit subindurate, the lemma acuminate, pointed
or awned, the margins thin, flat, not enclosing the summit of the palea.
Perennials with flat blades and dense narrow panicles.
Species 3, one in Cuba, one in South America, and one in Mexico
and Central America.
Chaetium bromoides (Presl) Benth. ex Hemsl. Biol. Centr.
Amer. Bot. 3: 503. 1885. Berchtoldia bromoides Presl, Rel. Haenk.
1 : 324. pi. 43. 1830. Panicum berchtholdium Doell in Mart. Fl. Bras.
2, pt. 2: 150. 1877. Figure 19.
Dry hills, open grassland, roadsides, and in cultivated places,
500-2,300 meters; Chiquimula; Jalapa; Santa Rosa; Guatemala;
Sacatepe"quez; Quiche"; Quezaltenango; San Marcos. Mexico; El
Salvador; Honduras; Nicaragua; Costa Rica.
Perennial; culms tufted, sometimes stoloniferous, 30-50 cm. high; sheaths
smooth, pubescent on the collar, the margins ciliate; blades short or elongate,
2-6 mm. wide, firm, flat, pilose on both surfaces, sometimes sparsely so; panicles
FIG. 19. Chaetium bromoides, X '/
79
80 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
5-15 cm. long, 1-2 cm. wide, dense, the branches narrowly ascending or appressed;
body of spikelet about 6 mm. long, the callus 3 mm. long, the glumes broad,
enclosing the florets, the awns 1.5-2.5 cm. long; fruit 4.5-5 mm. long, minutely
roughened, bearing a slender awn 1-2 mm. long.
CHLORIS Swartz
Spikelets subsessile in two rows on one side of the rachis, with one perfect
floret, the rachilla articulate above the glumes, prolonged beyond the fertile
floret, and bearing a narrow or club-shaped rudiment composed of one or more
reduced sterile lemmas; glumes narrow, 1-nerved (rarely 3-nerved), the second
a little longer than the first; fertile lemma 3-nerved, awned from the back just
below the usually acute tip, the callus more or less bearded on the sides, the keel
glabrous or sparsely pilose, the margins usually ciliate, the hairs on the upper
part often much longer than the rest.
Annual or perennial, often stoloniferous grasses, with 2-several digitate,
verticillate, or subracemose spikes.
Species probably about 70, in warmer regions of both hemi-
spheres.
Florets dark brown.
Fertile lemma minutely ciliate or glabrous on the margins C. petraea.
Fertile lemma conspicuously long-ciliate on the margins C. ciliata.
Florets green or pale, sometimes tinged with purple.
Rudiment broad, truncate, usually conspicuous.
Plants annual; fertile lemma long-ciliate above, the hairs as much as 4 mm.
long, conspicuous; rudiment composed of 1 sterile floret C. virgata.
Plants perennial; fertile lemma ciliate, with short inconspicuous hairs; rudi-
ment composed of 2 sterile florets, the lower one similar to the fertile.
C. gayana.
Rudiment narrow, acute, usually inconspicuous.
Spikelets 4-5 mm. long.
Awn of fertile lemma 10-12 mm. long; spikes relatively stout. . C. rufescens.
Awn of fertile lemma 5-6 mm. long; spikes slender C. mollis.
Spikelets not more than 3.5 mm. long C. radiata.
Chloris ciliata Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 25. 1788. Cynodon
ciliatus Rasp. Ann. Sci. Nat. 5: 303. 1825. Chloris propinqua Steud.
Syn. Gram. 204. 1854. C. ciliata var. texana Vasey, Bull. U. S.
Dept. Agr. Bot. 12, no. 1: pi. 30. 1890. C. texana Nash, Bull.
Torrey Club 25: 441. 1898. C. nashii A. Heller, Muhlenbergia 5:
120. 1909.
Black heavy soil, Corozal and Sibun River, British Honduras.
Not known from Guatemala. West Indies; southern Texas; Mexico;
Nicaragua; Venezuela; Colombia; Uruguay; Argentina.
Perennial; culms tufted, erect, sometimes geniculate at the nodes, 20-75 cm.
(usually 30-40 cm.) tall, somewhat flattened, glabrous; sheaths rounded on the
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 81
back, or flattened and keeled toward the summit, glabrous; ligule very short,
sometimes minutely ciliate; blades flat, acuminate, 5-20 cm. long, or longer on
the innovations, the uppermost reduced, 3-5 mm. wide, scabrous on the margins,
otherwise glabrous; spikes 3-6, 4-8 cm. long, flexuous, digitate, narrowly ascend-
ing, silvery, tinged with brown; glumes 1-nerved, the first narrow, acute, 1.3 mm.
long, the second broad with hyaline margins, subobtuse, 2 mm. long, mucronate;
fertile floret 2-2.5 mm. long, the callus bearded, the lemma acute, conspicuously
ciliate on the keel and margins nearly to the apex with long white hairs, the awn
about 1 mm. long, scabrous; rudiment club-shaped, composed of two reduced
florets, the first about 1.2 mm. long, glabrous, the summit and margins hyaline,
the awn 1 mm. long, the second much smaller, awnless.
Chloris gayana Kunth, ReV. Gram. 1 : 89. 1829. Rhodes grass;
"zacate gordura."
Probably escaped from cultivation, "La Aurora," Guatemala.
Tropical America; introduced from Africa.
Perennial; culms densely tufted, commonly 1-1.5 meters tall, compressed,
frequently with strong arching stolons; sheaths glabrous or scaberulous, the lower
ones compressed-keeled, the upper rounded on the back, sometimes with a tuft
of long hairs at the mouth; ligule membranaceous, very short, ciliate with long
hairs; blades flat, usually elongate, tapering to a fine point, 3-7 mm. wide, scabrous,
especially on the margins; spikes 6-20, 5-12 cm. long, narrowly ascending in a
rather dense head; spikelets 4.5 mm. long; glumes acute, 1-nerved, or the second
sometimes 3-nerved, scabrous on the keel, the first 1.5 mm. long, the second 2.5
mm. long, mucronate; fertile floret 3.5 mm. long, the callus bearded, the lemma
acute, short-ciliate on the margins, the hairs longer on the upper third, the awn
4-6 mm. long, scabrous; rudiment composed of two reduced florets, the first
similar to the fertile floret, 2.5 mm. long, glabrous, the awn 2-4 mm. long, the
second small, club-shaped, awnless.
Chloris mollis (Nees) Swallen, N. Amer. Fl. 17: 596. 1939.
Gymnopogon mollis Nees, Agrost. Bras. 427. 1829. G. rupestre Ridley,
Jour. Linn. Soc. 27: 73. 1890. Chloris leptanatha Hitchc. in Urban,
Symb. Ant. 7: 166. 1912. C. rupestris Hitchc. Misc. Pub. U. S.
Dept. Agr. 243: 126. 1936.
In shade of cactus thickets, dry slopes along Rio Motagua, west
of Teculutan, Dept. Zacapa, 250 meters, Steyermark 29192. West
Indies; Colombia; Venezuela; Ecuador; Peru.
Annual; culms tufted, erect, or geniculate at the lower nodes, 20 cm. to more
than a meter tall; sheaths rounded on the back or keeled only near the summit,
glabrous or sparsely pubescent, the margins finely papillose-ciliate; ligule 0.5
mm. long, minutely ciliate; blades flat, acuminate, scabrous, 5-15 cm. long, 1-6
mm. wide; spikes 5-15 (rarely fewer), 5-12 cm. long, slender, somewhat flexuous,
ascending or appressed, aggregate on an axis as much as 5 cm. long; spikelets
very narrow; glumes acuminate, awn-pointed, 1-nerved, scabrous on the keel,
the first 3-4 mm. long, the second 4-5 mm. long; fertile floret 4-5 mm. long,
the callus bearded on the sides, the lemma shortly ciliate on the margins toward
82 FIELD IANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
the summit, the awn 5-6 mm. long, scabrous; rudiment very narrow, about 2 mm.
long, the callus bearded, the margins ciliate near the tip, the awn about 4 mm.
long, scabrous.
Ghloris petraea Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 25. 1788.
Eustachys petraea Desv. Nouv. Bull. Soc. Philom. Paris 2: 189. 1810.
Schultesia petraea Spreng. PI. Pugill. 2: 17. 1815. Chloris swartzii
C. Muell. Bot. Zeit. 19: 341. 1861. C. septentrionalis C. Muell.
Bot. Zeit. 19: 340. 1861. C. swartziana Doell in Mart. Fl. Bras.
2(3): 68. 1878.
Sands along the coast, British Honduras. Not known from
Guatemala. Southeastern United States; eastern Mexico; West
Indies; Honduras; Costa Rica; Panama.
Perennial; culms erect or sometimes decumbent at the base and rooting at
the lower nodes, 30 cm. to more than 1 meter high, conspicuously flattened;
sheaths broad, flattened and keeled, crowded at the base in a fan-shaped cluster;
ligule very short, minutely ciliate; blades conduplicate at the base, becoming flat
toward the obtuse tip, 4-20 cm. (mostly about 10 cm.) long, 4-8 mm. wide,
glabrous or densely pubescent on the upper surface at the very base; spikes 2-7
(usually 4-6), 3-12 cm. (mostly 6-8 cm.) long, digitate, narrowly ascending;
spikelets 2 mm. long, horizontally spreading; glumes 1-nerved, scabrous on the
keel, the first 1.2 mm. long, acute, crescent-shaped, the second a little longer,
broader, obtuse, notched, with an awn 0.5-1 mm. long; fertile floret dark-brown,
1.8 mm. long, the callus very short and rounded, the lemma obovate, blunt,
pubescent on the keel, sparsely short-hispid on the upper half of the margins,
the tip scabrous, the internerves smooth and shining, awnless; rudiment oblong-
truncate, about 1 mm. long, 0.5 mm. wide, the tip scabrous.
Chloris radiata (L.) Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 26. 1788.
Agrostis radiata L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 2: 873. 1759. C. glaucescens
Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 206. 1854. Gymnopogon radiata Parodi,
Physis 4: 180. 1918. Figure 20.
Abundant in brushy field between Jutiapa and La Calera,
Dept. Jutiapa, about 850 meters. West Indies; Mexico to Paraguay.
Annual; culms erect or decumbent at the base, branching, 15-60 cm. high,
distinctly flattened; sheaths compressed-keeled, longer than the internodes,
glabrous; blades thin, flat, mostly 4-10 cm. long, or the lower ones sometimes
longer, smooth or scabrous, sometimes sparsely pilose; ligule 0.5 mm. long, mi-
nutely ciliate; spikes 5-15 (mostly more than 10), 4-8 cm. long, slender, straight
or flexuous, subdigitate or in two or three approximate fascicles, ascending or
spreading; spikelets appressed; glumes acuminate, 1-nerved, the first 1-2 mm. long,
the second 2-3 mm. long, glabrous, or scabrous on the keel; fertile floret about
2.5-3 mm. long, narrow, the callus bearded, the lemma glabrous on the back,
short-ciliate on the upper part of the margins, the awn 5-10 mm. long, scaber-
ulous; rudiment very slender, 1 mm. long, glabrous, the awn 4-6 mm. long,
scaberulous.
FIG. 20. Chloris radiata, X
83
84 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Chloris rufescens Lag. Var. Cienc. 4: 143. 1805. C. aristata
(Cerv.) Swallen, N. Amer. Fl. 17: 596. 1939. Agrostomia aristata
Cerv. Naturaleza 1: 345. 1870.
Open hillsides in pine-oak forest, along streets and roadsides,
open ground and waste places, up to 2,000 meters; Guatemala;
Quiche" ; Huehuetenango. Mexico; Costa Rica.
Stoloniferous perennial; culms erect or decumbent at the base, 15-75 cm. tall,
compressed, sometimes branching at the lower nodes; sheaths compressed-keeled,
glabrous or papillose-pilose near the summit, the margins hyaline; ligule mem-
branaceous, 0.5 mm. long, minutely ciliate; blades flat from a conduplicate base,
4-20 cm. long, sometimes longer on the innovations, 2-4 mm. wide, scabrous,
with a few long hairs on the upper surface near the base; spikes 4-9, 4-10 cm.
long, digitate, or sometimes with a single spike a short distance below the others,
ascending or somewhat spreading; spikelets 4 mm. long, appressed or somewhat
spreading; glumes acuminate, 1-nerved, scabrous on the keel, the first 2.5 mm.,
the second 4 mm. long; fertile floret 3.6-4 mm. long, the callus bearded, the lemma
acute, appressed-ciliate on the margins nearly to the summit, the hairs somewhat
longer above, the awn about 0.8 mm. from the tip, 10-12 mm. long, scabrous;
rudiment narrowly triangular, truncate, 1.2-2 mm. long, the awn 4-8 mm. long,
scabrous.
Chloris virgata Swartz, Fl. Ind. Occ. 203. 1797. C. pubescens
Lag. Var. Cienc. 4: 143. 1805. Rabdochloa virgata Beauv. Ess.
Agrost. 84, 158. 1812. Chloris elegans H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1 :
166. pi. 49. 1816. C. alba Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 289. 1830. Agrostomia
barbata Cerv. Naturaleza 1: 346. 1870. Figure 21.
Fields and waste places, up to 1;500 meters; Izabal; Zacapa;
Jutiapa; Santa Rosa; Guatemala. West Indies; central and south-
western United States and Mexico to Argentina. Also in the Old
World.
Annual; culms erect, or usually decumbent at the base, sometimes rooting
at the lower nodes, 10 cm. to more than 1 meter high; sheaths compressed-keeled,
glabrous, mostly longer than the internodes; ligule very short, minutely ciliate;
blades flat, 4-25 cm. long, 3-7 mm. wide, scaberulous or nearly smooth on both
surfaces, sometimes more or less papillose-pilose on the upper surface near the base,
the margins scabrous; spikes 3-15 (usually about 6), 3-9 cm. (usually 5-6 cm.)
long, erect or narrowly ascending, flexuous, crowded in a rather dense silvery
head; spikelets 3-3.5 mm. long; glumes acuminate, 1-nerved, scabrous on the keel,
the first 1.5-2.5 mm. long, the second 2.5-3 mm. long, with an awn about 1 mm.
long; fertile floret 3-3.5 mm. long, the callus bearded, the lemma acute, the keel
bowed out at the middle, short-ciliate on the margins on the lower part, long-
ciliate on the upper third, the hairs as much as 4 mm. long, the awn rather stout,
6-10 mm. long, scabrous; rudiment 2-2.5 mm. long, about 0.7 mm. wide, subacute,
the awn 5-7 mm. long.
FIG. 21. Chloris virgata. Plant, X 1 A; glumes and florets, X 5.
85
86 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
CHUSQUEA Kunth emend.
Caespitose or dumetose bamboos with determinate or indeterminate rhizomes
or both; culms erect with nodding or more commonly scandent tips, rarely pros-
trate, the internodes not hollow, or only exceptionally so (usually by the break-
down of the pithy center in senescent culms), cylindrical, sometimes shallowly
sulcate for a short distance above the insertion of the branch complement; nodes
usually more or less conspicuously inflated. Culm sheaths persistent or promptly
deciduous. Branches (sometimes suppressed at the lower nodes of the culm)
unarmed, of two categories at each node: a single, strong central one, and numerous
shorter, more slender, subequal ones arising independently, from distinct buds;
branches of both kinds usually rebranched. Leaf blades typically without, ex-
ceptionally with, visibly tessellate venation. Inflorescences determinate, sub-
spicate or thyrsoid or paniculate racemes or compound panicles, terminal to
leafy or leafless branches; spikelets supplied at the base with two empty glumes,
two sterile lemmas and terminated by usually one fertile floret. Lodicules 3;
stamens 3, styles usually 2. Fruit a caryopsis.
About 90 species, all native to the Western Hemisphere main-
land and adjacent islands, from Mexico to Argentina and Chile,
with probably the widest altitudinal range of any bamboo genus.
Although the culms are generally inferior in strength and other
physical properties making for versatile usefulness, those of some
species are employed to an important extent in house construction
and for basketry in areas of abundant natural stands. Some species
yield forage of good quality, which assumes considerable importance
locally for grazing horses and fattening cattle.
Five described species of this genus four well-defined and one
little-known have been found in Guatemala. At least one addi-
tional, undescribed species is represented by numerous specimens
too fragmentary to serve as type material.
Flowering material.
Leaf blades conspicuously tessellate-veined and hairy on the lower surface.
C. lanceolate, .
Leaf blades not visibly tessellate-veined.
Racemes few-flowered.
Subsidiary branches verticillate, more or less completely encircling the
culm at each node C. heydei.
Subsidiary branches not verticillate, emerging only on one side of the culm
at each node C. simpliciflora.
Racemes many-flowered.
Lemmas long-aristate C. longifolia.
Lemmas apiculate C. pittieri.
Non-flowering material.
Leaf blades conspicuously tessellate-veined and hairy on the lower surface.
C. lanceolata.
Leaf blades not visibly tessellate-veined.
Plant spreading by long, slender, indeterminate rhizomes . . . C. simpliciflora.
Plant caespitose.
F SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 87
Culms scarcely exceeding 1 cm. in diameter C. heydei.
Culms commonly exceeding 3 cm. in diameter.
Lower nodes of the culm bearing a ring of spine-like roots C. pittieri.
Lower nodes of the culm without spine-like roots C. longifolia.
Chusquea heydei Hitchc. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 40: 80.
1927.
An imperfectly known bamboo, apparently characterized by
small, relatively blunt-tipped leaves and climbing stems, locally
common at 1,400 meters; Jutiapa; Santa Rosa (whence the type).
Sterile material from Guatemala, San Marcos, and Sacatepquez
apparently belongs here.
"Central culm as much as 5 mm. in diameter; fertile shoots in fascicles on
the central culm, slender, 10 to 20 cm. long, the lower part with bladeless sheaths,
the upper part with one or two foliage leaves; sheaths glabrous, finely ciliate on
the collar and with a few long hairs at the sides of the summit; ligule very short;
blades of fertile shoots lanceolate, thin, scaberulous, slightly hispidulous beneath
at base, 2 to 5 cm. long, 4 to 8 mm. wide, cuneate but scarcely petiolate at base,
acuminate at apex, with 2 more prominent veins on each side of the midrib; panicles
ovoid, open, 6 to 8 cm. long, the branches single, spreading, the rachis terete,
glabrous, the spikelets on branches of second or third order, all spreading; spikelets
elliptic, strongly nerved, glabrous, 8 to 9 mm. long, about 2 mm. wide; glumes
rounded, unequal, the second about 1 mm. long; sterile lemmas a little less than
half as long as the spikelet, acutish, thin, rather weakly 3-nerved; fertile lemma
acute, prominently 9-nerved, the palea a little longer." (Hitchcock, op. cit.)
Chusquea lanceolata Hitchc., Phytologia, 1(4): 145. 1935.
An erect to subscandent bamboo occurring at elevations of 2,000-
3,300 meters (Steyermark), forming dense thickets (Standley), some-
times an element in cypress forests (Skutch) ; Chimaltenango (type) ;
El Progreso; Solold; Quezaltenango. The leaf blades have well-
defined tessellate venation, a character rare in the genus.
Culms erect or subscandent, to 9.2 meters tall and 7.5 cm. in basal diameter
(other characteristics of culms and those of the culm sheaths and typical branch
complement unknown). Internodes of the vegetative branches hispid just below
the nodes with retrorsely appressed stiff hairs which, upon falling, leave the
surface aciculate and papillose, the internodes of the flowering branches (in the
type) sometimes only scaberulous. Leaf sheaths compressed-keeled, salient-
veined, usually strongly ciliate on the margins, the lower ones prominently
hispid on the back with appressed or spreading retrorse stiff hairs which, upon
falling, leave the surface aciculate and papillose, the upper sheaths dorsally
glabrous or nearly so, but usually with the characteristic pubescence near the
margins; auricles and oral setae lacking; petiole collar only slightly flared, the
apex straight or slightly convex at the middle, the margin glabrous or minutely
ciliolate; ligule asymmetrical, about 1 mm. high on one side and about 2 mm. on
the other, thin, fragile, fissile, glabrous or nearly so on the back and margin;
88 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
petiole very short, scarcely exceeding 2 mm. in length, glabrous or nearly so on
both surfaces or retrorsely puberulous basally on the upper surface (somewhat
longer and often sparsely pilose on one or both surfaces in the type); leaf blade
4 cm. X 8 mm. to 15 cm. X 2.5 mm., ovate-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate,
acuminate or attenuate-acuminate above, usually broadly rounded rarely cuneate-
rounded at the base, strongly cartilaginous and finely antrorse-uncinate on the
margins, glabrous on the upper surface, appreciably glaucous and somewhat
unevenly strewn on the outer two-thirds of the lower surface with antrorse white
hairs; midrib, secondary veins and transverse veinlets pale and prominently
salient on the lower surface, all except the midrib (which appears divided above
into 2-3 slightly salient, scabrous veins) sunken and dark on the upper surface,
where the secondary veins are scarcely distinguishable from the tertiary.
Inflorescences paniculate, terminating leafy branches, basally included in
the sheath, exserted up to about 17 cm., the main axis hollow, rounded on the
unbranched side, sulcate and keeled on the other, tomentose on the flat surface
and antrorse scabrous on the keels, branches of all orders weakly pulvinate,
secund or subsecund, the main branches appressed or more or less completely
spreading, up to 6 cm. distant from each other; sulcate or keeled, antrorsely
scabrous, especially on the keels; secondary branches antrorsely scabrous, consist-
ing of antrorsely spreading racemose clusters of few-several spikelets much over-
lapped; the pedicels very slender, stiff, 1-5 mm. long, scabrous; spikelets up to
9 mm. long, crowded, glossy throughout; empty glumes very thin, subscarious,
ovate or oblong, obtuse, keelless and veinless, purplish when fresh, drying dark
brown, glabrous on the back and margin, subequal, I: slightly under 1 mm. long,
II: slightly over 1 mm. to 1.5 mm. long; sterile lemmas purplish when fresh,
drying dark brown, lanceolate, attenuate-acuminate, 3-nerved, strongly keeled,
apiculate, or awned, glabrous on the margins and throughout on the back, or
more commonly antrorsely scabrous on the midrib and on both sides near the
apex, and sparsely ciliate on the margins above, I: about 4 mm. long, II: about
5 mm. long including the awn; lemma lanceolate, acuminate, 7-9-nerved, strongly
keeled, apiculate or awned, glabrous throughout on the back, sometimes ciliate
on the margins above; palea about as long as the lemma, sometimes exserted 1-2
mm., strongly narrowed, biapiculate and often white penicillate above, broadly
sulcate (scarcely keeled) below, more narrowly so or canaliculate above, usually
markedly but minutely tomentose within the sulcus toward the tip, sometimes
perceptibly so throughout. Empty glumes and sterile lemmas usually tinged with
wine throughout, the lemmas sometimes so along the margins when fresh, the
color turning dark brown upon drying. (The contents of the palea either rudi-
mentary or decayed in the specimens available.)
Chusquea longifolia Swallen, Jour. Washington Acad. Sci.
30: 310. 1940.
A coarse, caespitose bamboo, with unusually long, narrow leaves,
forming dense thickets in wet forest and cloud forest and on shaded
slopes at 2,000-3,800 meters; Jalapa; Guatemala; Chimaltenango;
Quezaltenango; San Marcos. Southern Mexico (whence the type);
Costa Rica; Panama.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 89
Caespitose bamboo with strictly determinate rhizomes and erect or suberect,
apically arched culms up to about 15 meters tall and 6.25 cm. in basal diameter;
internodes usually shallowly sulcate above the insertion of the branches, glabrous,
up to 42 cm. long (XXII); nodes somewhat inflated, the lowest 3-4 with aerial
roots, the lowest 1-6 without buds, the rest all gemmiferous. Culm sheaths
shorter than the internodes, persistent, disintegrating in place (perfect ones not
seen); auricles and oral setae apparently not developed; the ligule (in V) about
1.5 mm. long, strongly arcuate, ciliolate on the margin; sheath blade persistent,
broadly triangular, appressed. Branches coarse, the principal one to 2 cm. in
diameter, bulbous and rooting spontaneously at the base, the auxiliary ones very
numerous, very stiff. Leaf sheath usually prominently costate, with secondary
veins of variable prominence, puberulent and glabrescent, or glabrous from the
first; auricles and oral setae lacking; petiole collar prominent, flared, glabrous, the
apex broadly convex, the margin glabrous; ligule short, usually glabrous on the
back, fragile; petiole long, thin, compressed, nerve-striate and glabrous or nearly
so on both surfaces, narrowly winged on the margins by the decurrent blade;
blade up to 15 cm. X 8 mm. and 20 cm. X 16 mm., narrowly lanceolate to linear-
lanceolate, acuminate, attenuate, sometimes subulate above, narrowly cuneate at
the base, stiff, flat, cartilaginous and antrorse-scabrous on the margins, scabrous
to setose on one or both surfaces, sometimes glabrous or nearly so on both; midrib
and secondary nerves (3-4 pairs) pale and salient on the lower surface, scarcely
discernible above, the tertiary nerves salient and indistinguishable from the
secondary ones on the upper surface, transverse veinlets not visible.
Inflorescences stiff, narrow racemes terminating auxiliary leafy branches,
exserted up to 27 cm., the axes sulcate and ridged, scabrous, the branches ap-
pressed, not apparently pulvinate; spikelets numerous, 12-18 mm. long, over-
lapping, appressed or more rarely somewhat spreading; empty glumes ovate,
obtuse, stramineous, glabrous, nerveless, I: 0.5 mm. long, II: 1 mm. long; sterile
lemmas lanceolate, awned, scabrous above on the back, I: obtuse to acute, 7-9
mm. long, II: acute, about as long as the fertile lemma; fertile lemma up to 16
mm. long (including a 2-4 mm. long awn), scabrous on the back, glossy below,
the margins involute; palea as long as the lemma (minus its awn) or a little longer,
sulcate above between the weak, approximate, glabrous keels, scarious, white
sericeous near the narrow, truncate apex, elsewhere glabrous and glossy, the
margins wide, involute; lodicules 3, about 1 mm. long, ovate-lanceolate, obtuse,
opaque, ciliate on the upper margins; anthers not seen; ovary fusiform, glabrous,
style very short, stigmas 2, 2 mm. long, plumose; mature fruit not seen.
In San Marcos, where this bamboo is called canito (Steyermark)
the culms supply material for the fabrication of coffee baskets.
Chusquea pittieri Hack. Oesterr. Bot. Zeitschr. 53: 153. 1903.
An erect or subscandent bamboo characterized by a ring of
spine-like roots above each node in the lower one-half to two-thirds
of the culm. Forming dense thickets in wooded ravines, sometimes
an element in oak forests, occurring at elevations of 1,500-1,800
meters; the culms locally used in making sky rockets; the plant
known locally as cana brava (Standley). Guatemala; Solola.
Panama; Costa Rica (whence the type).
90 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Caespitose bamboo with erect or suberect, apically pendulous or subscandent
culms up to 15-18 meters tall and 7.5 cm. in basal diameter, forming relatively
open clumps; internodes glabrous, often lightly pruinose when fresh, the epidermis
of the basal ones often wine-colored at first, then green, relatively short (V: 15
X 4.8 cm.; XX: 26 X 3.8 cm.), shallowly sulcate above insertion of branches;
nodes somewhat to rather prominently inflated, all gemmiferous or, in large
plants, the lowermost 8-10 without buds; culm sheaths deciduous, longer than
the internodes, leathery when fresh, papery when dry, irregularly tinted with
more or less persistent wine color, strongly ribbed by coarse, salient veins, minutely
and mostly retrorsely asperulous throughout and somewhat densely strewn, on
the outside between the veins, with basally dark-papillate antrorsely appressed
or spreading, transparent, colorless, sharp-pointed, fugaceous hairs, densely
antrorse-strigose on the inside near the margins at the apex, sparsely to densely
brown-ciliate on the margins above, V: gradually contracted above to a very
narrow apex (about 5 mm. wide) (the apex of upper sheaths progressively more
narrowly attenuate and elongate, quilled, and ending in a perceptibly thickened
callus or swelling at the point of abscission of the sheath blade) ; auricles not devel-
oped; oral setae none or minute and fugaceous; ligule very small, scarcely integral,
hardly more than a dense, crooked row of uneven, mostly short, very stiff, antrorse
bristles; blade (of sheath V) more or less persistent, small, narrowly triangular,
less than 10 mm. long, antrorsely appressed, quilled upon drying, fluted and
antrorsely scaberulous on the outside, densely dark strigose within, blades of upper
sheaths progressively longer and narrower and more promptly deciduous. Pri-
mary branches up to 2 meters long, the auxiliary ones up to 30-40 cm. long, mostly
branched only basally, with prominent nodes, abscissile at lower nodes; leaf
sheaths compressed-keeled near the apex, salient- veined, often minutely papillose
or "dewy" between the veins, ciliate on the margins; auricles lacking; oral setae
several, crowded, transparent, colorless, glabrous, acute; petiole collar very
straight or slightly flared, undulating at the apex, the margin fringed at first with
long, transparent, colorless, glabrous, acute bristles like the oral setae, these
deciduous, leaving the margin erose or irregularly toothed; ligule about 1 mm.
long, thin, fissile, scabrous or subglabrous on the back, irregularly convex at the
apex, irregularly dentate on the margin; petiole very short, winged almost to the
base by the decurrent edges of the blade, antrorse scabrous or tomentose on the
upper surface, glabrous on the lower; leaf blade 3 cm. X 3 mm. to 10 cm. X 10
mm. or 11 cm. X 9 mm., narrowly lanceolate, acuminate above, cuneate at the
base, with a thin, cartilaginous, antrorsely spinulose margin, glabrous throughout
on the lower surface, or with a tuft of white spreading hairs on one side at the base,
sparsely strewn on the upper surface with long, thin, colorless, translucent sharp-
pointed, antrorsely appressed or spreading hairs, the midrib and secondary veins
pale and salient, the tertiary ones weak on the lower surface, the midrib apparently
divided into 2-3 strongly salient very scabrous veins on the upper surface, where
the secondary and tertiary veins are sunken and scarcely distinguishable from
each other.
Inflorescences terminating leafy or at length leafless twigs or branches, more
or less drooping or nodding, racemose, up to 10 cm. long, relatively simple, the
peduncle up to 8 cm. long, solid, glabrous, exserted about 3 cm., the main axis of the
raceme deliquescent by repeated, irregular branching, the branches pulvinate and
flattened at the base, glabrous or obscurely scabrous on the keels, the ultimate
ones (pedicels) 5-18 mm. long; spikelets up to 13 mm. long, fusiform, overlapping
1 SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 91
but only moderately crowded; disarticulating above empty glume II, empty
glumes very small, scarious, glabrous, subequal, orbicular, obtuse, both usually
less than 1 mm. long; sterile lemmas very thin, scarious, sometimes translucent,
acute, scabrous-awned, glabrous or nearly so on the back, often ciliolate on the
margins, sub equal, about 7-nerved, I: 4-6 mm. long, II: 5-7 mm. long; lemma
9-10 mm. long, somewhat ventricose, acute, apiculate, dorsally glabrous, ciliolate
on the margins at the very apex, salient-veined with about 13 veins; palea about
as long as the lemma or a little longer, slightly ventricose, glabrous, not salient-
veined, obscurely sulcate below and more pronouncedly so toward the apex,
bimucronate at the apex; lodicules 1-1.5 mm. long, oval to lanceolate, acute to
obtuse, translucent, not prominently veined, ciliate on the margins; anthers
linear, about 7 mm. long, the connective not salient above; ovary glabrous (teste
Hackel); mature fruit brown, glabrous, the surface finely aciculate-striate, fusi-
form, slightly tapered toward the tip, crowned by the bent-over base of the style.
Chusquea simpliciflora Munro, Trans. Linn. Soc. 26: 54.
pi. II. 1868. Figure 22.
A high-climbing or trailing bamboo with slender stems sometimes
exceeding 24 meters in length, known from Guatemala by a single
collection made by Skutch at an elevation of about 400 meters at
Finca Chaila, "Zona Reyna," Quiche". The type is from the Canal
Zone. The known range of the species extends from Mexico to
Venezuela and Ecuador.
Clump open, spreading by slender, indeterminate rhizomes which range widely,
both underground and on the surface, the culms slender, weak, depending for
support on other vegetation, up to and exceeding 24 meters in length, and up to
about 1 cm. in diameter, with a very long, very slender tip; internodes cylindrical,
not sulcate above the insertion of the branches, up to 17 cm. long, glabrous in the
lower part of the culm, covered with tiny retrorse hooks in the slender, terminal
portion of the culm, the nodes more or less distinctly inflated, all gemmiferous,
fringed on the sheath scar with a shaggy row of brown hairs. Culm sheaths
persistent, papery, shorter than the internodes, narrowly triangular, long-atten-
uate above, the lower ones brown-pubescent dorsally, the upper ones glabrous or
nearly so; auricles and oral setae not developed; the ligule very small and short,
the margin fringed with minute, brown cilia; blade very small, quill-like or thread-
like, inrolled, persistent. Branches as in the genus, the principal one at each node
usually suppressed in the lower and uppermost parts of the culm, elsewhere often
highly developed and reaching the dimensions of the main culm, the subsidiary
branches numerous, slender, relatively short, rarely exceeding 20 cm., with
prominently inflated nodes. Leaf sheaths salient- veined and compressed-keeled,
hirsute throughout or in part and glabrescent, minutely papillose between the
nerves, fringed along the upper margins with long cilia; auricles not developed,
oral setae absent or few, slender, transparent, colorless, glabrous, appressed;
petiole collar strongly flared, thin, irregularly undulate at the apex, the margin
glabrous; ligule less than 1 mm. long, puberulent or nearly glabrous on the back,
truncate or convex at the apex, the margin irregularly ciliolate or glabrous; petiole
very short, winged to the very base by the decurrent blade, thickly cartilaginous
on one edge, more or less prominently hispid on both surfaces; leaf blade 2 cm.
FIG. 22. Chusquea simpliciflora~M.\mTO. A, branch complement including
flowering and sterile branches, ca. X Yi\ B, slender tip of flowering culm, ca. X M-
1, spikelet; 2, floret with lemma removed, enlarged; 3, floret with lemma and palea
removed, enlarged; 4, pistil and lodicules, enlarged. From William Munro, Mono-
graph of the Bambuseae, Linn. Soc. Trans. 26: pi. 2. 1868.
92
1 SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 93
X 4 mm. to 11 cm. X 12 mm., lanceolate, acute or acuminate, apiculate above,
more or less asymmetrically cuneate at the base, antrorsely scabrous to the touch
on the upper surface, hirsute at the base and somewhat so along the midrib on
the lower surface, usually slightly paler on the lower surface, serrulate on both
margins, the midrib pale and somewhat salient on both surfaces, sometimes
strongly twinned and always antrorse-scabrous on the upper surface, secondary
veins two or three on each side of the midrib, visible on the lower surface, not
distinguishable from the tertiary veins on the upper surface, transverse veins not
apparent.
Inflorescences small, open, usually very short, racemes terminating subsid-
iary branches, set with usually very small leaf blades, the raceme exserted 1-3
cm., bearing 1-several spikelets, the main axis very slender, striate, glabrous, the
pedicels minutely pulvinate at the base, very slender, half-spreading, scaberulous;
spikelets lax, pale or greenish stramineous, the empty glumes minute, unequal,
obtuse, usually glabrous; sterile lemmas narrowly lanceolate, acuminate, attenuate,
thin, papery, with a few prominent veins, costate, sparsely strewn with spreading
hairs, or glabrous, I: 5-7 mm., II: 7-8 mm. long; fertile lemma up to 11 mm. long,
thin, papery, with a few prominent veins, glabrous, acuminate, attenuate, in-
completely surrounding the palea; palea about as long as the lemma or a little
longer, thin, papery, keeled by two prominent veins, otherwise weak-veined,
somewhat depressed between the keels, narrow, acute, truncate but not apparently
bifid at the apex; lodicules 3, minute, hyaline, narrow, lanceolate, ciliolate on the
margins, indistinctly nerved; anthers not seen (locules of the anthers apiculate,
teste Munro); ovary slender, fusiform, glabrous; style short, glabrous, stigmas
2, plumose; mature fruit glabrous, brown, 3 mm. long and 6 mm. broad, flattened-
fusiform, not sulcate.
CINNA L.
Spikelets 1-flowered, disarticulating below the glumes, falling entire; glumes
equal, 1-nerved, about as long as the floret; rachilla forming a stipe below the floret,
produced beyond the palea as a minute bristle; lemma similar to the glumes,
3-nerved, bearing a minute awn just below the apex; palea a little shorter than
the lemma, apparently 1-keeled.
Slender to rather coarse perennials with flat blades and open, loose, drooping
panicles.
Species 3, one in North America and Eurasia, one in Canada
and United States, and one in Mexico to northern South America.
Cinna poaeformis (H.B.K.) Scribn. & Merr. U. S. Dept. Agr.
Div. Agrost. Bull. 24: 21. 1901. Deyeuxia poaeformis H.B.K. Nov.
Gen. & Sp. 1: 146. 1815. Poa subuniflora Kunth, Rev. Gram. 115.
1829. Cinnastrum poaeforme Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 91. 1886. C.
miliaceum Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 91. 1886. Figure 23.
Moist pine slopes, about 3,000 meters, Volcan de Santa Maria,
Quezaltenango, Steyermark 34099, 34167. Mexico; Costa Rica;
Panama; Colombia; Venezuela; and Peru.
FIG. 23. Cinna poaeformis. Inflorescence, X 1; spikelet, X 20.
94
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA
95
Erect perennial; culms slender to rather coarse, 80 cm. to more than 2 meters
high; sheaths glabrous, shorter than the internodes; ligule 5-15 mm. long, thin,
lacerate; blades 10-30 cm. long, 5-10 mm. wide, flat, acuminate, glabrous or
scaberulous, the margins finely scabrous; panicles 15-40 cm. long, the slender
drooping branches in distant verticils, naked in the lower half, some of them often
as much as 15 cm. long; spikelets somewhat densely clustered, short-pedicellate,
2.5-2.8 mm. long; glumes usually very scabrous; awn of lemma obscure; rudiment
slender, glabrous.
COIX L.
Monoecious, the staminate and pistillate spikelets in the same inflorescence;
staminate spikelets 2-flowered in 2's or 3's at each joint of a slender continuous
rachis, 2 sessile, the other pedicellate, sometimes wanting; first glume many-
FlG. 24. Coix lacryma-jobi, X 1.
96 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
nerved, 2-keeled, the keels broadly winged above the middle, the margins narrow
and not much inflexed; pistillate spikelets 3, together enclosed in a very hard
white or grayish, bead-like involucre or modified bract, the peduncle of the stam-
inate raceme protruding from the orifice at the apex.
Annual broad-leaved grasses with numerous inflorescences on long stout
peduncles, solitary or fascicled in the upper sheaths.
Species about 4, one widely distributed in the tropics.
Coix lacryma-jobi L. Sp. PL 972. 1753. Job's tears; Idgrimas
de San Pedro; lagrimas de Job. Figure 24.
Wet ground along streams at low altitudes; Alta Verapaz;
Suchitepe"quez; Retalhuleu; Quezaltenango. Introduced from the
Old World. Cultivated for ornament and sometimes as a cereal;
found as an escape in moist places throughout tropical America.
Culms freely branching 1 meter or more high; blades as much as 50 cm. long,
commonly 10-20 cm. at the top of the culms, 2-3.5 cm. wide, rounded or cordate,
clasping at the base; staminate part of the inflorescence 2~-4 cm. long, the spikelets
8-10 mm. long; beads or sheathing bracts about 1 cm. long, smooth and shining.
CRYPTOCHLOA Swallen
Inflorescence small, usually partly hidden in the upper sheaths, each bearing
both staminate and pistillate spikelets in no definite arrangement; staminate
spikelet: glumes and sterile lemma wanting; lemma and palea acute or acuminate,
thin, the lemma 1-nerved; stamens 3; pistillate spikelet: first glume wanting;
second glume and sterile lemma acuminate, subequal, 3- or usually 5-nerved, the
lateral nerves approximate, finely transversely veined; fertile floret subcylindrical,
raised on the enlarged and thickened segment of the rachilla; lemma firm, sub-
indurate, smooth and shining, gradually narrowed to the blunt tip, the margins
not inrolled; palea as long as the lemma, similar in texture.
Low monoecious perennial grasses with broad flat blades usually crowded
toward the top of the slender wiry culms.
Four species described, in Mexico, Central and South America.
Cryptochloa granulifera Swallen, Ann. Mo. Bot. Card. 29:
321. 1942. Pajdn.
Wet or dense rocky forests, and dry hillsides, 600-1,400 meters;
Quezaltenango; San Marcos. Mexico (Veracruz and Chiapas);
Honduras; Ecuador.
Culms slender, erect, occasionally somewhat geniculate at the lower nodes,
as much as 50 cm. high, pubescent in a line on one side, the nodes retrorsely
pubescent, otherwise glabrous; sheaths keeled, glabrous, or pubescent toward the
summit, mottled with dark spots; ligule 0.5-2 mm. long, obtuse, pubescent, fused
with the auriculate summit of the sheath; blades broadly lanceolate, the upper
' SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 97
ones 6-7.5 cm. long, 10-13 mm. wide (sometimes 20 mm.), rather gradually
narrowed to an acuminate tip, glabrous on both surfaces, the margins scabrous;
panicles 2-5 cm. long, contracted, partly enclosed in the upper sheaths; staminate
spikelets 4.5-5 mm. long, the lemma acuminate or subattenuate, appearing as if
awned; fertile spikelet 11-12 mm. long, the second glume and sterile lemma
subequal, acuminate, 5-nerved, finely transversely nerved, granular-roughened;
fruit 7-8 mm. long, ivory-white, narrowed at the summit to a blunt tip.
CYMBOPOGON Spreng.
Spikelets in pairs at each node of the short, paired racemes, those of the
lowest pair of one or both racemes alike, sterile, awnless, and similar to the
pedicellate spikelets above; sessile fertile spikelets dorsally compressed; first glume
flat or grooved, sharply 2-keeled; fertile lemma narrow, awned from between two
short lobes, sometimes awnless.
Rather coarse perennials with long narrow blades and large, usually drooping,
compound inflorescences of aggregate pairs of racemes subtended by spathes.
Probably about 60 species in the tropics and warmer parts of
the Eastern Hemisphere.
Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf, Kew Bull. Misc. Inf. 1906:
322. 1906. Andropogon citratus DC. Cat. Hort. Monsp. 78. 1813,
without description. DC. ex Nees, Allg. Gartenz. 3: 267. 1835.
Lemon grass; Te limon; Zacate limdn.
Probably commonly cultivated in Guatemala as in most of
tropical America, although only two specimens have been seen.
Introduced from India or Ceylon. Tea made from the leaves is
used for colds, fevers, and various other ailments. This plant is the
source of part of the lemon grass oil of commerce.
Densely tufted perennial, seldom if ever flowering in American tropics; culms
erect in large clumps from short rhizomes, commonly 1-2 meters high with numer-
ous leafy sterile shoots; sheaths crowded at the base, elongate, glabrous, the
lower ones often of nearly equal length, auriculate, the auricles fused with the
margins of the ligule; blades as much as 1 meter long, 5-15 mm. wide, attenuate
to a fine point, gradually narrowed to a long, almost petiole-like base, scabrous,
especially on the margins, the midrib rather strong toward the base; inflorescence
30-60 cm. long, drooping.
CYNODON L. Rich.
Spikelets 1-flowered, sessile in two rows on one side of the narrow triangular
rachis, the rachilla disarticulating above the glumes, prolonged beyond the spikelet
in a naked stipe, sometimes bearing a rudimentary floret; glumes subequal,
acuminate, 1-nerved, the first lunate, the second lanceolate; lemma acute, awnless,
3-nerved, pubescent on the nerves; palea narrow, acute, as long as the lemma.
98 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Stoloniferous perennials with short blades and few to several slender digitate
spikes.
Species 6, one widely distributed in warmer regions around the
world.
Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. Syn. PL 1: 85. 1805. Panicum
dactylon L. Sp. PL 58. 1753. Capriola dactylon Kuntze, Rev. Gen.
PL 2: 764. 1891. Bermuda grass; Pelo de macho (Izabal). Figure 25.
Common in open ground at low altitudes; sometimes planted for
lawns; Petn; Izabal; Escuintla; Guatemala. British Honduras;
common throughout the warmer regions of the world.
Rhizomatous, stoloniferous, widely creeping perennial; culms wiry, com-
pressed, 10-40 cm. high; sheaths usually overlapping, keeled, glabrous or sparsely
pilose at the throat; ligule membranaceous, minutely erose, 0.2-0.3 mm. long;
blades flat, 2-20 cm. long (usually 5-10 cm.), 2-4 mm. wide, scabrous, especially
on the margins, sometimes sparsely pilose; spikes 4-7, slender, arcuate, 2-7 cm.
long; spikelets 2-3 mm. long.
DACTYLOGTENIUM Willd.
Spikelets 3-5-flowered, compressed, sessile and closely imbricate in two rows
on one side of the rather narrow flat rachis; rachilla disarticulating above the first
glume and between the florets; glumes broad, unequal, 1-nerved, the second
mucronate or short-awned below the tip, deciduous; lemmas broad, keeled, 3-nerved,
acuminate or short-awned, the lateral nerves indistinct; palea about as long as the
lemma; seed subglobose, ridged, enclosed in a thin pericarp.
Annual grasses with flat blades and two to several short thick digitate ascend-
ing or spreading spikes, the rachis prolonged beyond the spikelets.
Three species in Eastern Hemisphere, one introduced in America.
Dactyloctenium aegyptium (L.) Richt. PL Eur. 1: 68. 1890.
Cynosurus aegyptius L. Sp. PL 72. 1753-. Eleusine aegyptiaca Desf.
Fl. Atlant. 1: 85. 1798. Dactyloctenium mucronatum var. erectum
Fourn. Mex. PL 2: 144. 1886. Crowfoot grass. Figure 26.
Roadsides, fields, and waste places at low altitudes; Izabal;
Zacapa; Escuintla; Retalhuleu. Tropical regions of the Old World;
introduced in America.
Culms branching, radiate-spreading, rooting at the nodes, the ascending ends
mostly 20-40 cm. long; spikes 2-5, 1-3 cm. long, thick, digitate, the rachis pro-
duced beyond the spikelets in a stiff point; spikelets pectinate, crowded, about
3 mm. long; first glume 1.5 mm. long, acute, scabrous on the keel; second glume
a little longer than the first with an awn 1-2.5 mm. long; lemmas acute or acum-
inate, 2.5-3.5 mm. long.
FIG. 25. Cynodon dactylon. Plant, X 1 A; spikelet and two views of floret, X 5.
99
FIG. 26. Dactyloctenium aegyptium. Plant, X /1>; spikelet, floret and seed, X 5.
100
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 101
DENDROCALAMUS Nees
Caespitose bamboos with promptly determinate, thick rhizomes; culms erect
or suberect, the tip nodding or broadly arched; the branches (in some species
suppressed at the lower nodes of the culm) unarmed, fasciculate, very unequal,
the central one at each node strongly dominant and flanked by several pairs of
progressively shorter and more slender ones; culm sheaths usually promptly decid-
uous; leaf blades without typical tessellate venation, but often with pellucid dots or
ridges between the tertiary veins. Inflorescences usually capitate, with pseudo-
spikelets congested in dense, more or less spherical aggregates at the nodes of leafy
or more commonly leafless branches; spikelets few-flowered, the rachilla short,
usually disarticulating except below the first lemma; lodicules usually none;
stamens 6, the filaments filiform, free, the style solitary, the stigma usually simple.
Fruit a dry, starchy caryopsis, with a thick, separable pericarp.
About 30 species have been described, all relatively large, tropical
bamboos, mostly from southeastern Asia and adjacent islands.
Many are locally important as sources of materials for building and
for making articles of daily use.
One species has been introduced in Guatemala.
Dendrocalamus strictus (Roxb.) Nees, Linnaea 9: 476. 1834.
Bambusa (as Bambos) stricta Roxb., PI. Coromandel 58. pi. 80.
1795. Figure 27.
In the opinion of Gamble (Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. Calcutta 7:
79. 1896) this is the most common and most universally used bamboo
of India. The species has been introduced repeatedly into the
Western Hemisphere through the facilities of the United States
Department of Agriculture. It has been cultivated for more than
15 years in Puerto Rico and the Federal Experiment Station at
Mayaguez, whence material for trial has been introduced into
Guatemala through the facilities of the Institute Agropecuario
Nacional. It is being propagated at Chocola, Suchitepe"quez,
for distribution. India (whence the type).
A densely caespitose bamboo with stiff, usually upright culms, strongly vary-
ing in stature, habit and wall thickness according to the conditions of growth, up
to 15 meters in height and 7.5 cm. in diameter; internodes relatively short, up
to 45 cm. in length, often solid or with a very slender lumen when grown under
unfavorable conditions, glabrous, usually more or less strongly pruinose when
young, the nodes usually somewhat inflated, the lower ones often fringed at the
sheath scar with a ring of shaggy brown hairs. Culm sheaths variable, usually
relatively broad, with a gently narrowed apex, glabrous or strewn on the back
with appressed or spreading pale or dark, stiff, deciduous hairs, ciliate on the
margins; auricles and oral setae usually not developed; ligule straight or arcuate,
1-1.5 mm. high, dentate and ciliolate on the margin; sheath blade appressed to
the culm, usually persistent, roughly triangular or ovate-triangular with an
102 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
abruptly acuminate, often hard-pointed tip, coarsely strigose on the inner surface,
more sparsely strewn on the outer surface with dark, appressed, sharp, gradually
deciduous hairs, or glabrous from the first. Branches stiff, wiry, the principal
one at the lower nodes often short and curved downward, sometimes very long and
variously curved, the secondary branches mostly very slender and numerous.
Leaf sheaths nerve-striate, glabrous or hispidulous to asperous, ciliolate on the
margins; auricles usually not well developed, oral setae small, more or less crisped,
pale, glabrous, deciduous, often lacking entirely; petiole collar often thickish,
somewhat flared, the margin usually glabrous; leaf blades up to 25 cm. long and
up to 30 mm. broad, linear-lanceolate, acuminate, apiculate, rounded or cuneate
at the base, scabrous on the upper surface, usually more or less prominently
villous on both surfaces, sometimes almost entirely without hairs in the upper
part of the culm, midrib and secondary veins salient on the lower surface, the
spaces between the tertiary veins more or less thickly strewn with little transverse
ridges or pellucid dots often clearly visible only under a lens by transmitted light.
DIECTOMIS H.B.K.
Spikelets in pairs at the nodes of a readily disarticulating rachis, the rachis
joints and pedicels narrow at the base, gradually widened and thickened to the
summit, densely ciliate- villous on the margins; sessile spikelet compressed, the
first glume deeply sulcate, 2-keeled, awnless, the second glume with a slender
somewhat divergent awn; fertile lemma shorter than the glumes, 3-nerved, awned
from between 2 small teeth, the awn once-geniculate, much longer and stouter
than those of the glumes; pedicellate spikelet prominent; first glume broad, flat,
many-nerved, rather abruptly acute or acuminate, bearing a slender awn from
between the slender teeth of the bifid apex; second glume much shorter and nar-
rower, acuminate.
Erect, branching annuals with solitary racemes somewhat aggregate on the
branches from the upper nodes, forming a narrow but rather loose compound
inflorescence. Monotypic.
Diectomis fastigiata (Swartz) H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1:
193. pi. 64- 1816. Andropogon fastigiatus Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind.
Occ. 26. 1788. Figure 28.
Thickets, marshy prairies, and hillsides, to 1,500 meters; Alta
Verapaz; Izabal; Zacapa; Chiquimula; Jalapa; Jutiapa; Guatemala.
West Indies; Mexico to Brazil. Tropics of the Old World.
Slender annual; culms erect, commonly 0.5-1.5 meters, sometimes as little
as 15 cm. high, glabrous; sheaths rounded, glabrous, shorter than the internodes;
ligule 5-10 mm., rarely 20 mm. long, acuminate; blades elongate, attenuate, flat
or involute, 1-4 mm. wide, scabrous; flowering branches from the upper nodes,
ascending, forming a narrow, compound but rather loose inflorescence, the ultimate
branchlets somewhat flexuous; racemes 2-6 cm. long, partly enclosed in the
spathes; sessile spikelet 5 mm. long, the divergent awn of the second glume about
10 mm. long, that of the fertile lemma 4-5 cm. long, once-geniculate, tightly
twisted below the bend; pedicellate spikelet conspicuous, 8 mm. long, minutely
FIG. 27. Dendrocalamus strictus (Roxb.) Nees. 1, leaf-branch, X 1 A; 2, part of
flower-panicle, X H; 3, culm-sheath, reduced to about J4; 4, spikelet, enlarged;
5, flowering glume, enlarged; 6, palea, enlarged; 7, anther, enlarged; 8, ovary and
style, enlarged; 9 and 10, caryopsis, enlarged; 11, leaf-sheath, enlarged. From
J. S. Gamble, Bambuseae or British India, Calcutta Botanic Garden, Annals 7:
pi. 68. 1907.
103
FIG. 28. Diectomis fastigiata, X
104
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 105
ciliate on the margins, the awns 6-10 mm. long; second glume much narrower,
5 mm. long, acuminate.
DIGITARIA Heist.
Spikelets solitary, in pairs, or in groups of 4 or 5, alternate in two rows on one
side of a 3-angled, winged or wingless raceme, the first glume turned away from
the rachis; first glume wanting, or present as a small or minute nerveless scale;
second glume much shorter to as long as the spikelet; sterile lemma as long as or
slightly longer than the fruit, 5-nerved, the lateral nerves sometimes approximate
near the margin; fruit cartilaginous, pale or dark brown, the hyaline margins of
the lemma not inrolled.
Annuals or perennials with usually flat blades and slender racemes, digitate
or racemose on the common axis.
Probably more than 300 species in temperate and tropical
regions throughout the world.
Plants annual; culms decumbent-spreading, or if erect, freely branching at the
base.
Culms widely spreading, usually rooting at the lower nodes; first glume pres-
ent.
Spikelets 3 mm. long, the sterile lemma usually conspicuously villous on the
margins; rachis 1 mm. wide, without scattered long white hairs.
D. sanguinalis.
Spikelets 2 mm. long, the sterile lemma subglabrous or inconspicuously
pilose; rachis about 0.4 mm. wide with a few scattered long white hairs.
D. horizontalis.
Culms erect in small tufts; first glume wanting.
Spikelets 2 mm. long, villous with golden hairs D. argillacea.
Spikelets 1.2-1.8 mm. long, the pubescence white.
Racemes 8-25; spikelets 1.2 mm. long D. multiflora.
Racemes not more than 8; spikelets 1.5-1.8 mm. long.
Racemes 3-6, mostly less than 6 cm. long D. panicea.
Racemes 6-8, mostly more than 10 cm. long D. cayoensis.
Plants perennial.
Plants stoloniferous; foliage densely velvety D. leucites.
Plants not stoloniferous; foliage glabrous or sparsely pilose D. obtusa.
Digitaria argillacea (Hitchc. & Chase) Fernald, Rhodora 22:
104. 1920. Syntherisma argillacea Hitchc. & Chase, Contr. U. S.
Nat. Herb. 18: 296. 1917.
Brushy slopes and open ground, up to 1,600 meters; Zacapa;
Sacatepe*quez; Guatemala. Mexico; Nicaragua; Costa Rica; Pan-
ama; West Indies.
Annual; culms 5-35 cm. high, in small dense tufts, erect or somewhat gen-
iculate at the base, rather freely branching from the lower nodes; leaves almost
106 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
all crowded toward the base; sheaths keeled at least toward the summit, short but
longer than the short internodes, or the uppermost elongate; ligule truncate, less
than 1 mm. long; blades 2-7 cm. long, 2-3.5 mm. wide, flat, acuminate, sparsely
to rather densely pilose or hirsute; racemes 1-4, 1-5 cm. long, stiffly ascending,
racemose on a short axis, the rachis wingless; spikelets 2 mm. long, usually in
pairs, unequally pedicellate; first glume obsolete; second glume and sterile lemma
nearly equal, about as long as the fruit, villous with golden hairs which extend
in a tuft beyond the tip of the spikelet.
Digitaria cayoensis Swallen, Jour. Washington Acad. Sci. 28:
8. 1938.
Soil pockets in stream bed, Mountain Pine Ridge, El Cayo
District, British Honduras (type Lundell 6670). Mexico (Yucatan,
Gaumer 2494) .
Annual; culms erect or ascending, sometimes geniculate and rooting at the
lower nodes, freely branching, as much as 80 cm. tall, glabrous; sheaths longer
than the internodes, rounded, or keeled only toward the summit, densely hirsute,
or the uppermost nearly glabrous, the hairs ascending or spreading; blades flat,
acuminate, as much as 16 cm. long, 3-5 mm. wide, scabrous, the upper surface
very sparsely pilose; axis of inflorescence 5-8 cm. long; racemes slender, ascending,
8-12 cm. long, pilose in the axils, the rachis 0.3 mm. wide, the very narrow margins
scabrous; spikelets 1.5-1.6 mm. long, in groups of three, the unequal pedicels
flattened, scabrous, 1-3 mm. long; first glume nearly obsolete; second glume about
1.3 mm. long, acute, 3-nerved, with dense lines of white hairs on the internerves
and margins, the hairs near the tip somewhat longer than the others, extending
slightly beyond the glume; sterile lemma a little longer than the fruit, 3-nerved,
densely pubescent in lines on the internerves and margins, the hairs shorter than
those on the second glume; fruit 1.4-1.5 mm. long, dark brown, striate.
Digitaria horizontalis Willd. Enum. PL 92. 1809. Milium
digitatum Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 24. 1788. Panicum horizon-
tale Meyer, Prim. Fl. Esseq. 54. 1818. Syntherisma digitata Hitchc.
Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 142. 1908. Digitaria digitata Urban,
Symb. Antill. 8: 24. 1920. Not D. digitata Buese, 1854.
A common weed in cultivated ground and waste places, Pete*n;
Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Retalhuleu. British Honduras. Tropics of
both hemispheres.
Similar in habit, size, and pubescence to D. sanguinalis, the blades usually
more densely pilose; racemes slender, racemose on a short axis rather than digitate,
the rachis 0.4 mm. wide, very narrowly winged, with a few scattered, spreading,
long white hairs; spikelets 2 mm. long; first glume minute or wanting; second
glume about half as long as the fruit, sparsely villous at the tip; sterile lemma
subglabrous or sparsely pilose or villous on the margins, the hairs short.
Digitaria leucites (Trin.) Henr. Med. Rijks Herb. Leiden 61:
6. 1930. Panicum leucites Trin. Gram. Pan. 85. 1826. Milium
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 107
velutinum DC. Cat. Hort. Monsp. 126. 1813. Syntherisma velutinum
Chase, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 19: 191. 1906. Digitaria velutina
Hitchc. op. cit., 40: 84. 1927. Not D. velutina Beauv. Ess. Agrost.
51, 1812, based on Phalaris velutina Forskal, Fl. Aegypt. Arab. 17,
1775. Figure 29.
Dry open banks, roadsides, and open ground, Jalapa; Guatemala;
Sacatepe"quez; Huehuetenango. Southern Mexico.
FIG. 29. Digitaria kucites, X 1.
Stoloniferous perennial; culms erect or ascending, 20-80 cm. high; sheaths
mostly longer than the internodes, densely villous, velvety; ligule membranaceous,
mostly 3-4 mm. long; blades 5-9 cm. long, 3-4 mm. wide, densely villous; panicle
long-exserted, with 4-10 slender ascending racemes; spikelets 2.5-3 mm. long,
paired, the pairs approximate or somewhat distant; first glume minute, hyaline,
nerveless; second glume and sterile lemma equal, as long as the fruit, densely
villous, at least between the lateral nerves; fruit pointed, pale or purple-tinged.
Digitaria multiflora Swallen, Jour. Washington Acad. Sci. 28:
7. 1938.
Known only from the type, collected in pine-oak uplands, San
Agustin, Mountain Pine Ridge, El Cayo District, British Honduras,
Lundell 6730.
108 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Annual; culms slender, erect, simple or sparingly branched, 50-115 cm. tall,
glabrous; sheaths longer than the internodes, keeled, glabrous, the margins more
or less pilose or ciliate toward the base; ligule membranaceous, brownish, 2-3 mm.
long; blades flat, acuminate, 10-28 cm. long, 4-8 mm. wide, smooth or scaberulous
on both surfaces, sparsely papillose-hirsute on the upper at least toward the base,
the margins scabrous; axis of the inflorescence 8-15 cm. long; racemes 8-25, 6-15
cm. long, slender, ascending or sometimes spreading, rather evenly scattered
along the axis, the rachis wingless, 0.3 mm. wide, the margins scabrous; spikelets
1.2 mm. long, in groups of 3 or 4, the unequal pedicels terete, glabrous or sparsely
scabrous, 1-4 mm. long, somewhat spreading; first glume obsolete or nearly so;
second glume 1 mm. long, acute, narrower than the fruit, 3-nerved, with dense
lines of white pubescence on the internerves; sterile lemma a little shorter than the
fruit, acute, 3-nerved, pubescent like the second glume but the hairs shorter,
sometimes nearly wanting on the internerves; fruit 1.1 mm. long, extending
slightly beyond the second glume and sterile lemma, acute, dark brown, striate.
Digitaria obtusa Swallen, Phytologia 4, no. 7: 425. 1953.
Coban, Department Alta Verapaz, Turckheim 3793 (type) .
Perennial; culms erect, geniculate at the lower nodes, about 50 cm. high;
sheaths about as long as the internodes, glabrous, or the lower ones sparsely
pilose on the margins; blades 9-13 cm. long, 3-4 mm. wide, flat, acuminate,
glabrous, or sparsely pilose toward the base; racemes 5, 8-10 cm. long, stiffly
ascending, spikelet-bearing to the base, pilose in the axils; spikelets mostly in 3's,
crowded, 2.2 mm. long; first glume wanting; second glume and sterile lemma
sparsely to rather densely pilose between the nerves with capitate hairs, the
glume obtuse, 3-nerved, one-half to two-thirds as long as the fruit, the lemma
5-nerved, equaling the fruit; fruit acute, dark brown, striate.
This species has been referred to Digitaria villosa (Walt.) Muhl.,
which differs in having the racemes naked or nearly so at the base,
less crowded spikelets, and longer, acute second glume. Several
specimens from southern Mexico also may be referable to this
species.
Digitaria panicea (Swartz) Urban, Symb. Antill. 8: 23. 1920.
Milium paniceum Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 24. 1788.
Sandy fields and along ditches, 1,500-1,600 meters. Sacate-
pe"quez; Guatemala. Cuba; Jamaica; Hispaniola.
Annual; culms erect or ascending, 15-70 cm. high; sheaths glabrous or sparsely
pilose toward the summit; blades 3-11 cm. long, rarely longer, 3-4 mm. wide,
acuminate, glabrous or nearly so; racemes 3-6, 2-10 cm. long, ascending to
spreading; spikelets 1.5-1.8 mm. long, ovate-elliptic; second glume and sterile
lemma subequal, or the glume one-third shorter, appressed-pilose on the margins
or nearly glabrous; fruit dark brown at maturity, striate.
Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop. Fl. Cam. ed. 2. 1: 52. 1772.
Panicum sanguinale L. Sp. PL 57. 1753. Paspalum sanguinale Lam.
FIG. 30. Digitaria sanguinalis. Plant, X
floret, X 10.
' t two views of spikelet, and
109
110 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Tabl. Encycl. 1: 176. 1791. Panicum adscendens H.B.K. Nov. Gen.
& Sp. 1: 97. 1815. Digitaria marginata Link, Enum. PI. 1: 102.
1821. D. fimbriata Link, Hort. Berol. 1: 226. 1827. Figure 30.
A common weed in cultivated ground and waste places, in warm
temperate and tropical regions around the world.
Decumbent or geniculate-spreading annual; culms commonly rooting at the
lower nodes, ascending, 15 cm. to more than 1 meter long; sheaths shorter than
the internodes, sparsely to rather densely papillose-hirsute; ligule membranaceous,
truncate, 1-2 mm. long; blades 2-10 cm. long, or sometimes longer in robust
specimens, 2-9 mm. wide, scabrous, sparsely to rather densely pilose or papillose-
pilose, with prominent white midnerve and margins; racemes 2-several, digitate
or with a second whorl a short distance below, the rachis about 1 mm. wide,
narrowly winged; spikelets 3 mm. long, the first glume small but plainly evident;
second glume acuminate, about three-fourths as long as the fruit; sterile lemma
slightly longer than the fruit, nearly glabrous to prominently villous on the
margins.
DISTICHLIS Raf.
Dioecious perennials with creeping, scaly rhizomes, rigid culms, and dense
narrow panicles; glumes broad, acute, keeled, 3-7-nerved, the nerves usually
faint; lemmas closely imbricate, acute or subacute, faintly 9-11-nerved, the pistil-
late coriaceous, much firmer than the staminate; palea shorter to longer than the
lemma, the margins bowed out below, the keels minutely ciliate, sometimes winged.
Species about 6, North and South America.
Distichlis spicata (L.) Greene, Bull. California Acad. Sci. 2:
415. 1887. Uniola spicata L. Sp. PL 71. 1753. Briza spicata Lam.
Encycl. 1: 465. 1785. Figure 31.
Gracie Rock, Sibun River, British Honduras, Gentle 1623. Not
known from Guatemala. Seashores and salt marshes near the
coast; British Columbia; Nova Scotia; United States; Mexico
(Tamaulipas, Yucatan, and Quintana Roo); Cuba; western coast of
South America.
Perennial; culms stiffly erect from scaly rhizomes, mostly 10-50 cm. high;
leaves numerous, the sheaths much longer than the relatively short internodes,
glabrous, the blades conspicuously distichous, stiffly spreading, flat or becoming
involute, commonly 3-10 cm. long; panicles dense, narrow, 1-6 cm. long; spikelets
usually pale, 5-9-flowered, distinctly flattened; lemmas 3-6 mm. long, acute,
glabrous; palea narrowly winged, entire.
A sterile specimen, collected on moist salt flats between Mita
and Asuncion Mita, 650 meters, Jutiapa, Steyermark 31780, may be
Distichlis stricta (Torr.) Rydb.
FIG. 31. Distichlis spicata. Plant, X 1; floret, X 5.
Ill
112 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
ECHINOCHLOA Beauv.
Spikelets subsessile, solitary or in pairs in two rows on one side of a slender
rachis, scabrous and sparsely to prominently hispid; first glume broad, triangular,
acute, 3-nerved; second glume and sterile lemma nearly equal, 5-nerved, the
lateral nerves approximate, mucronate, or the glume short-awned, the lemma
long-awned or mucronate, sometimes enclosing a palea and staminate flower;
fruit plano-convex, elliptic, minutely crested, indurate, shining, minutely striate,
the margins of the lemma not inrolled, he tip of the palea not enclosed.
Slender to coarse annuals or perennials with compressed sheaths, linear blades,
and few to many densely flowered racemes, distant or approximate on a main
axis.
Species about 20, in warm regions of both hemispheres.
Ligule a dense line of long yellowish hairs; plants perennial.
Nodes densely bearded; awns 2-10 mm. long E. spectabilis.
Nodes glabrous; awn 3-6 cm. long E. holciformis.
Ligule wanting; plants annual.
Spikelets 3 mm. long, strongly hispid, the sterile lemma with an awn 1-10 mm.
long; culms coarse, erect or decumbent at the base E. cruspavonis.
Spikelets 2 mm. long, scabrous, sparsely and inconspicuously hispid, the second
glume and sterile lemma mucronate only; culms slender, prostrate-
spreading E. colonum.
Echinochloa colonum (L.) Link, Hort. Berol. 2: 209. 1833.
Panicum colonum L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 2: 870. 1759. Milium colonum
Moench, Meth. PL 202. 1794. Oplismenus colonum H.B.K. Nov.
Gen. & Sp. 1: 108. 1815. Panicum zonale Guss. Fl. Sic. Prodr. 1:
62. 1827. Figure 32.
Sand bars and moist ground, usually in waste places at low
altitudes; Izabal; Zacapa. Warmer regions of both hemispheres;
introduced in America.
Annual; culms slender, prostrate to erect, freely branching at the base and
lower nodes, 15-70 cm. long; sheaths glabrous; ligule wanting; blades soft and
rather thin, lax, 5-10 cm., rarely 15 cm., long, 3-6 mm., rarely 10 mm., wide,
glabrous, the margins sparsely scabrous; inflorescence 3-10 cm. long, rarely
longer; racemes few to several, ascending, the lower ones 1-2 cm. distant, 1-3
cm. long; spikelets about 2 mm. long, scabrous or finely hispid; first glume tri-
angular, acute, about one-third as long as the spikelet; second glume and sterile
lemma equal, pointed, awnless; fruit 1.8 mm. long, elliptic, acute.
Echinochloa cruspavonis (H.B.K.) Schult. Mant. 2: 269. 1824.
Oplismenus cruspavonis H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 108. 1815.
Panicum sabulicola Nees, Agrost. Bras. 258. 1829. P. cruspavonis
Nees, Agrost. Bras. 259. 1829. Oplismenus jamaicensis Kunth,
Enum. PI. 1: 147. 1833. Panicum crusgalli var. sabulicola Doell in
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA
113
Mart. Fl. Bras. 2(2): 142. 1877. Oplismenus angustifolius Fourn.
Mex. PI. 2: 40. 1886. Echinochloa sabulicola Hitchc. Contr. U. S.
Nat. Herb. 17: 257. 1913. E. crusgalli cruspavonis Hitchc. Contr.
U. S. Nat. Herb. 22: 148. 1920. Cola de ardilla; cana morada.
Figure 33.
FIG. 32. Echinochloa colonum, X 1. FIG. 33. Echinochloa cruspavonis, X 1.
Ditches and lake margins, up to 1,500 meters; Alta Verapaz;
Izabal; Chiquimula; Jutiapa; Guatemala. West Indies; southern
United States and Mexico to Bolivia and Argentina. Warmer
regions of both hemispheres.
Annual; culms soft and somewhat succulent but rather coarse, erect or de-
cumbent at the base, compressed, glabrous, shiny, 0.5-1.5 meters high; lower
sheaths longer, the upper shorter than the internodes, compressed, keeled, rather
loose, glabrous; ligule wanting; blades elongate, acuminate, 5-15 mm. wide, the
margins scabrous; panicles 10-20 cm. long, nodding, the branches densely flowered,
the lower ones rather distant, the upper ones crowded, ascending or appressed;
spikelets 3 mm. long, rather narrow, sparsely hispid on the nerves, hispidulous
between the nerves; first glume broad, triangular, acute; second glume and
sterile lemma equal, as long as or a little shorter than the fruit, 5-7-nerved, the
glume acuminate or short-awned, the lemma with an awn 1-10 mm. long, some-
114 FIELD IANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
times with a palea about as long as the lemma; fruit elliptic, smooth and shining,
abruptly acuminate-pointed.
Echinochloa holciformis (H.B.K.) Chase, Proc. Biol. Soc.
Washington 24: 155. 1911. Oplismenus holciformis H.B.K. Nov.
Gen. & Sp. 1: 107. 1815. Berchloldia holciformis Fourn. Mex. PL
2: 41. 1886.
Ditches and moist places, usually in shallow water, about 1,500
meters; Santa Rosa; Guatemala. Mexico.
Perennial; culms succulent, erect, or decumbent at the base, as much as
2 meters high; sheaths glabrous, smooth; ligule a dense line of stiff hairs; blades
as much as 45 cm. long, 2.2 cm. wide, or much less in small plants, scabrous on the
margins; panicles 15-40 cm. long, dense, nodding; racemes usually ascending, the
rachis scabrous and sparsely hispid with long hairs; spikelets 5-7 mm. long,
densely hispid with short appressed hairs; awns 3-6 cm. long, very scabrous.
Echinochloa spectabilis (Nees) Link, Hort. Berol. 2: 209. 1833.
Panicum spectabile Nees in Trin. Gram. Pan. 138. 1826.
Swamps and river margins, British Honduras (El Cayo District) .
Not known from Guatemala. Panama; West Indies; Colombia to
Surinam, Peru, Brazil, and northern Argentina.
Coarse aquatic perennial; culms 1-2 meters tall from a long, creeping, rooting
base, the nodes usually densely bearded with yellowish hairs; sheaths glabrous to
papillose-hispid, the margins papillose-hispid-ciliate; ligule a dense line of stiff
yellowish hairs about 4 mm. long; blades elongate, acuminate to attenuate, 1-3 cm.
wide, the margins very scabrous, sparsely papillose or ciliate at the base; inflores-
cence 10-30 cm. long, erect, dense, the axis very scabrous and sparsely hispid;
racemes usually crowded, 3-6 cm. long, ascending to spreading, the rachis hispid,
especially at the base; spikelets about 5 mm. long, very short-pediceled, coarsely
hispid; first glume broad, acute or short-awned, two-thirds to three-fourths as long
as the spikelet; second glume acuminate; sterile lemma containing a stamina te
flower, the awn 2-10 mm. long; fruit 4-5 mm. long including a pointed beak
about 0.5 mm. long.
ECHINOLAENA Desv.
Spikelets in pairs in two rows along one side of a flat rachis, the pairs apparent-
ly placed edgewise to the rachis, one of each pair often abortive; glumes broad,
firm, acuminate, the first much longer than the second, prominently papillose-
hispid, at least on the midnerve; sterile lemma broad, enclosing a nearly equal
sterile palea and sometimes a staminate flower; fruit indurate, the margins of the
lemma flat or inrolled only at the summit, minutely winged on both sides at the
base.
Decumbent-spreading grasses with firm flat blades and solitary, divergent
racemes.
Two species in Central and South America.
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 115
Echinolaena gracilis Swallen, Jour. Washington Acad. Sci.
23: 457. 1933.
Open marshy prairie near Los Amates, Department Izabal,
Weatherwax 1601, type. Colombia; Venezuela.
Culms very slender, wiry, branching, 75-90 cm. long, appressed-pilose;
sheaths of the main culm much shorter than the internodes, papillose-hispid, the
margins ciliate; blades as much as 3.8 cm. long, 5 mm. wide, some of those on the
secondary branches much reduced, flat, firm, pubescent or pilose above, glabrous
beneath, the margins white-cartilaginous, more or less papillose-ciliate toward
the base; ligule hairy, not more than 1 mm. long, sometimes scarcely evident;
racemes somewhat exserted, not more than 1.8 cm. long, the rachis terminating
in a spikelet; spikelets 8-11 mm. long; first glume 8-11 mm. long, that of the
terminal spikelet much longer than the others, acuminate, strongly nerved,
tuberculate or tuberculate-hispid, the margins ciliate; second glume 6 mm. long,
acute, papillose-hispid at the summit; sterile lemma 5 mm. long, similar to the
second glume, enclosing a well-developed palea; fruit 3.5 mm. long, smooth,
shining.
ELEUSINE Gaertn.
Spikelets few to several-flowered, compressed, sessile in two rows on one side
of a rather broad rachis; rachilla disarticulating above the glumes and between
the florets; glumes shorter than the first floret, unequal, the first 1-nerved, the
second 3-5-nerved, the lateral nerves approximate, close to the keel; lemmas
acute, 3-nerved, the nerves close together, the uppermost somewhat reduced;
seed dark brown, roughened by fine ridges, loosely enclosed in the thin pericarp.
Annual grasses with two to several racemes digitate at the summit of the
culms, sometimes with one or two a short distance below.
Species about 6, one in South America, the others in the Eastern
Hemisphere, one introduced in America.
Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn. Fruct. & Sem. 1: 8. 1788. Cyno-
surus indicus L. Sp. PI. 72. 1753. Eleusine gracilis Salisb. Prodr.
Stirp. 19. 1796. E. domingensis Sieber ex Schult. Mant. 2: 323.
1824. Not E. domingensis Pers., 1805. Cynodon indicus Raspail,
Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. 5: 303. 1825. Eleusine stabra Fourn. ex Hemsl.
Biol. Centr. Amer. Bot. 3: 565. 1885, name only; Fourn. Mex. PI. 2:
145. 1886. E. indica var. major Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 145. 1886.
Figure 34.
A common weed, roadsides, fields, and waste places, up to 1,000
meters; Petn; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Santa Rosa; Escuintla;
Guatemala; Huehuetenango. Warm regions of both hemispheres.
Culms in tough spreading clumps, somewhat decumbent at the base, 15-70
cm. or rarely as much as 1 meter high, compressed, very smooth, sheaths com-
pressed, sharply keeled, sparsely papillose near the margins toward the summit,
otherwise glabrous, the margins hyaline; ligule membranceous, erose, about
116 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
1 mm. long; blades as much as 25 cm. long, 2-8 mm. wide, flat or conduplicate,
the tip navicular, glabrous or sparsely pilose on the upper surface, the margins
scabrous; spikes 2-several, 5-10 cm. long, stiffly ascending; spikelets 5mm. long;
lemmas 3 mm. long, broad at the base, rather abruptly narrowed to the subacute
apex, sometimes mucronate.
ELYONURUS Humb. & Bonpl.
Spikelets in pairs, alike in size and shape, at the nodes of a tardily disarticulat-
ing rachis, one sessile, perfect, the other pedicellate, staminate, the rachis joints
and pedicels thickened, densely villous; glumes rather firm, rounded on the back,
sharply keeled, acuminate, entire or bifid, the margins inflexed, clasping the
second glume; second glume acuminate; sterile lemma hyaline, narrow, nearly
as long as the glumes; fertile lemma hyaline, awnless, the palea obsolete.
Tufted erect perennials with narrow or involute blades and solitary, terminal,
often woolly racemes.
Species about 15, in warmer regions of both hemispheres.
Elyonurus tripsacoides var. ciliaris (H.B.K.) Hack, in DC.
Monog. Phan. 6: 333. 1889. E. ciliaris H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1:
193. 1816.
Prairies, rocky hillsides, meadows, and roadsides, 1,000-1,600
meters; Jutiapa; Guatemala; Sacatepe"quez; Huehuetenango. Mex-
ico; Panama; Colombia and Venezuela.
Perennial; culms densely tufted, erect, 60-100 cm. high, glabrous, sometimes
with a pubescent line down one side; sheaths shorter than the internodes, rounded,
glabrous, or papillose-pilose or villous toward the summit; ligule membranaceous,
minutely ciliate, less than 0.5 mm. long; blades elongate, 1-3 mm. wide, flat or
folded, usually villous on the upper surface at the base, the margins scabrous;
raceme 5-12 cm. long, the rachis and pedicels densely villous; sessile spikelet
5-8 mm. long; first glume pubescent or villous, the margins densely short-ciliate,
winged toward the summit, the tip deeply bilobed, the lobes narrow, acuminate;
pedicellate spikelet similar to the sessile but slightly smaller and not as deeply
lobed.
ERAGROSTIS Host
Spikelets few- to many-flowered, the rachilla disarticulating above the glumes
and between the florets, or continuous, the lemmas deciduous, the paleas persistent;
glumes acute or acuminate, 1-nerved, or the second rarely 3-nerved, much shorter
than the spikelet; lemmas acute or acuminate, keeled or rounded on the back,
3-nerved, the nerves prominent or sometimes obscure; palea 2-nerved, often
ciliate on the keels.
Annuals or perennials with open or contracted panicles of small or rather
large spikelets.
Species about 200, in temperate and tropical regions of the
world.
FIG. 34. Eleusine indica. Plant, X H; spikelet, floret, and seed, X 5.
117
118 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Plants annual.
Palea prominently ciliate on the keels. Low delicate grasses.
Panicles open, loosely flowered, the branches spreading E. amabilis.
Panicles dense or spikelike.
Culms and panicles conspicuously viscid, the panicle branches stiffly
ascending or spreading E. viscosa.
Culms and panicles not viscid, the panicles spikelike, the branches
appressed E. ciliaris.
Palea not prominently ciliate on the keels.
Culms creeping, freely branching, forming dense soft mats E. hypnoides.
Culms erect or ascending, not forming mats.
Panicles long, narrow, dense; spikelets pale, 2-3 mm. long, the lemmas
thin, about 1 mm. long E. glomerata.
Panicles open; spikelets usually more than 3 mm. long, the lemmas firm.
Plants with glandular depressions on the keel of the lemmas or the keel
of the sheaths.
Spikelets 2.5 mm. wide; glands prominent on the keel of the lemmas.
E. cilianensis.
Spikelets 1.5 mm. wide; keel of the sheaths with numerous glands.
E. glandulosa.
Plants not glandular.
Spikelets pale, tinged with red or reddish brown (see also E. mexicana),
subsessile, fascicled on the branches.
Lemmas 2-2.5 mm. long, abruptly acute; spikelets mostly 6-10
mm. long E. maypurensis.
Lemmas 5 mm. long, gradually narrowed from the base; spikelets
10-30 mm. long E. simpliciflora.
Spikelets grayish-green, pedicellate in open panicles.
Spikelets and branchlets appressed along the primary panicle
branches E. diffusa.
Spikelets and branches usually spreading.
Plants delicate; spikelets grayish-green, about 1 mm. wide.
E. tephrosanthos.
Plants coarser, usually more than 25 cm. high; spikelets reddish,
1.5 mm. wide E. mexicana.
Plants perennial.
Spikelets, at least the lateral ones, subsessile or short-pedicellate, usually
crowded on the branches.
Spikelets 1.5 mm. wide, scarcely crowded E. bahiensis.
Spikelets 1 mm. wide, crowded.
Culms 15-60 cm. high, slender; spikelets 4-5 mm. long, 6-12-flowered.
E. acutiflora.
Culms 1-2 meters high, relatively stout; spikelets 5-10 mm. long, 10-16-
flowered E. domingensis.
Spikelets long-pedicellate, usually spreading, in open, diffuse panicles.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 119
Lemmas keeled, the nerves prominent E. elliottii.
Lemmas rounded on the back, the nerves obscure.
Lateral pedicels usually shorter than the spikelets; panicles relatively
narrow, elongate, much longer than wide; sheaths villous, at least
toward the summit.
Blades as much as 40 cm. long, becoming involute at least in the upper
part E. hirta.
Blades 15-25 cm. long, flat E. praetermissa.
Lateral pedicels much longer than the spikelets; panicles diffuse, some-
times nearly as broad as long; sheaths glabrous or more or less pilose
or hirsute.
Spikelets about 1 mm. wide; lemmas 1.3-1.5 mm. long. Panicles fragile.
E. lugens.
Spikelets about 1.5 mm. wide; lemmas 1.8-2 mm. long.
Blades 1-4 mm. wide; culms 40-80 cm. high E. intermedia.
Blades 5-10 mm. wide; culms usually more than 1 meter high.
E. hirsuta.
Eragrostis acutiflora (H.B.K.) Nees, Agrost. Bras. 501. 1829.
Poa acutiflora H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 161. 1816.
Fields and pinelands at lower altitudes; Pete*n; Jutiapa. British
Honduras; Mexico; Honduras; Colombia and Venezuela to Bolivia
and Brazil.
Perennial; culms tufted, erect, 15-60 cm. high; sheaths glabrous, more or less
hairy in the throat, mostly shorter than the internodes; blades rather firm, mostly
5-20 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide, glabrous or sparsely pilose; panicles 8-30 cm. long,
the branches stiffly ascending to spreading, the lower ones sometimes as much
as 10 cm. long, pilose in the axils; spikelets 4-5 mm. long, 6-12-flowered, rarely
more, short-pedicellate, usually crowded, appressed; lemma about 2 mm. long,
acute or subacuminate, scabrous on the keel near the summit.
Eragrostis amabilis (L.) Wight & Arn. ex Nees in Hook. &
Am. Bot. Beechey Voy. 251. 1838. Poa amabilis L. Sp. PL 68. 1753.
P. plumosa Retz. Obs. Bot. 4: 20. 1786. Eragrostis plumosa Link.
Hort. Berol. 1: 192. 1827.
Pastures and waste places at low altitudes; Izabal; Escuintla;
Retalhuleu. British Honduras. A common weed in warmer regions
of the world.
Annual; culms slender, erect or geniculate-spreading, 10-40 cm. high; blades
flat, 4-10 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide, acuminate, glabrous; sheaths glabrous, with
a prominent tuft of hairs at the throat; panicles oblong, 3-12 cm. long, 1.5-3
cm. wide, the short branches stiffly ascending or spreading, 1-2.5 cm. long; spike-
lets mostly 1.5-2 mm. long, 4-6-flowered; lemmas 1 mm. long, obtuse, the palea
conspicuously ciliate, the hairs about 0.3 mm. long.
FIG. 35. Eragrostis cilianensis. Plant, X 1; spikelet, X 5; floret, X 10.
120
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 121
Eragrostis bahiensis Schrad. in Schult. Mantissa 2: 318. 1824.
Wet or boggy meadows, 900-1,800 meters, Huehuetenango.
Brazil.
Perennial; culms erect, commonly 30-70 cm. high, glabrous; sheaths rounded,
longer or usually shorter than the internodes, glabrous, or somewhat hairy on
the collar; blades firm, mostly 6-12 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide, tapering to a rather
fine point, pilose on the upper surface near the base; panicles 10-15 cm. long, the
few branches stiffly ascending, floriferous to the base or nearly so, the branchlets
appressed; spikelets 4-7 mm. long, short-pedicellate, appressed; glumes subequal,
about 2 mm. long, acute, the second sometimes 3-nerved; lemmas 2 mm. long,
ovate, acute, rather abruptly narrowed about the middle.
Eragrostis cilianensis (All.) Link ex Vign. Malpighia 18: 386.
1904. Poa cilianensis All. Fl. Pedem. 2: 246. 1785. Eragrostis major
Host, Icon. Gram. Austr. 4: 14. pi. 24- 1809. E. megastachya Link,
Hort. Berol. 1: 187. 1827. Figure 35.
Sand bars and waste places; Izabal; Zacapa; Santa Rosa; Retal-
huleu. Southern Canada to Argentina. Introduced from Europe.
Annual; culms commonly 15-60 cm. tall, or in dwarf plants as little as 1 cm.,
erect or geniculate-ascending, branching; sheaths keeled, more or less pilose at
the mouth, with rather prominent glandular depressions on the keel; blades
usually 3-15 cm. long, 2-7 mm. wide, acuminate, glabrous, with prominent
glandular papillae on the margins; panicles 3-15 cm. long, rather dense, the
branches stiffly ascending or spreading, spikelet bearing to the base; spikelets
oblong, 5-15 mm. long, 2.5-3 mm. wide, 10-40-flowered, short-pedicellate, usually
divergent; glumes 2 mm. long, acute; lemmas obtuse or subacute, about 2.5 mm.
long, the keel scabrous and bearing a few prominent glands.
Eragrostis ciliaris (L.) R. Br. in Tuckey, Narr. Exp. Congo
App. 478. 1818. Poa ciliaris L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 2: 875. 1759.
Fields and waste places, to about 1,500 meters; Pete"n; Izabal;
Zacapa; Santa Rosa; Escuintla; Guatemala; Retalhuleu; Quezal-
tenango. Common in warm and tropical regions of both hemi-
spheres. Figure 36.
Annual; culms slender, branching, erect to decumbent-spreading, 10-40 cm.
or rarely as much as 60 cm. high; sheaths glabrous or sparsely papillose-pilose,
with a tuft of long hairs at the throat; blades flat, acuminate or attenuate, 4-10 cm.
long, 2-4 mm., rarely 5 mm., wide, glabrous or sparsely pilose with long hairs;
panicles dense, spikelike, interrupted toward the base, 5-12 cm. long; spikelets 2-3
mm. long, 6-10-flowered, nearly sessile; lemmas 1 mm. long; palea conspicuously
ciliate on the keels, the hairs about 0.5 mm. long.
Eragrostis diffusa Buckl. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1862:
97. 1862. E. purshii var. diffusa Vasey, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
1:59. 1890.
122
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Moist fields, about 200 meters; Zacapa. Southwestern United
States; Mexico.
Annual; culms erect or ascending, sparingly branching, mostly 30-50 cm.
high; sheaths glabrous with prominent tufts of hairs at the throat; blades com-
monly 5-10 cm. long, 1-3 mm. wide, attenuate, flat; panicles 5-20 cm. long, the
relatively short spreading branches densely flowered, the secondary branches
FIG. 36. Eragrostis riliaris. Plant, X K; spikelet, X 5; floret, X 10.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 123
appressed; spikelets linear, 5-8 mm. long, often longer than the pedicels; lemmas
acute, the nerves evident, the lower ones about 2 mm. long.
Eragrostis domingensis (Pers.) Steud. Syn. PL Glum. 1: 278.
1854. Poa domingensis Pers. Syn. PI. 1: 88. 1805. Eragrostis
maxima Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 114. 1886.
Common on sand dunes near San Jose", Escuintla, Standley
63965. British Honduras; Mexico (Oaxaca, Yucatan, Chiapas) to
Colombia; West Indies.
Perennial; culms relatively stout, erect, mostly 1-2 meters high, frequently
with a few branches from the middle nodes; sheaths firm, usually longer than the
internodes; blades firm, flat, elongate, attenuate, as much as 7 mm. wide, smooth
beneath, scabrous on the upper surface and on the margins; panicle narrow,
dense, elongate, the branches ascending or appressed, floriferous to the base;
spikelets 5-10 mm. long, 10-16-flowered, appressed, the pedicels much shorter
than the spikelets; glumes acute, about 1 mm. long; lemmas 1.8-2 mm. long,
acute, palea nearly as long as the lemma.
Eragrostis elliottii S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. Sci. 25: 140.
1890. Poa nitida Ell. Bot. S. C. & Ga. 1: 162. 1816. Eragrostis
nitida Chapm. Fl. South. U. S. 564. 1860. Not Eragrostis nitida
Link, Hort. Berol. 1: 193. 1827.
Moist or swampy places in pine forests. British Honduras;
southeastern United States; eastern Mexico; West Indies.
Perennial; culms tufted, erect, 30-80 cm. high; sheaths longer than the
internodes, glabrous, with a tuft of hairs at the mouth; blades elongate, attenuate,
flat, 1-4 mm. wide, scabrous on the upper surface; panicles usually more than
half the height of the culms, the fragile branches stiffly ascending to spreading,
few-flowered; spikelets mostly 4-7 mm. long, on long, capillary, spreading pedicels;
lemmas 2 mm. long, ovate, abruptly acute, closely imbricate.
Eragrostis glandulosa Harvey, Bull. Torrey Club 81:406. 1954.
Damp thickets, 1,400-1,700 meters; Jalapa; Sacatepe"quez.
Mexico (Guerrero and Jalisco).
Annual; culms erect or ascending, 60 cm. to as much as 2 meters high, sparingly
branching; sheaths mostly longer than the internodes, compressed, keeled, papil-
lose-ciliate, with conspicuous tufts of hairs at the throat, the keel with numerous
glandular depressions; blades as much as 50 cm. long, 6-14 mm. wide, scabrous
on the upper surface, smooth or nearly so beneath; panicles 25-40 cm. long, the
scabrous branches stiffly ascending to spreading, the lower ones as much as 15
cm. long; spikelets 2-8-flowered, 2-5 mm. long, 1-2 mm. wide, green, tinged with
purple; glumes narrow, acute or acuminate; lemmas ovate, acute, the nerves
obscure, the lowest about 1.8 mm. long.
Eragrostis glomerata (Walt.) L. H. Dewey, Contr. U. S. Nat.
Herb. 2: 543. 1894. Poa glomerata Walt. Fl. Carol. 80. 1788. P.
124 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
conferta Ell. Bot. S. C. & Ga. 1: 158. 1816. Eragrostis conferta
Trin. Mem. Acad. St. P4tersb. VI. Math. Phys. Nat. 1: 409. 1830.
Figure 37.
Common on recently formed sand bar along Montagua River
near ruins of Quirigua, Dept. Izabal. Southeastern United States;
Mexico; El Salvador; Honduras; Colombia and Venezuela to Bolivia
and Argentina.
Coarse annual; culms erect, 10 cm. to as much as 1 meter high, rarely more,
hard and somewhat woody, usually freely branching; sheaths about as long as the
internodes, loose, keeled, glabrous; blades flat, elongate, attenuate, 3-8 mm. wide;
panicles 5-50 cm. long, narrow, the short branches narrowly ascending or ap-
pressed, densely flowered to the base; spikelets short-pedicellate, 6-8-flowered,
2-3 mm. long, the glumes minute; lemmas thin, about 1 mm. long.
Eragrostis hirsuta (Michx.) Nees, Agrost. Bras. 508. 1829.
Poa hirsuta Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer. 1: 68. 1803.
Locally abundant in sandy pine-oak uplands, San Agustin,
Mountain Pine Ridge, El Cayo District, British Honduras, Lundell
6738. Southeastern United States; Mexico (Tamaulipas).
Perennial; culms erect, tufted, as much as 120 cm. high; sheaths longer than
the internodes, hirsute to glabrous, pilose at the throat; blades elongate, attenuate,
scabrous, 5-10 mm. wide; panicles usually more than half the height of the plant,
diffuse, the branches rather stiffly ascending to spreading, pilose in the axils with
long hairs; spikelets 2-6-flowered, the pedicels usually long and somewhat flex-
uous; glumes 1.5-2 mm. long, acuminate; lemmas 2 mm. long, acute, the nerves
obscure.
Eragrostis hirta Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 115. 1886.
Rocky slopes, about 1,900 meters; Sacatepe"quez; Chimalten-
ango; Huehuetenango. Mexico; Honduras.
Perennial; culms tufted, erect, 60-100 cm. high; sheaths longer than the
internodes, the lower ones sometimes elongate, rather densely villous at least
toward the summit; blades as much as 40 cm. long, 2-5 mm. wide, scabrous and
sparsely papillose-pilose on the upper surface; panicles 30-45 cm. long, the branches
usually narrowly ascending, pilose in the axils; spikelets 4-8-flowered, 3-5 mm.
long; glumes subequal, acute, 1.6-1.8 mm. long; lemmas ovate, acute, about 2 mm.
long, the nerves obscure or the lateral ones evident.
Eragrostis hypnoides (Lam.) B.S.P. Prel. Cat. N. Y. 69. 1888.
Poa hypnoides Lam. Tabl. Encycl. 1: 185. 1791. Megastachya
hypnoides Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 74, 167, 175. 1812. Poa replans var.
caespitosa Torr. Fl. North, and Mid. U. S. 1: 115. 1823. Neeragrostis
hypnoides Bush, St. Louis Acad. Sci. Trans. 13: 180. 1903. Ero-
sion hypnoides Lunell, Amer. Midi. Nat. 4: 221. 1915. Figure 38.
FIG. 37. Eragrostis glomerata. Panicle, about X 1 A; spikelet and floret, X 12.
125
126
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Sandy river banks, lake shores, moist ground along ditches and,
trails at low altitudes; Pete"n; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Zacapa. British
Honduras; West Indies; United States; Mexico to Bolivia, Argentina,
and Brazil.
FIG. 38. Eragrostis hypnoides. Plant, X 1 A; floret, X 10.
Stoloniferous, widely spreading annual, forming dense mats; culms very
slender, 5-10 cm. high; blades 1-2 cm. long, flat or becoming loosely involute,
stiffly spreading; panicles pale, dense, subcapitate, 1-2 cm. long, nearly as broad;
spikelets 5-12 mm. long, few- to many-flowered, on short stiff pedicels; glumes
unequal, the first 1 mm. long, the second 1.5 mm. long, broader than the first;
lemmas 1.5-2 mm. long, acute, rather broad at the base with thin margins;
anthers 0.2 mm. long.
Eragrostis intermedia Hitchc. Jour. Washington Acad. Sci.
23:450. 1933.
5 SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 127
Sand flats, dry hills, and rocky slopes, 1,500-2,000 meters;
Izabal; Jalapa; Guatemala; Solola; Huehuetenango; Quezaltenango.
Southwestern United States; Mexico.
Perennial; culms tufted, erect, mostly 40-80 cm. high; sheaths glabrous or
the lower sometimes sparsely pilose, conspicuously pilose at the throat; blades
as much as 25 cm. long, 1-4 mm. wide, attenuate, more or less pilose on the upper
surface toward the base; panicles diffuse, commonly 15-35 cm. long, the branches
ascending to spreading, pilose in the axils or rarely glabrous; spikelets 3-8-flowered,
3-10 mm. long, about 1.5 mm. wide, the pedicels longer than the spikelets; glumes
rather narrow, acute, 1-1.5 mm. long; lemmas 1.8-2 mm. long, acute, obscurely
nerved.
Eragrostis lugens Nees, Agrost. Bras. 505. 1829.
Prairies and meadows, 1,400-1,800 meters; Guatemala; Huehue-
tenango. Florida, Louisiana, and Texas; Mexico; Venezuela to
Brazil and Argentina.
Perennial; culms in small tufts, erect or ascending, 20-60 cm. high; leaves
mostly crowded toward the base, the sheaths glabrous or sparsely pilose, hairy
at the throat; blades mostly 5-15 cm. long, sometimes longer, 1-3 mm. wide,
tapering to a fine, somewhat flexuous tip; panicles long-exserted, 8-30 cm. long,
commonly 15-20 cm., diffuse, the slender branches ascending to spreading; spike-
lets 2-4 mm. long, about 1 mm. wide, 3-8-flowered, the pedicels long and capillary,
the florets closely imbricate; glumes thin, 0.7-1.2 mm. long; lemmas 1.3-1.5 mm.
long, ovate, abruptly acute.
Eragrostis maypurensis (H.B.K.) Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1:
276. 1854. Poa maypurensis H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 161. 1816.
Open hillsides, clearings, and waste places, to about 1,000 meters;
Izabal; Chiquimula; Guatemala. British Honduras; southern
Mexico to Bolivia and Brazil.
Annual; culms erect or decumbent at the base, 10-40 cm. or sometimes as
much as 65 cm. high; sheaths glabrous, shorter than the internodes; blades flat,
attenuate, mostly 6-15 cm. long, rarely longer, 2-4 mm. wide, papillose-pilose,
especially on the upper surface, or nearly glabrous; panicles 8-15 cm. long, erect,
the somewhat distant solitary branches stiffly ascending, spikelet bearing nearly
to the base, densely pilose in the axils; spikelets 6-10 mm. long, 8-28-flowered,
short-pedicellate, somewhat spreading, usually tinged with red or purple; glumes
acuminate, as long as the lowest floret; lemmas 2-2.5 mm. long, broad at the
base, rather abruptly narrowed above the middle to an acute or acuminate tip.
Eragrostis mexicana (Hornem.) Link, Hort. Berol. 1: 190.
1827. Poa mexicana Hornem. Hort. Hafn. 2: 953. 1815.
Pine and scrub-oak forests, damp thickets, meadows, dry, open
or brushy slopes, roadsides and waste places, 900-2,400 meters;
Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Jalapa; Jutiapa; Santa Rosa; Escuintla;
128 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Guatemala; Sacatepe'quez; Chimaltenango; Solola; Huehuetenango;'
Quezaltenango. Texas to California; Mexico; Honduras; El Sal-
vador; Costa Rica; Venezuela; Brazil.
Culms erect or geniculate at the lower nodes, 20-45 cm. high, glabrous;
sheaths glabrous with a conspicuous tuft of hairs at the throat; blades mostly
5-10 cm. long, 2-3 mm. wide, flat, attenuate; panicles oblong or pyramidal, 5-15
cm. long, loosely flowered, the branches ascending or spreading, the branchlets
and pedicels divergent; spikelets oblong, usually purple, 4-6 mm. long, 6-10-
flowered; lemmas about 2 mm. long, acute or subobtuse.
Eragrostis praetermissa Harvey, Bull. Torrey Club 81: 408.
1954.
Known only from the type collection from near Santa Rosa,
Baja Verapaz, Turckheim 1292.
Perennial; culms tufted, erect, about 70 cm. high; sheaths longer than the
internodes, densely villous, especially toward the summit, the hairs on the collar
conspicuous; blades 15-25 cm. long, 4-6 mm. wide, firm, scabrous, sparsely
papillose-pilose on the upper surface; panicles 40 cm. long, 10-15 cm. wide, the
branches stiffly ascending to spreading, the lower ones as much as 12 cm. long, the
branchlets and pedicels divergent; spikelets 3-5 mm. long, 4-8-flowered, ovate to
lanceolate, the florets slightly spreading; glumes acute, about 2 mm. long; lemmas
ovate, acute, the lower one 2-2.2 mm. long, the lateral nerves evident but not
conspicuous.
This species is credited to Mexico by L. H. Harvey, based on
a specimen collected at Jacuaro, Michoacan, A. S. Hitchcock 6956.
The specimen, however, is referable to E. intermedia Hitchc.
Eragrostis simpliciflora (Presl) Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 278.
1854. Megastachya simpliciflora Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 283. 1830.
Moist plains, fields, and roadsides, to about 1,500 meters; Jalapa;
Guatemala. Southern Mexico to Panama.
Annual; culms tufted, often dense, spreading or prostrate, 10-40 cm. long,
rather freely branching at the lower nodes; blades 4-12 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide,
acuminate, pilose on the upper surface; panicles 2-10 cm. long, rather dense,
usually purple-tinged, the short stiff branches ascending to spreading, spikelet
bearing to the base, often so numerous on the branches that the whole plant
appears to be a dense inflorescence; spikelets sessile or nearly so, narrow, 1-3
cm. long, 10-30-flowered, solitary or in groups of 2-4, appressed; lemma 5 mm.
long, acuminate, gradually narrowed from the base, the lateral nerves double;
palea half as long as the lemma, narrow, lunate.
Eragrostis tephrosanthos Schult. Mant. 2: 316. 1824. E.
delicatula Trin. M&n. Acad. St. Pdtersb. VI. Sci. Nat. 2: 73. 1836.
Moist fields, sand flats, roadsides, and waste places, up to 2,000
meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Zacapa; Jalapa; Escuintla; Huehue-
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 129
tenango; Suchitepe"quez; Retalhuleu; Quezaltenango. West Indies;
Florida to Texas; Mexico to Panama; Colombia to Surinam and
Brazil.
Annual; culms slender, erect or geniculate-spreading, 10-30 cm. high; blades
lax, flat, acuminate, 4-15 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide, glabrous; panicles lax, open,
5-12 cm. long, pilose in the axils, the branches spreading, naked at the base, often
rather densely flowered; spikelets plumbeous, 4-6 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide, 6-12-
flowered, short-pedicellate, usually somewhat spreading, the first glume 1 mm.
long, the second about 1.3 mm. long; lemmas 2 mm. long, subobtuse.
Eragrostis viscosa (Retz.) Trin. Me"m. Acad. St. Pe"tersb. VI.
Math. Phys. Nat. 1: 397. 1830. Poa viscosa Retz. Obs. Bot. 4: 20.
1786. Eragrostis tenella viscosa Stapf ex Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. 7:
315. 1896.
Sandy river banks, gravelly or rocky hills and fields to about
2,000 meters; Izabal; Zacapa; Jutiapa; Santa Rosa; Escuintla;
Guatemala; Retalhuleu. Mexico; El Salvador. Introduced from
southeastern Asia.
Culms 10-50 cm. high, geniculate-ascending, viscid at least below the nodes;
sheaths longer or shorter than the internodes, glandular toward the summit, with
a few long hairs in the throat; blades 3-12 cm. long, 1-3 mm. wide, rather firm;
panicles commonly 5-15 cm. long, 1-2 cm. wide, rather densely flowered, the
branches stiffly ascending or spreading, viscid; spikelets 3-4 mm. long, pale or
purple; lemma and palea obtuse, the keels of the palea ciliate with long hairs.
ERIOCHLOA H.B.K.
Spikelets usually in pairs, arranged in two rows on one side of a slender rachis,
the back of the fruit turned away from the rachis; first glume united with the
thickened first segment of the rachilla, forming a ring-like callus below the second
glume; second glume and sterile lemma equal or nearly so, acute or acuminate,
3-nerved; fruit much shorter than the second glume and sterile lemma (in our
species), elliptic, awnless or short-awned, minutely striate and cross-wrinkled or
papillose-roughened, the margins of the lemma firm, inrolled, rather tightly
enclosing the palea.
Annuals or perennials with flat blades and terminal inflorescences composed
of 2 to many one-sided racemes racemose on a common axis.
About 25 species, in warm regions of both hemispheres.
Racemes 1 or 2, 1-2 cm. long, densely villous E. distachya.
Racemes usually few to several, rarely only 2.
Sheaths and blades velvety pubescent. Spikelets 6 mm. long, the pedicels
with long dense stiff hairs E. nelsoni.
Sheaths and blades not velvety, usually glabrous or scabrous.
130 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Spikelets 6-7 mm. long, the second glume long-acuminate, sometimes aristate;
racemes few E. aristata.
Spikelets 4 mm. long, the second glume acuminate, never aristate; racemes
usually numerous E. punctata.
Eriochloa aristata Vasey, Bull. Torrey Club 13: 229. 1886.
Margin of waterholes and moist salt flats at low altitudes;
Zacapa; Jutiapa. Mexico.
Annual; culms erect or ascending, 20-30 cm. high, branching at the lower
nodes; sheaths mostly longer than the internodes, glabrous; blades 3-7 cm. long,
2-5 mm. wide, acuminate, glabrous; panicles long-exserted, 4-4.5 cm. long, the
axis densely scabrous; racemes 1-1.5 cm. long, appressed; spikelets 6-7 mm. long
including the awns; second glume acuminate or aristate, densely villous in the
lower half; sterile lemma similar to the second glume but shorter; fruit 2.5 mm.
long, striate, minutely pubescent at the summit, bearing a scabrous awn about
1 mm. long.
The description applies only to the Guatemala specimens, which
are not typical. More adequate material may prove that they are
a new species.
Eriochloa distachya H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 95. pi. 30.
1815.
Hills between Cajval and Cahabon, 400 meters, Dept. Alta
Verapaz. Costa Rica; Panama; Venezuela and Colombia to Bolivia,
Paraguay and Brazil.
Low, freely branching perennial; culms 10-40 cm. high, slender, erect or
geniculate-ascending, densely pubescent below the inflorescence, the nodes
bearded, otherwise glabrous; sheaths glabrous or sparsely pilose, with a small tuft
of hairs in the throat; ligule densely ciliate, less than 0.5 mm. long; blades 3-15 cm.
long, 2-5 mm. wide, flat, acuminate, erect, glabrous, or sparsely pilose on the upper
surface, the margins finely scabrous; inflorescence long-exserted, composed of
1 or 2 divergent, distant, short racemes; racemes 1-2 cm. long, straight or some-
what curved, densely villous; spikelets 3 mm. long, pectinate, the pedicels with
long hairs at the summit; second glume and sterile lemma bluntly acute, densely
villous with appressed hairs; fruit 2.4 mm. long, oblong, blunt, pale, awnless, with
a few long hairs at the tip.
Eriochloa nelsoni Scribn. & Smith, U. S. Dept. Agr. Div.
Agrost. Bull. 4: 12. 1897.
Damp thickets and grassy slopes, 420-850 meters; Jutiapa;
Chiquimula. Southern Mexico; Nicaragua.
Annual; culms erect or usually decumbent-spreading, branching, as much as
1 meter long, densely pilose, especially below the inflorescence; sheaths shorter
than the internodes, velvety pubescent; blades 6-20 cm. long, 8-14 mm. wide, or
those of the branches smaller, acuminate, velvety pubescent; racemes 2-several,
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 131
ascending to spreading, the rachis densely pilose, the pedicels of the spikelets
densely hairy, the hairs stiff, reaching to more than half the length of the spikelet;
spikelets 6-8 mm. long, usually spreading; second glume and sterile lemma
subequal, acute, densely pilose to above the middle, the upper part glabrous; fruit
4 mm. long, blunt, awnless, minutely striate.
Eriochloa punctata (L.) Desv. ex Hamilt. Prodr. PL Ind. Occ.
5. 1825. Milium punctatum L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 2: 872. 1759.
Agrostis punctata Lam. Encycl. 1: 58. 1783. Oedipachne punctata
Link, Hort. Berol. 1: 51. 1827. Helopus punctatus Nees, Agrost.
Bras. 16. 1829. Monachne punctata Nash, Bull. Torrey Club 30:
374. 1903.
Brushy slopes, open banks, and cultivated ground, near sea level;
Izabal. West Indies; southeastern United States; Mexico to
Argentina.
Glabrous, rather freely branching perennial; culms erect or ascending from
a decumbent base, commonly more .than 1 meter high, densely pilose below the
inflorescence; sheaths rounded, usually much shorter than the internodes, the
prophylla in those subtending the branches often elongate and conspicuous; ligule
densely ciliate, about 0.5 mm. long; blades 15-40 cm. long, 5-15 mm. wide,
acuminate, the margins finely scabrous; inflorescence 10-20 cm. long, the axis
and the rachis of the narrowly ascending racemes densely pubescent and also
pilose; racemes many, ascending or appressed, the lower one 4-5 cm. long; spikelets
4 mm. long; second glume and sterile lemma equal, acuminate, densely pilose on
the lower part with appressed white hairs, the upper portion glabrous; fruit about
2 mm. long, the hispidulous awn about 1 mm. long.
ERIOCHRYSIS Beauv.
Spikelets in pairs, the sessile spikelets perfect, the pedicellate somewhat
smaller, pistillate, the rachis finally disarticulating below the spikelets; glumes
equal, indurate, densely covered on the margins and on the back toward the
summit with golden brown silky hairs; fertile lemma awnless.
Tufted perennial grasses with short racemes arranged in a very dense, lobed,
brown, silky inflorescence.
Species 9, four in America, four in Africa, and one in India.
Eriochrysis cayennensis Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 8. pi. 4, f> 11-
1812. Figure 39.
Wet fields, ditches, and marshy places, up to 1,350 meters; Pete*n;
Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Santa Rosa. British Honduras; southern
Mexico; Honduras; Costa Rica; Panama; West Indies; Colombia to
Surinam, Bolivia, northern Argentina, and Brazil.
Coarse, densely tufted perennial; culms erect, commonly 1.5-2 meters high,
the nodes densely bearded, otherwise glabrous; sheaths densely and softly villous,
FIG. 39. Eriochrysis cayennensis, X H-
132
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 133
especially toward the summit, less so below, elongate, overlapping, or sometimes,
especially the upper bladeless sheaths, shorter than the internodes; ligule 12
mm. long, thin, white, truncate; blades villous like the sheaths, 15-40 cm. long,
5-12 mm. wide, flat or folded, firm; panicles golden brown, very dense and spike-
like, interrupted below, 8-20 cm. long, 2-3 cm. wide, the branches short, appressed,
densely villous in the axils with long hairs; spikelets 2.5-3 mm. long, the first
glume glabrous on the back, the tip and margins fringed with brown silky hairs.
I EUGHLAENA Schrad.
Spikelets unisexual, the staminate in terminal panicles of racemes, the pistil-
late in spikes infolded in foliaceous spathes or husks, 2-several enclosed together
in the leaf sheaths; staminate spikelets 2-flowered, in pairs on one side of a con-
tinuous rachis, one nearly sessile, the other pedicellate; glumes membranaceous,
acute; lemma and palea hyaline; pistillate spikelets solitary on opposite sides of
the rachis, sunken in cavities, the indurate first glume covering the cavity; second
glume membranaceous, the lemma hyaline.
Coarse annuals with broad flat blades.
Species 2, in Mexico and Central America.
Euchlaena mexicana Schrad. Ind. Sem. Hort. Goettingen
1832; Linnaea 8: Litt. 25. 1833. Teosinte. Figure 40.
Grassy meadows, llanos around Ipala, 900 meters, Chiquimula,
Steyermark 30287; abundant in cornfields, region of El Tablon,
850-900 meters, Jutiapa, Standky 75850, 75910. Mexico. Cultivat-
ed for forage in several countries of Central and South America.
Culms usually in large clumps, erect or ascending, commonly 2-3 meters high,
branching at the base; sheaths glabrous; blades flat, elongate, as much as 8 cm.
wide, the upper ones reduced, glabrous on both surfaces, the margins scabrous;
staminate racemes few to many, crowded; staminate spikelets about 8 mm. long,
acute or acuminate; joints of the pistillate spike about 8 mm. long, readily dis-
articulating, bony-indurate, smooth and shining.
f FESTUCA L.
Spikelets few- to several-flowered, the rachilla disarticulating above the
glumes and between the florets; glumes narrow, unequal, the first 1-nerved, the
second 3-nerved; lemmas rounded on the back, awnless or awned from the tip;
palea not adhering to the caryopsis.
Densely tufted annuals or perennials with flat or involute blades and narrow
or open panicles.
Species about 150, in cold and temperate regions of both hemi-
spheres and in tropics at higher altitudes.
Plants annual.
Lemmas ciliate toward the summit F. megalura.
134 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Lemmas not ciliate F. dertonensis,
Plants perennial.
Blades flat, 5-10 mm. wide.
Lemmas awnless or nearly so F. amphssima.
Lemmas awned, the awn 8-13 mm. long F. breviglumis.
Blades involute, or if flat, not more than 3 mm. wide.
Lemmas very scabrous, the nerves prominent; blades lax, those of the culm
flat F. willdinoviana.
Lemmas glabrous or scabrous only toward the tip, the nerves obscure;
blades firm, involute.
Blades very scabrous; spikelets 1-1.5 cm. long, 6-8-flowered. .F. tolucensis.
Blades smooth or scaberulous; spikelets 5-8 mm. long, 3-4-flowered.
F. hephaestophila.
Festuca amplissima Rupr. Bull. Acad. Sci. Brux. 9, pt. 2:
236. 1842; Fourn. Mex. PL 2: 125. 1886.
Open woods, 2,000-3,000 meters; Sacatepe"quez; Huehuetenango;
Quezaltenango. Mexico; Costa Rica; Panama.
Coarse perennial; culms erect, as much as 2 meters high, scabrous or nearly
smooth; sheaths scabrous, shorter than the internodes, the lowermost becoming
fibrous with age; blades 15-75 cm. long, 5-10 mm. wide, flat, firm, scabrous,
acuminate or attenuate to a fine involute tip; ligule very short; panicles 20-30
cm. long, open, the branches slender, more or less flexuous, ascending or spreading,
naked at the base, the lower ones usually about 15 cm. long, sometimes as much
as 25 cm. long; spikelets 8-15 mm. long, 4-7-flowered; glumes acute or acuminate,
the first 4-6 mm. long, 1-3-nerved, the second 5-7 mm. long, 3-nerved; lemmas
7-8 mm. long, acute or acuminate, smooth or somewhat scabrous toward the tip,
awnless or mucronate.
Festuca breviglumis Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29:
398. 1950. Figure 41.
Damp forests, region of Los Positos, Dept. Chimaltenango,
2,250-2,400 meters, Standley 80130. Costa Rica, the type from
El Copey, Province of San Jose", Standley 41998.
Perennial; culms erect, 55 cm. tall; sheaths glabrous, the lowermost becoming
fibrous with age; ligule a very short membrane less than 0.1 mm. long; blades
flat, attenuate, 5-8 mm. wide, scabrous on the margins, otherwise glabrous;
panicles 21 cm. long, lax, drooping, the branches somewhat flexuous, paired, the
pairs distant; spikelets mostly 4-flowered, 2 cm. long, excluding the awns; glumes
FIG. 40. Euchlaena mexicana. Plant, much reduced; pistillate inflorescence
enclosed in bract (a) and with portion of bract removed (b), X 1; lateral view
of rachis joint and fertile spikelet (c), and dorsal view of same, showing first glume
(d), X 2.
135
136 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
acute or subacuminate, the first 3-5 mm. long, 1-nerved, the second 4-9 mm.
long, 3-nerved; lowest lemma 14-17 mm. long, attenuate, scabrous, the awn
8-13 mm. long; palea about 1 cm. long, finely scabrous; rachilla appressed-
hirsute.
Festuca dertonensis (All.) Aschers. & Graebn. Syn. Mitteleur.
Fl. 2: 558. 1901. Bromus dertonensis All. Fl. Pedem. 2: 249. 1785.
Open banks, dry slopes, and moist meadows, about 2,400-4,000
meters; Chimaltenango; Quezaltenango; San Marcos. British
Columbia to Baja California; Ecuador to Chile, Brazil, and Argen-
tina. Introduced from Europe. Figure 42.
Annual; similar in habit and aspect to F. megalura; panicles usually shorter
and more open, the branches sometimes spreading; first glume about 4 mm. long,
the second 6-7 mm. long; lemmas 7-8 mm. long, scabrous toward the summit, the
margins not ciliate; awn about 1 cm. long.
Festuca hephaestophila Nees ex Steud. Syn. PL Glum. 1: 310.
1854. F. tolucensis var. hephaestophila Nees ex Hook. Jour. Bot.
Kew Misc. 2: 105. 1850.
Summit of Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, ^between Tojquia and
Caxin bluff, Dept. Huehuetenango, 3,700 meters, Steyermark 50156,
50177. Southern Mexico.
Perennial; culms in dense tufts, erect, 10-50 cm. high, rarely higher; leaves
glabrous or scaberulous, the blades firm, involute, curved, as much as 20 cm. long,
but usually less; panicles 4-10 cm. long, narrow, the few short branches appressed
or sometimes spreading, few-flowered; spikelets 5-8 mm. long, 3-4-flowered;
lemmas about 5 mm. long, glabrous on the back, scabrous toward the tip, the
nerves obscure, the awn 1-2 mm. long.
Festuca megalura Nutt. Jour. Acad. Phila. II. 1: 188. 1848.
Vulpia megalura Rydb. Bull. Torrey Club 36: 538. 1909.
Openings in pine and pine-oak woods, dry ridges, fields and
waste places, 2,000-4,200 meters; Jalapa; Chimaltenango; Quezal-
tenango. Western North America from British Columbia to Baja
California; Pacific slope of South America.
Annual; culms slender, erect, 20-60 cm. high; sheaths and blades soft, glabrous,
the blades mostly 1-2 mm. wide; panicles 7-20 cm. long, narrow, rather dense, the
branches appressed, spikelets 3-5-flowered, appressed, short pedicellate; glumes
very unequal, the first 1-2 mm. long, the second 4-5 mm. long; lemmas 4-6 mm.
long, scabrous, tapering into a straight awn 8-15 mm. long.
Festuca tolucensis H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 153. 1816.
Open places in pine forests, 4,100-4,600 meters; San Marcos.
Southern Mexico; Costa Rica.
FIG. 41. Festuca breviglumis. Spikelet, X 5.
137
FIG. 42. Festuca dertonensis. Plant, X Y<i\ spikelet, X 5.
138
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 139
Perennial; culms densely tufted, erect with numerous innovations, mostly
30-70 cm. high; sheaths scabrous; blades elongate, involute, firm, very scabrous,
usually curved or flexuous; panicles 8-20 cm. long, somewhat nodding, the few
branches slender, flexuous, ascending or spreading, scabrous, usually naked below
the middle; spikelets 1-1.5 cm. long, 6-8-flowered, the florets somewhat spread-
ing; lemmas 6-8 mm. long, obscurely nerved, acuminate, scabrous, sometimes
with an awn about 1 mm. long.
Festuca willdinoviana Schult. Mant. 2: 650. 1827. F. mexicana
Willd. ex Spreng. Syst. Veg. 1: 356. 1825.
Wet meadows and wooded ravines in alpine areas, 3,400-3,700
meters; Huehuetenango. Southern Mexico.
Perennial; culms slender, in small tufts, erect or ascending, 30-70 cm. high;
sheaths longer than the internodes, glabrous, the lower ones becoming fibrous
with age; blades flat, glabrous, or somewhat scabrous on the margins, those of
the innovations mostly 5-10 cm. long, about 1 mm. wide, those of the culm
10-20 cm. long, about 2 mm., rarely 3 mm., wide; panicle 5-20 cm. long, nodding,
the solitary branches flexuous, ascending to finally reflexed, naked toward the
base; spikelets about 1 cm. long, 2-4-flowered, short pedicellate; lemmas 6-8
mm. long, scabrous, the nerves rather prominent, acuminate, usually with an awn
1-3 mm. long.
GIGANTOGHLOA Kurz
Caespitose bamboos with promptly determinate, thick rhizomes; culms erect
or suberect, the tip nodding or broadly arched, sometimes pendulous, even
flagellate, the branches (in some species suppressed at the lower nodes of the culm)
unarmed, fasciculate, strongly unequal, the central one at each node strongly
dominant and flanked by several pairs of progressively shorter and more slender
ones; the culm sheaths usually deciduous; leaf blades usually without typical
tessellate venation, but often with pellucid dots between the tertiary veins.
Inflorescences usually capitate, with pseudospikelets congested in dense, more or
less spherical aggregates at the nodes of leafy or more commonly leafless branches;
spikelets few-flowered, the rachilla short, usually not disarticulating except below
the first lemma; lodicules 3 or less, sometimes none; stamens 6, filaments more
or less completely monadelphous, sometimes only partially so; style usually
elongate, stigmas 1-3, hirsute. Fruit a usually sulcate caryopsis with a thin peri-
carp.
About 30 species have been described, all relatively large, tropical
bamboos, mostly from southeastern Asia and adjacent islands.
Many are locally important as sources of materials for building and
for making articles of daily use.
Three species have been introduced in Guatemala.
FIELD KEY
Culm sheaths promptly deciduous; culm nodes bearing a ring of root primordia
for a considerable distance up the culm.
140 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Surface of culm internodes papillose; culm nodes more or less strongly inflated,
the culms conspicuously flared downward (larger) at the base . . . G. aspera.
Surface of culm internodes bearing hair-impressions, not papillose, the nodes
not appreciably inflated, the culms not conspicuously larger at the base.
G. verticillata.
Culm sheaths tardily deciduous or persistent, culm nodes not bearing root pri-
mordia except at the very base of the culm G. apus.
Gigantochloa apus (Schult.) Kurz, Ind. Forester 1 : 344. 1876.
Bambusa apus Schult. f., Syst. 7: 1353. 1830.
Heyne (De nuttige planten van Indonesie, 1: 297. ed. 3. 1950)
indicates this as the most useful of the bamboos in Java. He
continues (op. cit. p. 299) :
"Because of their strength and durability [the culms] are best
liked for building houses and bridges, and for all kinds of woven
work. In each roof, item of basketry, and each tie where strength
is required, this species is used. It is the only bamboo [available
in Java] from which strong lashings can be made. It is also the only
species of bamboo of which the culms are used for the framework
of rattan furniture."
Kurz (Ind. For. 1: 345. 1876) says: "While young [this bamboo]
is usually called bamboo talie [string-bamboo] because in this state
it is chiefly used for strings, ropes, etc. ; full-grown it generally goes
under the name of bamboo apoos."
This bamboo was successfully introduced into the United States
from Surinam by Dr. David Fairchild on behalf of the United States
Department of Agriculture in about 1932, and it was later established
in cultivation at the Federal Experiment Station at Mayagiiez,
Puerto Rico. From there plants were secured for introduction in
Guatemala by the Institute Agropecuario Nacional. These are
being propagated and tested at Chocola, Suchitepe"quez, and Alta
Verapaz. Java (whence the type).
A medium-sized caespitose bamboo, with determinate rhizomes, and erect
or suberect culms to 20 meters in height and 9 cm. in diameter, arched above, with
wood up to 13 mm. thick at the base; internodes up to 65 cm. long, cylindrical or
slightly sulcate above the insertion of the branches, covered with fine, appressed,
white or dark, rather persistent hairs, the nodes not at all or only slightly inflated,
often fringed on the edge of the sheath scar with shaggy brown hairs, all gemmif-
erous. Culm sheaths rather tardily deciduous, rather soft and soon disintegrating,
broad, oblong, broadly convex at the top, appressed pubescent with dark, fuga-
cious, stiff, appressed hairs; auricles small, somewhat elongated and excurrent,
with or without marginal setae, fragile, soon lost; ligule 3-5 mm. high, arcuate,
irregularly dentate, the margin erose or ciliolate; sheath blade ovate-triangular
to lanceolate, appressed at first and soon partially reflexed and curved upward,
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 141
falling off when dry, at first appressed pubescent on both surfaces with coarse
dark deciduous hairs, and on the upper surface often clothed also with fine white
persistent hairs. Branches (usually suppressed in the lower part of large culms)
coarse, the nodes of the principal one at each node fringed with shaggy brown
hairs, otherwise glabrous and usually more or less strongly pruinose. Leaf sheaths
strongly pruinose, strongly keeled above, and often salient-veined, ciliate along
the margins and at first appressed pubescent, later glabrescent, the petiole collar
flaring, emarginate, ciliolate or erose on the margin; auricles when present small,
with inconspicuous glabrous marginal setae; ligule 2-4.5 mm. long, ciliolate on the
margin, glabrous or nearly so on the back; petiole 4-15 mm. long, glabrous; leaf
blade 9-40 cm. X 12-65 mm., ovate-lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acuminate
above, asymmetrically rounded at the base, glabrous on the upper surface, lighter
in color and at first appressed pubescent, later glabrescent on the lower surface, the
midrib and secondary veins paler and salient below, the tertiary veins not tessel-
lated but often connected by numerous ripple-like transverse ridges.
Gigantochloa aspera (Schult.) Kurz, Ind. Forester 1: 221. 1876.
Bambusa aspera Schult. f. 7: 1352. 1830. Dendrocalamus asper
(Schult.) Backer in Heyne, Nut. PI. Ned. Ind. (ed. 2) 1: 301 1927.
Of this bamboo, Kurz (op. cit. pp. 340-341) says "it produces the
strongest culms, and is, therefore, extensively cultivated all over
the Indian Archipelago as far north as Malacca, . . . and is generally
known under the Malayan name of bamboo bitoong. Along the base
of the Java hills, at 2,000 to 4,000 feet [615-1230 m.] elevation,
it forms extensive forests ... [of culms] 100 to 120 feet in height."
Elsewhere (op. cit. p. 221) Kurz lists this species first among those
that appeared to him to yield more durable culms, adding that these
are used by preference for the principal post and scaffolding for
houses in Java, because of their great strength and durability.
This bamboo was introduced into the United States through the
agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, from which
source the Institute Agropecuario Nacional secured plants for trial
in Guatemala. Suchitep4quez; Alta Verapaz. Amboina (whence
the type) ; Indian Archipelago.
Very large, caespitose bamboo, with enormous, determinate rhizomes, and
culms reaching 30 meters in height and 20 cm. in diameter, erect or apically
arched; the lower internodes relatively short, with thick walls, those in the middle
of the culm up to 55 cm. long, all densely clothed at first with gray-brown acicular
hairs, beneath which they are papillose-asperous; nodes all gemmiferous, those in
the lower part of the culm rather strongly inflated, ringed with a wide band of
root primordia. Culm sheaths promptly deciduous, thick, stiff, dorsally convex
when dry, broad, oblong, broadly convex at the top, appressed-pubescent, gla-
brescent on the back; auricles small, rounded, with a few delicate setae on their
margins, fragile, soon lost; ligule 6-10 mm. high, coarsely dentate and ciliate on
the margin; sheath blade much narrower at the base than the apex of the sheath,
ovate to lanceolate, more or less strongly reflexed, almost as long as the sheath
142 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
in the middle of the culm, more or less hispid or appressed-pubescent on both
surfaces, gradually glabrescent, especially on the outer surface. Branches more
or less completely suppressed in the lower part of large culms, or commonly with
a few slender subsidiary branches developing at the lower nodes. Leaf sheaths
coarse, keeled above, salient- veined, dorsally glabrous or in part hispidulous,
usually without auricles and oral setae; petiole collar flaring, usually ciliate along
the margin at first; ligule as wide as the apex of the sheath, 0.5-2.5 mm. high,
erose or ciliate on the margin; petiole long, glabrous or scabrous on one or both
surfaces; leaf blades 14-15 cm. X 23-85 mm., lanceolate, acuminate and apiculate
at the tip, more or less asymmetrically rounded or cuneate at the base, scabrous
or sparsely hispidulous on the upper surface, paler in color and villous to hirsute
on the lower surface, especially in the lower part of the culm, often more or less
completely glabrous in the upper part of the culm, midrib and secondary veins
salient on the lower surface, without conspicuous transverse veins, but with
ripple-like ridges between the tertiary veins.
Gigantochloa verticillata (Willd.) Munro, Trans. Linn. Soc.
26: 124. 1868. Bambusa verticillata Willd Sp. PI. 2: 245. 1799.
Figure 43.
According to J. J. Ochse (Vegetables of the Dutch East Indies,
p. 325. 1931) this is one of the largest bamboos of Java and,
after awi tali (G. apus), the most useful. Numerous forms of it are
cultivated under distinctive native names in Java, some for their
edible shoots (e.g. andong and awi leak) and others for their strong
culms (e.g. gambong), which are used for posts and, in a flattened
condition, as a covering for floors and partitions (Ochse, op. cit.
pp. 326-327). A large, timber- type form was introduced from
Sumatra into the Western Hemisphere in 1926 by the United States
Department of Agriculture under P.I. No. 79568. Plants from this
introduction, brought into Guatemala by the Institute Agropecuario
Nacional, were established at Chocola, whence propagating material
has been distributed for trial in various parts of the country. Suchi-
tepe"quez; Alta Verapaz. Java (whence the type); Sumatra.
A large caespitose bamboo growing in compact clumps, the culms to 25 meters
tall (80-100 ft., teste Munro) and 10 cm. in diameter, erect, straight except at
the more or less nodding or pendulous tip; internodes moderately elongate (V:50
X 10 cm. with wood 1.5 cm. thick), cylindrical, more or less densely strewn, in
the upper half, with antrorse-appressed brown needle-like deciduous hairs which
leave their imprint on the surface when they fall away; nodes not or scarcely
inflated, marked at first by a brown to buff zone of densely crowded, appressed
hairs that make a woolly mass when scraped off, the zone gradually glabrescent
in age; nodes 1-2 usually gemmiferous, the next 10-12 or more (in culms of
mature-sized plants) without buds, the lower 2-4 or 5 commonly (sometimes
to 20 or more) ringed with 1-several rows of root primordia, the sheath scar thick,
perceptibly flared, fringed with brown hairs; culm sheaths early deciduous through-
out the culm, rather hard and brittle in texture, lightly to densely strewn on
FIG. 43. Gigantochloa verticillata Munro. "1, leafy branch, X 1 A', 2, flower
branch, X Y^', 3, top of culm-sheath, much reduced ; 4, part of young shoot, reduced ;
5 and 6, spikelet, X 1 A;7, flowering glume, enlarged; 8, palea, enlarged; 9, staminal
tube and anthers, enlarged; 10, lodicules and anthers, enlarged; 11, ovary, style
and stigmas, enlarged; 12, leaf-sheath, enlarged. From J. S. Gamble, Bambuseae
of British India, Calcutta Botanic Garden, Annals 7: pi. 52. 1907.
143
144 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
the back with brown, appressed, deciduous, needle-like hairs at first, then grad-
ually glabrescent; auricles rather well developed, unequal, scalloped on the margin,
glabrous, without marginal setae; ligule short (to 3 or 4 mm. long), the apex
truncate or undulate or subarcuate, the margin dentate to sub-laciniate; sheath
blade lanceolate to linear-lanceolate or narrowly triangular, more or less strongly
reflexed, partially to completely abscissile at the base. Branches usually partially
suppressed at the base of the culm (only the small, secondary ones developing
as a rule) and often completely suppressed in the middle of the culm, the com-
plement when fully developed consisting of one strong central one flanked by
several pairs of much smaller ones. Leaf sheaths numerous, ribbed-striate,
densely pubescent, the inner ligule weakly developed, asymmetrically truncate
to convex, the outer one emarginate, pubescent on the back, irregularly setose
on the margin, auricles and oral setae obsolete; petiole rather short, glabrous or
nearly so, the leaf blade lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, attenuate above, rounded
to attenuate at the base, pubescent and paler (somewhat glaucous) on the lower
surface, otherwise glabrous or nearly so, midrib and secondary veins inconspicuous
on the upper surface, salient below; the tertiary ones connected on the lower
surface by distant, irregularly spaced, more or less oblique transverse veinlets.
GLYCERIA R. Br.
Spikelets several-flowered, the rachilla disarticulating above the glumes and
between the florets; glumes short, obtuse, scarious, 1-nerved; lemmas broad,
obtuse, prominently 7-nerved, the nerves parallel.
Soft perennials with flat blades and open panicles.
Species about 35, in temperate regions of both hemispheres.
Glyceria striata var. mexicana Kelso, Rhodora 37: 263. 1935.
Swamp along creek below Nuca, between Nuca and Quetzal,
Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, Dept. Huehuetenango, 2,500 meters,
Steyermark 49778. Mexico, infrequent.
Perennial; culms relatively slender, erect or ascending, 50-75 cm. high;
sheaths longer than the internodes, glabrous; blades smooth, flat, 10-15 cm.
long, 3-4 mm. wide, suberect; panicles 15-25 cm. long, narrow, lax, the branches
rather narrowly ascending, somewhat flexuous; spikelets 4-5 mm. long, 4-5-
flowered; first glume 1.5 mm. long, acute, the second 2 mm. long, usually obtuse;
lower lemmas 2.5-2.8 mm. long, obtuse or subobtuse, purplish.
The above description applies only to the Guatemala specimens.
The variety is little known and possibly may be a distinct species.
GOUINIA Fourn.
Spikelets 2-several-flowered, the rachilla articulated above the glumes and
between the florets, the upper one reduced to a sterile awned rudiment; glumes
subequal, 1 -several-nerved, shorter than the spikelet; lemma lanceolate, 3-nerved
(rarely 5-nerved), long-awned, densely ciliate below on both sides of the midnerve
FIG. 44. Gouinia guatemalensis. Inflorescence, X 1; spikelet, X 5.
145
146 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
and ciliate or pilose on the margins for about half the length; palea two-keeled,
toothed, the teeth sometimes aristate, the margins glabrous or pubescent.
Perennial grasses with simple or branching culms and terminal panicles of
slender, one-sided, simple or rarely compound spikes.
Species 13, in Mexico, Central and South America, and the West
Indies.
Gouinia guatemalensis (Hack.) Swallen, Pub. Carnegie Inst.
Wash. 436: 334. 1934. Diplachne guatemalensis Hack. Oesterr. Bot.
Zeitschr. 52: 275. 1902. Figure 44.
Grassy shrubby slopes, Cerro Tixixi, north of Jocotan, Dept.
Chiquimula, about 1,000 meters, Steyermark 31548. Described from
Guatemala but without definite locality, Friedrichsthal 1748, type.
Mexico (Yucatan) ; Honduras.
Perennial; culms erect, 1-3 meters high; sheaths overlapping, scabrous,
papillose or papillose-pilose above; blades flat, 20-25 cm. long, 1.5 cm. wide,
scabrous and sparsely pilose on both surfaces, papillose-pilose above near the base;
ligule membranaceous, erose, less than 1 mm. long; panicle as much as 20 cm.
long, the branches about 10 cm. long, naked below; spikelets 8-10 mm. long
excluding the awns; glumes obtuse or subacute, mucronulate, scabrous, especially
on the keel and toward the summit, the first 4-5 mm., the second 5-6 mm., long;
lemma 7-8 mm. long, 3-nerved, bidentate, the awn about as long as the lemma;
palea equal to the lemma, the margins glabrous.
GUADUA Kunth
Small to very large, caespitose or rarely dumetose bamboos with promptly
or rarely tardily determinate rhizomes; culms erect or suberect or ascending,
rarely climbing; the branches (sometimes suppressed except at the very base in
the lower part of large culms) always several at each node above, sometimes
solitary or paired in the lower middle part of the culm, the principal branch at
each node flanked by one or more pairs of successively shorter and more slender
subsidiary ones, the basal ones usually solitary and very thorny. Culm sheaths
commonly persistent, at least in the lower part of the culm; leaf blades usually
without typically tessellate venation, but often with visible ridges between the
tertiary veins. Inflorescences consisting of pseudospikelets arising at the nodes
of branches of various orders, rarely on specialized axes terminating leafy or
leafless twigs, sometimes remaining solitary or nearly so, but typically developing
more or less congested aggregates of similar flowering axes by the successive
development of basal buds; spikelets terminating pseudospikelets few- to several-
flowered, persistent or, more commonly, falling off sooner or later by abscission
above the gemmiparous bracts; gemmiparous bracts below the flowering glumes
usually several, preceded by a small, two-keeled, sometimes gemmiparous pro-
phyll; empty glumes 0-2; rachilla segments usually abscissile and sooner or later
disarticulating below each fertile lemma; palea bicarinate, with more or less
obviously "winged" keels; lodicules usually 3 (2 sometimes connate); stamens 6
(occasionally 3, as in G. spinosa), the filaments filiform, free; ovary oblong or
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 147
ovate, crowned by the usually thickened and expanded, rigid base of the style;
stigmas usually 3 or 2, plumose or pilose or rarely without appendages. Fruit
a caryopsis, crowned by the persistent base of the style.
About 30 species have been described in this genus, all of them
native to tropical parts of Central and South America except one,
G. philippinensis. Three species have been found native in Guate-
mala, of which only one, G. aculeata, is of noticeable importance
in the local economy. Two additional kinds have been introduced
from Ecuador.
Native bamboos.
Flowering material available.
Twigs flexuous, very unequal, spreading; leaf blades broad, up to 30 mm.
wide; fertile lemmas up to 30 mm. long, apiculate G. aculeata.
Twigs stiff, subequal, fasciculate; leaf blades very narrow, rarely exceeding
10 mm. in width.
Pseudospikelets up to about 2.5 cm. long; fertile lemmas 6-7 mm. long,
usually tinted with wine; stamens 6 G. paniculata.
Pseudospikelets up to 13 cm. long; fertile lemmas up to 21 mm. long, not
tinted with wine; stamens 3 G. spinosa.
Flowering material not available (field key).
Clumps compact; rhizome short-necked, promptly determinate; culms weak,
thin-walled; culm sheath blade abscissile G. paniculata.
Clumps more or less open; rhizomes long-necked, somewhat tardily de-
terminate; culms sturdy, thick- walled; culm sheath blade not abscissile.
Culms large, commonly exceeding 15 meters tall and 10 cm. in diameter;
culm sheaths coarse, heavily pubescent on the back with coarse,
dark, spreading hairs; junction of sheath blade and sheath proper
straight or somewhat concave, symmetrical G. aculeata.
Culms usually much less than 15 meters tall and rarely exceeding 5 cm.
in diameter; culm sheaths fragile, weakly pubescent on the back with
soft, pale, reclining, inconspicuous hairs; junction of sheath blade and
sheath proper broadly convex and very asymmetrical G. spinosa.
Introduced bamboos (field key).
Culms commonly reaching 25 meters in height and 12 cm. in diameter, mid-
culm primary and secondary branches not rooting spontaneously at the
base; normal leaves narrowly lanceolate. . . .G. angustifolia ("cana brata").
Culms commonly reaching 15 meters in height and 8 cm. in diameter, mid-culm
primary and secondary branches often rooting spontaneously; normal
leaves oblong-lanceolate G. angustifolia ("cana mama").
Guadua aculeata Rupr. ex Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 130. 1886.
Figure 45.
A large, thorny, native bamboo with rather open clump habit,
flourishing best in rich, moist lowlands; commonly known as tarro
148 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
in Guatemala and elsewhere within its range. This species is closely
related to Guadua angustifolia, and is not easily distinguished from
the latter on the basis of sterile herbarium material. The zone of
transition between the two species apparently occurs in Panama,
Guadua angustifolia occurring to the south and G. aculeata to the
north. G. aculeata is the most important native bamboo in the
range of its occurrence, being much used for building construction
and other farm needs. It apparently is slow to recover from heavy
cutting, for which reason it has become virtually extinct in much
of its natural range, wherever there is a fair density of population.
Izabal; Solola; Suchitepe"quez ; Quezaltenango. Panama to Mexico
(whence the type).
Clumps open; rhizomes very heavy, somewhat tardily determinate, with
a long neck (0.5 to 1 meter long in large plants); culms commonly 10-15 meters,
rarely 20 meters, in height and 10-15 cm. in diameter, erect or ascending, broadly
arched above; internodes hollow, usually perceptibly sulcate for a short distance
above the point of attachment of the branch complement at each node, rather
densely clothed with appressed, later spreading, sharp, amber-colored hairs, the
surface aciculate, gradually glabrescent (V: up to 26.5 cm. long and 13 cm. in
diameter; XL: to 50 cm. long and 6.2 cm. in diameter), the wood (int. V) up to
2 cm. thick; nodes more or less inflated, usually all gemmiferous, the lower ones
each marked by a dense band of appressed, cream- or buff-colored hairs extending
about 10 mm. below and 15 mm. above the sheath scar, these hairs gradually
weathering off; culm sheaths deciduous in the upper part of the culm, usually
more or less persistent at the lower nodes, more or less densely strewn on the back
with long, stiff, coarse, sharp, antrorse-spreading, easily detachable hairs, usually
glabrous on the margins; auricles and oral setae usually lacking entirely in the
lower sheaths, sometimes somewhat developed in the upper ones; ligule short,
straight or convex at the apex, typically about as wide as the apex of the sheath
proper, usually ciliolate on the margin; culm sheath blade roughly triangular,
about as broad at the base as the apex of the sheath proper, persistent, appressed
to the culm, densely strigose on the inner surface with fine, brown hairs in narrow
vertical bands separated by glabrous bands of similar width, the strigose bands
more or less thickly strewn with coarse, brown, spreading, more or less persistent
hairs, asperous or sparsely hispid on the outer surface, usually glabrous or nearly
so on the margins. Branches developed at all culm nodes or sometimes suppressed
at a few mid-culm nodes in large culms, 1 + 1 or 1 + 2 at mid-culm nodes, with
one or two to several supplemental branches developing later from the basal nodes
of the earlier ones, twigs abscissing ultimately. Leaf sheaths weakly compressed-
keeled, more or less striate with salient nerves toward the apex, glabrous through-
out or weakly ciliolate on the margins; auricles and oral setae very weak and
rudimentary when present, usually lacking entirely; petiole collar slightly flaring,
glabrous, undulate, sometimes emarginate at the apex, glabrous or nearly so on
the margin; ligule very short, scarcely exserted; petioles up to about 5 mm. long,
flat, glabrous and often nerve-striate on both surfaces; leaf blades up to 19 cm.
X 28 mm. and 15 cm. X 30 mm., oblong-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, acute
and subulate above, rounded or more commonly cuneate at the base, usually
FIG. 45. Guadua aculeaia Rupr. ex Fournier. Leafy branch and culm sheaths from
ie 10 (right) and mid-culm node, X ! _. Based on McClure 21213. Drawn by McClure.
149
150 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
sparsely strewn with coarse, white bristles on the lower surface, more rarely and
more sparsely so on the upper surface, sometimes glabrous or nearly so on both
surfaces, the midrib pale and salient, and the secondary veins weakly salient on
the lower surface, the latter scarcely distinguishable from the tertiary veins on
the upper surface; visible transverse ridges usually lacking.
Inflorescences terminal or lateral to leafless twigs; primary lateral pseudo-
spikelets (each subtended by a small sheath), sometimes solitary, more commonly
with one or more additional ones in different stages of development as new ones
arise successively from the axils of gemmiparous bracts at the lower nodes of the
axis, the axis of pseudospikelets short, 2-4 mm. long, in the lateral ones bearing
basally a prophyllum, followed by 1-3 gemmiparous bracts, and terminating in
a single spikelet (terminal pseudospikelets often resemble conventional spikelets) ;
prophylls 1-5 mm. long, broadly to narrowly triangular, bluntly acute, 2-keeled;
gemmiparous bracts 2-3 mm. long, ovate, obtuse, apiculate or mucronate;
spikelets slender, subfusiform, very slightly flattened, up to about 4.5 cm. long,
and up to 3-4 mm. wide, about 7-flowered, the uppermost 2-3 florets tabescent;
rachilla segments at length disarticulating below the lemmas, mostly two-thirds
or three-fourths as long as the adjacent palea, clavate, curved, somewhat com-
pressed, scaberulous above, ciliolate on the margin of the cupulate apex; empty
glumes 0-1, 4-5 mm. long, ventricose, ovate, obtuse, salient-nerved, apiculate,
minutely scaberulous on the back and glabrous on the margins; sterile lemmas
usually 1 or 2, about 10 mm. long, somewhat ventricose, ovate-lanceolate or
oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, salient-nerved, apiculate, minutely scaberulous on the
back with microscopic hairs, glabrous on the margins; fertile lemmas 2-5, about
13 mm. long, like the sterile lemmas but more acute, the upper ones more acute
than the lower ones, all scaberulous and more or less conspicuously farinose at
first, becoming green-stramineous upon drying, glabrous and often visibly tinged
with wine on the margins; palea in fully developed florets prominently exserted
beyond the margin of its lemma, broadly sulcate between the broad-winged keels,
ciliolate and glabrescent on the keels and scaberulous between the keels near the
biapiculate apex, elsewhere glabrous; lodicules 3, up to 5 mm. long, thickish
membranaceous, translucent, colorless, with many very slender veins, glabrous
on both surfaces and on the margins, the anterior pair broadly lanceolate, acute,
the dorsal one oblong, obtuse; exserted anthers about 6 mm. long, yellow, the
produced connective minutely penicillate or glabrous; ovary triquetrous, glabrous,
crowned by a short, thick, densely antrorse-hirsute style, stigmas 3, long, rather
thick and soft, sparsely pubescent; mature fruit a typical caryopsis, 7-8 mm.
long, straight on the front, convex and strongly sulcate on the back, crowned
by the persistent style.
Guadua angustifolia Kunth, Syn. PI. Aequin. 1: 253. 1822.
Native to northeastern South America, this species is especially
common in well- watered, fertile regions at elevations below 1,500
meters, particularly in Colombia and Ecuador. In Colombia it is
known by the indigenous vernacular name, guadua, on which the
generic name is based, and in Ecuador it is called cana brava, to
distinguish it from a less thorny strain, know as cana mansa. The
natural distribution of this bamboo extends into Panama, which
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 151
apparently is the zone of transition between it and the closely
related, more northerly, Guadua aculeata. Like G. aculeata, this
species is the most important native bamboo in the range of its
occurrence, being much used for building construction and for farm
needs. Propagating material of this species from the Summit
Experiment Gardens, Canal Zone (originally from Milagro, Ecua-
dor), was introduced into Guatemala through the agency of the
Institute Agropecuario Nacional, and is being propagated and
distributed at Chocola. Suchitepe"quez ; Alta Verapaz. Colombia
(whence the type) ; Ecuador.
A large, thorny bamboo growing in open clumps; rhizomes very thick, prompt-
ly determinate; culms commonly to 20 meters, sometimes approaching 30 meters
in height, commonly 10-15 cm., exceptionally 20 cm. in diameter, erect, broadly
arched above; internodes hollow, usually perceptibly sulcate above the point of
attachment of branch complements, the lower ones glabrous or sparsely strewn
with appressed, later spreading, sharp, amber-colored hairs, the surface aciculate
and gradually glabrescent, the upper ones typically more densely clothed with
such hairs, aciculate and at length glabrescent, the lower internodes very short
(V: 7-10 cm. long and 14.5 cm. in diameter, mid-culm internode up to 34 cm. long
and 13 cm. in diameter), the wood up to 2 cm., rarely 2.5 cm., thick at the base
of the culm, about 1 cm. thick in the greater part of the length in large culms;
nodes with a rather prominent sheath scar, especially at the base of the culm, the
lower ones marked by a dense band of appressed, cream- or buff-colored hairs
extending about 10 mm. below and 15 mm. above the sheath scar, these gradually
weathering off; culm sheaths deciduous in the upper part of the culm, usually
more or less persistent at the lower nodes, densely and minutely tomentose on the
back, especially toward the base, with small, brown, persistent hairs, and more
or less densely strewn with longer, stiffer, coarser, sharp, antrorse-spreading,
persistent or easily detachable hairs, and usually densely fringed on the margins
with brown cilia; auricles and oral setae usually lacking entirely in the lower
sheaths; ligule very variable, usually more or less strongly convex, sometimes
truncate or humped, about as wide as the apex of the sheath proper, erose or
dentate and ciliate on the margin; culm sheath blade roughly triangular, about
as broad at the base as the apex of the sheath proper, persistent, appressed to
the culm, densely strigose on the inner surface with fine, light-brown hairs in
narrow, vertical bands separated by glabrous bands of similar width, glabrous
or nearly so on the outer surface, usually fringed on the margins with brown
cilia. Branches (in large culms, suppressed throughout the lower half or two-
thirds of the height except the basal 6-10 nodes) solitary and very thorny at
the basal nodes, usually 1 + 1 or 1 +2 above the middle of the culm and pro-
gressively more fasciculate above, developing numerous supplemental branches
in age, the twigs abscissing ultimately. Leaf sheaths weakly or not at all keeled,
finely striate with salient veins often connected above by clearly visible transverse
veinlets, glabrous throughout or weakly ciliolate on the margins; auricles usually
not much developed beyond a callus at the base of the oral setae; oral setae
weakly to strongly developed, few to numerous, pale, antrorse-appressed, obscurely
scabrous at the base, glabrous and very attenuate above; petiole collar strongly
flaring, sometimes recurved when dry, glabrous and glossy outside, undulate,
152 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
sometimes emarginate at the apex, glabrous or ciliolate on the margin ; ligule very
short, scarcely exserted; petiole up to 1 cm. long, slender, glabrous or nearly so,
often with a well-developed, dark, often puberulent pulvinus at the base; leaf
blades extremely variable in size and shape, those on young growth ovate-lance-
olate, up to 17 cm. X 50 mm., ovate- to oblong-lanceolate, those on old wood
up to 21 cm. X 24 mm., oblong- to linear-lanceolate, commonly glabrous or nearly
so on the lower surface, sparsely strewn with coarse white bristles or more rarely
glabrous on the upper surface, sometimes glabrous on both surfaces; midrib and
numerous secondary veins paler and salient on the lower surface, the latter scarcely
distinguishable from the tertiary veins on the upper surface, transverse ridges
often visible here and there on the lower surface.
Inflorescences borne on leafless or leafy twigs, commonly 6-7 cm. long, some-
times shorter or longer, commonly 4-5 mm. wide, linear, rather strongly flattened
and tight (the florets gaping only at anthesis), solitary at first and usually more
or less fasciculate at length by the development of additional ones from buds
in the axils of the gemmiparous bracts, but complete ones never numerous in
a given fascicle, since the spikelets usually absciss as they approach or reach
maturity, rachis segments up to 3-4 mm. long, tomentose; prophylls 2-5 mm.
long, narrowly to broadly triangular to ovate (sometimes subtending a bud which
may form a pseudospikelet) ; gemmiparous bracts 1-2, ovate, obtuse, apiculate,
5-7 mm. long; spikelets curved, commonly 12-14-flowered, the apical 4-6 florets
more or less tabescent; rachilla segments in the middle of the spikelet up to
a little more than half as long as the adjacent palea, shorter above and below,
thickish, clavate, somewhat flattened, often narrowly sulcate, not angular, glossy
below, hispidulous toward the cupulate apex and ciliolate on the margin of the
apex; lemmas up to 13 mm. long in the middle of the spikelet, gradually reduced
to about 10 mm. above and below, ovate-lanceolate, salient-nerved, apiculate,
glossy and obscurely hispidulous dorsally, glabrous on the margins, the lower
ones obtuse, the upper ones acute; palea strongly exserted beyond the margins
of the lemma except in the uppermost 4-6 tabescent florets and sometimes not
exserted in the lowest lemma, very broad, oblong, broadly obtuse at the apex,
broadly sulcate and hispidulous between the broadly winged keels, minutely
ciliolate on the keels near the apex, glabrous and glossy between the keels and
the margins; lodicules 3, unequal, ovate to oblong, rarely sublanceolate, minutely
toothed on the margin at the apex, exceedingly thin, transparent, colorless, with
numerous slender veins in the lower half, up to 4-5 mm. long (shorter, reddish
above and ciliolate on the margins in somewhat rudimentary florets); exserted
anthers yellow, commonly 6-7 mm. long, the connective not produced above;
ovary slender, subtriquetrous, glabrous, the style somewhat thickened basally,
narrowly conical, densely antrorse-hispidulous, asymmetrically divided into 3
villous stigmas of unequal length. Mature fruit not seen.
This is a rather variable species. One of the more clearly distinct
lines of variation has been given local recognition in Ecuador by
the name cana mansa. Cana mansa in its more marked form is
distinguishable from the species by the following field characters:
1. Weaker development of the branches and leaves at the base
of the culms.
2. Fewer, shorter and blunter spines on the lower branches.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 153
3. The generally somewhat broader, shorter leaf blades.
4. The stronger tendency of the branches to root spontaneously
at the basal nodes.
This strain was introduced into Guatemala at the same time
and by the same agency as the species. Suchitep6quez ; Alta Vera-
paz. Ecuador; Colombia, whence the type.
Guadua paniculata Munro, Trans. Linn. Soc. 26: 85. 1868
(sensu lato).
A shrubby, weak-stemmed, thorny bamboo, usually of modest
dimensions, apparently with a rather strongly developed tolerance
of drought, thriving and often forming extensive colonies in pure
stand, in a rather wide range of ecological conditions, from sea level
to an elevation of 1,300 meters. The species, interpreted in a broad
sense, exhibits a remarkable uniformity of habit (over-all appear-
ance) and morphological character, throughout its geographical and
ecological range, and equally remarkable variability in minor details,
particularly in respect to the coloration of the floral envelope, the
nature and degree of development of pubescence, and appendages
such as auricles and oral setae, even in the same plant. Izabal;
Jutiapa; Santa Rosa(?); Retalhuleu; Baja Verapaz. Brazil (whence
the type); Venezuela; Panama; Nicaragua; El Salvador; Mexico.
Clumps fairly compact to somewhat open below, usually loose and untidy
above; culms up to 8 or 9 meters tall and 7.5 cm. in diameter, weakly upright
or ascending, with long, slender, broadly arched or clambering tips; internodes
relatively short, the basal 1 -several often solid or nearly so, the rest typically
rather thin-walled, with weak, brittle wood, flattened, often coarsely ridged, and
rather prominently pubescent above the point of attachment of the branch com-
plement at each node, the surface elsewhere smooth to more or less markedly
striate with fine ridges, gray-green turning yellow with age, the lower ones often
densely velvety or woolly throughout with fine, deciduous or persistent hairs,
sometimes glabrous or nearly so from the first, the upper ones progressively more
nearly glabrous (all usually glabrous except on the sulcus in small plants) ; nodes
with a prominent ridge above the sheath scar, bearing pubescence similar to that
of the adjacent internodes, often also coarsely strigose with irregularly deciduous
hairs. Culm sheaths somewhat persistent, sometimes promptly deciduous at the
lower nodes, typically so at the upper ones, broadly convex at the junction of
the blade, thin, stiff, brittle, fissile, the lower ones sometimes entirely glabrous
on the back but more commonly more or less completely covered, especially just
below the base of the blade, with fine, short, antrorse or retrorse hairs, sometimes
in small plants sparsely strewn with coarse, white, appressed bristles, upper ones
progressively more completely glabrous, all usually more or less conspicuously
glaucous at first; auricles and oral setae generally lacking entirely, sometimes
developed to a certain extent in small plants; ligule nearly obsolete, as wide as
the apex of the sheath proper, 1-2 mm. high, the margin even, minutely ciliolate;
154 F1ELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
sheath blade appressed to the culm, promptly and more or less completely abscis-
sile, thin and very fragile, broadly sublanceolate to subtriangular, abruptly
narrowed at the often apiculate tip, as broad at the base as the apex of the sheath
proper, entirely glabrous or more or less densely pubescent with fine buff-colored
hairs at the base on the outside and becoming glabrous toward the tip, sometimes
(especially in small plants) sparsely strewn throughout on the outside with
appressed or spreading setae, finely striate with salient nerves and usually more
densely covered on the inner surface, especially near the base, with coarser,
stiffer, antrorse, buff-colored, persistent hairs, entirely glabrous or (in small
plants) antrorse-setose on the margins. Branches relatively short, usually solid
or nearly so, stiff, the ihternodes glabrous or glabrescent, the nodes prominent,
the principal and subsidiary branches (of the lower primary ones) often mostly
transformed into sharp thorns, the subsidiary branches of the upper ones slender,
stiff, unarmed, usually branched only at the basal nodes, the internodes often
puberulent or scabrous at first, then glabrescent. Leaf sheaths keeled toward
the apex, not at all to prominently striate with salient veins, usually glabrous
on the back and one or both margins; auricles lacking entirely or reduced to a
callus at the base of the oral setae; oral setae very irregularly developed, none-few-
several, up to 10 mm. long, rather stiff, flattened, tapered, smooth or nearly so
to prominently scabrous, mostly antrorsely appressed; petiole collar scarcely
flared, glabrous and shining on the outside, usually emarginate and arcuate at
the apex, erose, or more rarely ciliolate, on the margin; ligule scarcely exserted,
dorsally scabrous, undulate-truncate at the apex, ciliolate on the margin; petiole
very variable, the lower ones about 2 mm., the upper ones to 5 mm., long, usually
coarsely hirsute on the lower surface, more sparsely so or glabrous on the upper
surface, sometimes glabrous or glabrescent on both surfaces; leaf blades up to
14.5 cm. X 9 mm. and 13 cm. X 12 mm., oblong-lanceolate or linear-lanceolate,
attenuate, abruptly acute and often apiculate to subulate, rounded to cuneate
at the base, glabrous or nearly so on both surfaces to antrorse-scabrous on both
surfaces, especially toward the tip, sometimes villous on one or both surfaces,
sometimes only sparsely and irregularly strewn with spreading white bristles,
especially near the base on the lower surface, antrorse-setose or uncinate or serrate
to subglabrous on the margins; the midrib moderately salient, the secondary nerves
only slightly less so and often with a few transverse ridges faintly visible on the
lower surface only, veins of the several orders scarcely distinguishable from each
other on the upper surface.
Pseudospikelets borne at the nodes of leafless branches of all orders, up to
about 2.5 cm. long and 3 mm. wide, definitely flattened, lanceolate, solitary at
first and soon followed (upon the development of basal buds) by additional ones,
the spikelet terminating each falling away in fragments, or entire, by disarticulation
of the axis, usually soon after maturity; axis of pseudospikelets (the part below
the spikelet) 2-3 mm. long, with hispidulous internodes; prophyllum minute;
gemmiparous bracts, usually 2 or 3, sub-triangular to semi-oblong, obtuse to acute,
apiculate, costate, few-veined, dorsally glabrous or nearly so, usually glabrous
on the margins, persistent; empty glumes none; rachilla segments of the spikelets
about one-fourth as long as the palea of the lowest functional floret to nearly
one-half as long as the palea of the uppermost functional floret, soft, fragile,
hollow, striate, flattened throughout, gradually and slightly thickened toward
the apex, glabrous and glossy throughout, abscissing below each lemma except
in the tabescent florets at the apex of the spikelet, but not always disarticulating
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 155
readily (especially the short, basal ones); sterile lemma usually one, intermediate
in size between the gemmiparous bracts and the fertile lemmas and subtending
a small, non-functional palea with a very short, basally and apically abscissile
rachilla segment at its back; fertile lemmas usually 5 or 6, rarely 7, followed by
one or two tabescent florets at the apex of the spikelet; first fertile lemma inter-
mediate in size between the sterile lemma below and the fertile lemmas above
it, with its palea more prominently exserted than that of the subsequent lemmas,
the rest of the fertile lemmas about 6-7 mm. long, roughly triangular to semi-
oblong, subacute, apiculate, irregularly many-nerved, scarcely costate, dorsally
glabrous or nearly so, weakly ciliolate or glabrous on the margins, pale greenish-
stramineous, usually more or less strongly tinted with wine on one side, especially
near the margin; palea usually a little longer than its lemma, thin, hyalescent,
partly tinted with wine on exserted areas, puberulent above, especially between
the keels, more weakly so outside the keels, broadly sulcate, the keels narrowly
winged, the wings ciliolate, the cilia denser and longer toward the broadly rounded
apex; lodicules 3, about 1.5 mm. long, hyaline, weakly nerved below, entire or
laciniate at the apex, the middle (posterior) one narrowly lanceolate, acute,
the anterior two paired, sub-semi-obovate, obtuse; anthers not seen; ovary
glabrous, much shrunken and about 1 mm. long in dried specimens, crowned
by the broad, subconical (indented on the dorsal side), horny, brown, glabrous
or nearly glabrous base of the style, the style stiff, brown, pubescent, trigonal,
tapering upward and divided above into 3 long, slender, soft, glabrous or nearly
glabrous, usually fugaceous stigmas; mature fruit not seen.
Guadua spinosa (Swallen) McClure, Phytologia 5: 82. 1954.
Arthrostylidium spinosum Swallen, Jour. Washington Acad. Sci.
28: 6. 1938.
Thorny, often clambering bamboo, forming massive thickets in
more or less pure stands at low elevations (up to 60 meters) along
rivers and in poorly drained areas. The native name in Mexico and
Guatemala is recorded as "Jimba." Izabal; Pete"n. Mexico;
British Honduras (whence the type).
Clump open, the rhizome branches very tardily determinate, with a long,
slender, budless neck; culms up to 15 meters long and about 5 cm. in diameter
(usually smaller), erect or ascending, with broadly arched or clambering tips;
internodes relatively short, thick-walled; nodes not strongly inflated; culm
sheaths promptly deciduous (or somewhat tardily so at the base of the culm),
inconspicuously villous to weakly pilose with persistent, reclining, white hairs
on the back, glabrous on the margins; auricles and oral setae lacking; ligule short,
extending all the way across the broad, asymmetrically convex apex of the sheath
proper, very short vertically (about 1 mm. high), very obscurely ciliolate on the
margin; sheath blade appressed to the culm, broadly triangular, as wide at the
base as the apex of the sheath proper, abruptly narrowed to a short acuminate
tip, clothed on the inner surface with long, pale, wavy, antrorsely inclined, white
hairs arranged in rows between the salient veins, weakly pilose and soon glabres-
cent or nearly so on the outer surface, glabrous or nearly so on the margins.
Branches very unequal, with usually one strong central one (sometimes with one
or two of intermediate size developing from its base), surrounded with a dense
156 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
fascicle of stiff, slender, subequal, leafy twigs, these rebranched only basally,
each branch complement accompanied by one or two sharp, strongly retrorse-
hooked spines. Leaf sheaths strongly keeled, smooth and glossy or striate with
salient nerves, villous at first and then glabrescent, or glabrous from the first,
densely ciliolate on the outer margin only; the petiole collar very slightly flared,
glabrous and shining, humped at the apex, typically deeply emarginate, glabrous
on the margin; auricles commonly obsolete, sometimes strongly developed in
the upper sheaths, narrow, falcate and spreading, glabrous and sparsely to densely
fringed on the margins with pale, slender, glabrous, more or less strongly radiating
oral setae; oral setae (in the absence of auricles) rarely few or lacking, usually
several, pale, glabrous, close-set at the base and parallel or more or less flabellately
spreading above, straight or often more or less wavy or crisped; ligule minute,
not exserted; petiole very short, about 2 mm. long in lower leaves and somewhat
longer above, densely hispid with persistent hairs on the upper surface, glabrous
or densely hispid with deciduous hairs on the lower surface; leaf blades rather
stiff, up to 29 cm. X 7 mm. and 21.5 cm. X 10 mm., lanceolate-linear to linear,
rounded to cuneate below and long-attenuate above, acuminate to subulate at
the tip, obscurely scaberulous to subglabrous on both surfaces, sometimes sparsely
villous or setose especially along the midrib, and with an occasional conspicuous,
strong, white bristle here and there toward the tip on the upper surface, sometimes
villous along the midrib on the lower surface, cartilaginous and subglabrous to
serrate to setose on one or both margins; midrib and 4-5 pairs of secondary veins
salient on the lower surface, scarcely distinguishable from the tertiary veins on
the upper surface, the tertiary veins very closely crowded together, with here and
there an occasional oblique transverse ridge and in some leaves numerous minute
papillae visible between the tertiary veins on the lower surface.
Inflorescences typically borne on special axes terminal to leafless or more
commonly leafy branchlets, these usually losing their leaf blades promptly, the
flowering part of the axis slender, exserted as much as 6 cm., the internodes
of the flowering axis strongly flattened above the point of insertion of the pseudo-
spikelets, the lower internodes up to 3 cm. long and more or less hispid, the upper
ones progressively shorter, more slender and more glabrous to completely so,
the nodes up to 5, inflated, each provided at first with a short, sheathing bract
which subtends the bud from which the first pseudospikelet at each node originates;
pseudospikelets up to 13 cm. long and 4 mm. wide, axis of the pseudospikelets
up to about 15 mm. long, completely covered with imbricate bracts, the bracts
up to about 8, the lowermost about 5 mm. the uppermost about 10 mm. long,
the intermediate ones somewhat unevenly intergraded in size, all gemmiparous,
oblong, abruptly acuminate, apiculate to awned, costate, many-nerved, very
fragile, glabrous on the back and margins, the internodes of the pseudospikelet
axis short, the lowermost somewhat puberulent apically, the others glabrous or
nearly so, flattened above the insertion of the buds, not abscissile at the nodes
or imperfectly so at the upper ones; spikelets lanceolate-linear, long attenuate
at the base and tip, subterete, scarcely flattened, rather tight, the 5-8 functional
florets spreading and gaping widely at anthesis, closing afterwards, the uppermost
one tabescent; rachilla segments hollow, coarse, strongly flattened throughout,
thicker at the tip, all glabrous and glossy, the lowest about 7 mm. long, the upper-
most about 9 mm. long; lemmas strongly imbricate, up to 21 mm. long (excluding
the 3-4 mm. long, slender, fragile, glabrous awn), the lowermost ones slightly
shorter, all costate, finely striate with many close-set, slender nerves, glabrous
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 157
throughout on the back and margins, only slightly convex longitudinally, strongly
inrolled on drying; paleas much shorter than their lemmas, progressively longer
(up to 15 mm. long) in the higher florets, thinner in texture than the lemmas,
narrowed above to a truncate apex tipped by two hispidulous awns (keel-nerves
produced), scarcely or weakly winged on the keels, strongly ciliate on the keels
only in the upper half, strigose between the keels near the apex, otherwise glabrous;
lodicules 3, subequal, up to 6 mm. long, opaque, reddish brown and thicker at
the base and longitudinally along the median line, elsewhere hyaline, more or less
densely hispidulous on the outer surface, glabrous on the inner surface, minutely
ciliolate near the acuminate apex or glabrous throughout on the margin, the front
pair sub-semi-lanceolate, the posterior one lanceolate, usually somewhat thinner
than the others, more translucent and showing many slender veins with one
stronger, central one; stamens 3, anthers yellow, obtuse, up to 8 mm. long, the
filaments filiform, free; ovary slender, glabrous, the style slender, not thickened
at the base, densely pubescent above, ending in a solitary(?) stigma. Mature
fruit unknown.
GYMNOPOGON Beauv.
Spikelets 1-3-flowered, articulated above the glumes, subsessile in two rows
on one side of the slender rachis, the rachilla prolonged beyond the upper floret,
often bearing a very rudimentary floret, this sometimes reduced to awns; glumes
narrow, acuminate, 1-nerved, nearly equal, longer than the florets; lemmas
narrow, 3-nerved, awned from between the teeth of a minutely bifid apex, or
sometimes almost awnless.
Perennial grasses with erect stiff culms, rounded sheaths, firm, flat or loosely
rolled, stiffly spreading blades, and few to numerous slender spikes scattered
along the upper half or third, or crowded at the summit of the culm.
Species about 15, warmer parts of America.
Gymnopogon spicatus (Spreng.) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 3, pt. 3 : 354.
1898. Polypogon spicatus Spreng. Syst. Veg. 1: 243. 1825. Gymno-
pogon laevis Nees, Agrost. Bras. 428. 1829. G. filiformis Griseb. Fl.
Brit. W. Ind. 538. 1864. Figure 46.
Marshy prairie near Los Amates, Izabal, Weatherwax 97; coastal
pine-flats, All Pines, Stann Creek District, British Honduras,
Schipp 787. Mexico (Veracruz); Honduras; Trinidad; Colombia
and Venezuela; Bolivia; Brazil; Uruguay; Paraguay, and northern
Argentina.
Perennial; culms slender, erect, 30-100 cm. tall (usually more than 50 cm.),
more or less branching; sheaths overlapping, glabrous or pilose at the throat;
ligule very short, minutely ciliate; blades flat or loosely rolled, 2-4 cm. (rarely
to 6 cm.) long, 3-6 mm. (rarely to 9 mm.) wide, acute, mostly stiffly spreading,
glabrous, the margins scabrous; panicle very open, sprawling and tangled with
age; spikes few to several, 15-25 cm. long, very slender, flexuous, spreading or
drooping, rather distant, naked toward the base or with a few imperfect spikelets;
spikelets 1-2-flowered, somewhat imbricate on the upper half of the spikes; glumes
158 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
acuminate, awn-pointed, 5-6 mm. long; lemma 2.5-3 mm. long, the callus sparsely
pilose, the back and margins glabrous or sparsely pilose, the awn slender, scabrous,
8-12 mm. long; rudiment very small or reduced to an awn about 5 mm. long.
GYNERIUM Willd.
Dioecious; staminate spikelets 2-flowered; glumes equal, 1-nerved, acute,
thin and hyaline; lemmas 3-nerved, acute, glabrous, awnless; pistillate spikelets
2-flowered; first glume 1-3-nerved, acute, thin and hyaline, the second 3-nerved,
firmer, narrower, more than twice as long as the first; rachilla glabrous, disarticu-
lating at the base of each segment; lemmas small, attenuate to a long soft awn,
villous with long white hairs.
Very large perennial with short-jointed culms, broad, flat blades and large
plume-like panicles.
Species 1, American tropics.
Gynerium sagittatum (Aubl.) Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 138. pi. 24,
f. 6. 1812. Saccharum sagittatum Aubl. PL Guian. 1: 50. 1775.
Gynerium saccharoides Humb. & Bonpl. PI. Aequin. 2: 105. pi. 115.
1813. Arundo saccharoides Poir. in Lam. Encycl. Suppl. 4: 703. 1816.
Cana, cana de casa, cana de Castilla; in Honduras, cana brava.
Rocky thickets, gravel bars, along rivers, and in rocky, brushy
stream beds, 300-700 meters; Zacapa; Escuintla; Huehuetenango;
Retalhuleu. Southern Mexico to Paraguay.
Very coarse, tall, leafy, perennial reed; culms as much as 15 meters high,
with short internodes; sheaths much longer than the internodes, with a long
densely villous patch on the back below the blade, also villous in the throat and
on the margins near the summit, reticulate-veined, the lower ones soon falling
off; blades sharply serrate, commonly 2 meters long, 4-6 cm. wide, forming
a great fan-shaped summit to the sterile culms; panicles 1 meter or more long,
erect, the branches drooping; pistillate spikelets: glumes very unequal, the first
about 4 mm. long, the second 10-12 mm. long; body of lemma about 2 mm. long,
tapering gradually into a soft delicate awn 3-4 mm. long, the hairs on the lemma
exceeding the awns; staminate spikelets: glumes acute or subacuminate, the first
2-3 mm. long, the second a little broader, about 3 mm. long; lemmas 3 mm. long,
acuminate, glabrous.
HACKELOCHLOA Kuntze
Spikelets very dissimilar, in pairs at the nodes of a disarticulating rachis, the
rachis joints and pedicels grown together, more or less clasped by the margins
of the first glume of the sessile spikelet; sessile spikelet globose, the first glume
indurate, alveolate; pedicellate spikelet conspicuous, staminate or sterile, mem-
branaceous, flattened, the first glume broad, rather strongly nerved, acute, the
keels winged.
Annual grasses with flat blades and rather numerous short solitary racemes
on the flowering branches from the middle and upper nodes. Monotypic.
FIG. 46. Gymnopogon spicatus. Habit, X
159
160
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Hackelochloa granularis (L.) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 776. 1891.
Cenchrus granularis L. Mant. PI. 2: 575. 1771. Manisuris granularis
Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 25. 1788. Rytilix granularis Skeels,
U. S. Dept. Agr. Bur. PI. Ind. Bull. 282: 20. 1913. Figure 47.
FIG. 47. Hackelochloa granularis. Plant, X 1 A', single raceme, X 2; two
views of spikelet with rachis joint, X 5.
Pine slopes, dry hills, and pine-oak uplands, up to 1,500 meters;
Alta Verapaz; Chiquimula; Santa Rosa; Guatemala. British
Honduras. A common weed in tropical regions around the world.
Annual; culms erect or ascending, 30-100 cm. high, freely branching, more
or less papillose-hispid, especially below the nodes; sheaths short, densely and
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 161
conspicuously papillose-hispid; blades mostly 5-15 cm. long, 5-12 mm. wide, flat,
papillose-hirsute on both surfaces, the margins ciliate; racemes numerous, short,
partly enclosed in the subtending spathe; fertile spikelet 1 mm. long, the pedicel-
late spikelet 2 mm. long.
[ HETEROPOGON Pers.
Lower few pairs of spikelets alike, staminate, awnless, the remaining sessile
spikelets fertile, long-awned, the pedicellate spikelets staminate like the lower
ones; rachis continuous below, bearing the fertile spikelets above, disarticulating
at base of each joint, the joint forming a sharp, barbed callus below the fertile
spikelet; glumes of the fertile spikelet dark brown, coriaceous, the first glume
enclosing the second one; glumes of the staminate spikelet membranaceous,
broad, obscuring the fertile spikelets; lemmas hyaline, the fertile one with a long,
stout, twisted, geniculate awn.
Annuals or perennials, with flat blades and solitary terminal racemes.
Species about 8, in warmer regions of both hemispheres, two
widespread around the world.
Heteropogon contortus (L.) Beauv. ex Roem. & Schult. Syst.
Veg. 2: 836. 1817. Andropogon contortus L. Sp. PI. 1045. 1753.
Heteropogon firmus Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 334. 1830. Sorghum con-
tortum Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 2: 791. 1891. Figure 48.
Rocky hills, 1,400-1,500 meters; Guatemala; Huehuetenango.
Arizona to Texas; Mexico and the West Indies to Argentina;
warmer regions of both hemispheres. Apparently infrequent in
Guatemala and other countries of Central America.
Culms erect, tufted, 20-80 cm. tall, glabrous, with a few flowering branches
at the upper nodes; sheaths compressed, keeled, glabrous or scabrous, shorter than
the internodes; blades 5-15 cm. long, 3-7 mm. wide, flat or usually folded, very
scabrous on the upper surface and on the margins, the tip navicular; raceme
usually long-exserted, 4-7 cm. long, the peduncle elongate; sessile spikelets about
7 mm. long, nearly hidden by the pedicellate spikelets, the first glume obtuse,
strongly nerved, hirsute with spreading hairs, the awns 5-12 cm. long, hirsute,
becoming implicate; pedicellate spikelet about 1 cm. long, the first glume sparsely
papillose-hispid.
HIEROCHLOE R. Br.
Spikelets with 1 terminal perfect floret and 2 staminate florets, the rachilla
disarticulating above the glumes, the staminate florets remaining attached to the
fertile one; glumes equal or unequal, thin, acute, at least the second longer than
the florets; florets about equal, the staminate hispidulous or hairy, awned or
awnless, the fertile indurate, smooth or nearly so, awnless; palea 3-nerved, rounded
on the back.
Slender, sweet-smelling, perennial grasses with open or contracted panicles
of brown spikelets.
Species about 17, in cool or alpine regions of both hemispheres.
FIG. 48. Heteropogon contortus. Plant, X 1 A; fertile spikelet, X 5.
162
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 163
Hierochloe mexicana (Rupr.) Benth. ex Hitchc. Contr. U. S.
Nat. Herb. 24: 614. 1930. Ataxia mexicana Rupr. ex Fourn. Mex.
PI. 2: 71. 1886. Savastana mexicana Beal, Grasses N. Amer. 2: 187.
1896. Torresia mexicana Hitchc. Amer. Jour. Bot. 2: 301. 1915.
Dry slopes and pine forests, about 3,000 meters; Sacatepe"quez;
Huehuetenango. Mexico. Figure 49.
Perennial; culms erect, 30-60 cm. high; blades flat, usually elongate, 2-5 mm.
wide, scabrous; panicles as much as 15 cm. long, narrow, rather dense, the branches
appressed, spikelet-bearing to the base; first glume 5 mm. long, 1-nerved, the
second 6-7 mm. long, 3-nerved; sterile florets 4-5 mm. long, rather densely
pubescent, the first with a short straight awn from near the tip, the second with
a geniculate twisted awn attached near the base, 4-5 mm. long; fertile lemma
smooth, acute, 3 mm. long, awnless.
HILARIA H.B.K.
Spikelets arranged in groups of three, the central spikelet perfect, 1-flowered,
the lateral ones staminate, 2-flowered, the groups falling entire; glumes asymmetric,
those of the lateral spikelets bearing an awn on one side from about the middle,
those of the fertile spikelet variously divided into lobes or awns; lemma and
palea hyaline, nearly equal, the lemma 3-nerved, shallowly lobed, awnless or
short-awned.
Stiff perennials with solid culms, narrow blades, and dense, narrow, terminal
spikes.
Species 6, in arid regions, southwestern United States to Ven-
ezuela.
Hilaria cenchroides H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 117. 1815.
Plains and roadsides around Guatemala City. Mexico. Fig-
ure 50.
Low stoloniferous perennial; culms wiry, 10-25 cm. high, in small tufts at the
nodes of the stolons, the nodes bearded; culm sheaths much shorter than the
internodes; blades firm, flat, sharp-pointed, scabrous, commonly 1-5 cm. some-
times as much as 10 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide; spikes solitary, 1-3 cm. long, black
or purplish, the axis zigzag; groups of spikelets crowded, 4-5 mm. long.
HOMOLEPIS Chase
Spikelets lanceolate-acuminate, rather large, in open panicles; glumes similar,
equal, or the first a little shorter, 7-9-nerved, completely covering the sterile
lemma and fertile floret; sterile lemma thinner than the glumes, 7-nerved, villous
between the lateral nerves, the back flat, the margins clasping the fertile floret;
fruit acuminate, indurate, smooth and shining, the margins of the lemma broad,
flat, or inrolled toward the tip.
Stoloniferous perennials with short flat blades and small narrow open panicles
of large spikelets.
Species 3, in tropical America.
FIG. 49. Hierochloe mexicana. Inflorescence, X 2; spikelet, X 10.
164
FIG. 50. Hilaria cenchroides, about X 1.
165
166 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Homolepis aturensis (H.B.K.) Chase, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash-
ington 24: 146. /. 12. 1921. Panicum aturense H.B.K. Nov. Gen.
& Sp. 1: 103. pi. 33. 1815. P. blepharophorum Presl, Rel. Haenk.
1:312.1830. Figure 51.
Open meadows, thickets, and wet fields, up to 550 meters; Alta
Verapaz; Izabal. British Honduras; southern Mexico to Bolivia
and Brazil.
Stoloniferous perennial, the stolons determinate; culms slender, erect, ascend-
ing, sometimes geniculate, commonly 15-50 cm. long, or sometimes longer,
glabrous; sheaths mostly shorter than the internodes, slightly inflated, glabrous
on the back with a pubescent line on collar, the margins villous-ciliate; blades
lanceolate, 5-12 cm. long, 1-1.5 cm. wide, acute, rounded or subcordate at the
base, minutely cross-veined, the margins scabrous or sometimes very sparsely
ciliate; stolon blades mostly 3-5 cm. long, 8-10 mm. wide; panicles 5-10 cm. long,
narrow, the slender few-flowered branches narrowly ascending or appressed;
spikelets about 7 mm. long, acuminate, glabrous.
HYMENAGHNE Beauv.
Spikelets acuminate, short-pedicellate in dense spike-like or interrupted
panicles; first glume acute or acuminate, 3-5-nerved, one-third to half as long as
the spikelet, remote, a distinct stipe below the second glume; second glume and
sterile lemma exceeding the fruit, 5-nerved, acuminate, the lemma longer than
the glume, the tip awn-like; fruit membranaceous, pale, the margins of the lemma
not inrolied, the tip of the palea not enclosed.
Coarse, aquatic perennials with long, broad, cordate, clasping blades and long,
spike-like or open panicles with spreading, densely flowered branches.
Species about 10, tropics of both hemispheres.
Hymenachne amplexicaulis (Rudge) Nees, Agrost. Bras.
276. 1829. Panicum amplexicaule Rudge, PI. Guian. 1: 21. pi. 27.
1805. Figure 52.
Swamps, ditches, and wet areas along rivers and streams at low
altitudes; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Retalhuleu. British Honduras;
West Indies; southern Mexico to Argentina. Tropics of both
hemispheres.
Coarse, aquatic perennial; culms succulent, slender or usually rather thick,
sparingly branching, glabrous, the base creeping, rooting at the nodes, 1-2 meters
long, or even longer; sheaths usually shorter than the internodes, glabrous or
sometimes ciliate on the margins; blades commonly 15-35 cm. long, 1.5-3 cm.
wide, or smaller on some of the branches, acuminate, gradually narrowed from
the cordate-clasping base, the margins scabrous, more or less papillose-hispid-
ciliate at the base; panicles 20-50 cm. long, sometimes shorter, 8-15 mm. thick,
dense, spike-like, the lower branches often distant; spikelets 3-4 mm. long,
acuminate, the second glume and sterile lemma rather prominently scabrous
on the nerves, the lemma often awn-pointed.
FIG. 51. Homokpis aturensis, X
167
FIG. 52. Hymenachne amplexicaulis, X
168
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 169
I HYPARRHENIA Anderss.
Spikelets arranged in pairs at the nodes of short, paired racemes, each pair
subtended by a spathe, the lowest pairs alike, awnless, similar to the pedicellate
spikelets above; first glume of sessile fertile spikelet flat or rounded, not keeled,
or keeled only near the summit; lemma small and narrow, sometimes minutely
lobed, with a relatively strong geniculate awn; pedicellate spikelets about as
large as the sessile, awnless.
Tall coarse perennials with long narrow blades and rather loose inflorescences,
the pairs of racemes somewhat crowded on the branches.
Species about 70, almost all in tropical and subtropical Africa,
several introduced in America.
Racemes with one perfect spikelet; racemes nearly enclosed or protruding side-
ways from the spathe.
Racemes about 2 cm. long, erect; awns about 8 cm. long H. dissohita.
Racemes about 1 cm. long, the peduncles curved or flexuous; awns 1.5-2 cm.
long H. bracteata.
Racemes with more than one perfect spikelet; racemes exserted from the in-
conspicuous spathes H. rufa.
Hyparrhenia bracteata (Humb. & Bonpl.) Stapf in Prain, Fl.
Trop. Afr. 9: 360. 1918. Andropogon bracteatus Humb. & Bonpl. ex
Willd. Sp. PI. 4: 914. 1806. Cymbopogon bracteatus Hitchc. Contr.
U. S. Nat. Herb. 17: 209. 1913.
Marshy prairies to about 1,500 meters; Izabal; Santa Rosa.
Southern Mexico; Honduras; El Salvador; Costa Rica; Panama;
British Guiana; Colombia and Venezuela to Bolivia, Brazil, and
Paraguay.
Perennial; culms in large clumps, erect, 0.5-1.5 meters, or sometimes 2 meters
high, appressed-hirsute below the nodes; sheaths compressed, keeled, appressed-
hirsute at least toward the summit, often densely hirsute all over, the lower ones
elongate; ligule membranaceous, 1-2 mm. long; blades elongate, 2-4 mm. wide,
flat, or loosely rolled on drying, glabrous or villous, with a bunch of long hairs
just back of the ligule; inflorescence narrow and rather dense, the branches
usually crowded toward the summit of the culm, usually short, appressed ; racemes
about 1 cm. long with 1 perfect spikelet, purple, the pairs protruding from the
side of the narrow, hirsute spathes, the peduncle curved or flexuous, densely
papillose-hirsute; fertile floret 5 mm. long, minutely bi-dentate, sulcate, hispid
on the margins at the summit; awns 15-20 mm. long, twice-geniculate, brown,
the lower segments tightly twisted, hirsute with pale or yellow hairs; pedicellate
spikelets as large as the sessile, the first glume acuminate or awn-pointed.
Hyparrhenia dissoluta (Nees) C. E. Hubb. ex Hutch. &
Dalziel, Fl. West Trop. Afr. 2: 591. 1936. Anthistiria dissoluta
Nees in Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 400. 1854. Hyparrhenia rup-
170 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
rechtii Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 67. 1886. Andropogon ruprechtii Hack.
Flora 68: 126. 1885. Cymbopogon ruprechtii Rendle, Cat. Afr. PL
Welw. 2: 160. 1899.
Steep rocky slopes, to about 1,400 meters; Zacapa; Santa Rosa;
Huehuetenango. Southern Mexico; El Salvador; Nicaragua;
Honduras; Colombia; Brazil; Paraguay; tropical Africa.
Perennial; culms rather stout, erect in small tufts, commonly 2-3 meters
high; sheaths keeled toward the summit, glabrous or somewhat hairy above, the
upper ones auriculate; blades mostly 15-30 cm. long, 3-8 mm. wide, often narrowed
toward the base, firm, attenuate, scabrous; spathes crowded toward the ends of
the branches, 5-8 cm. long, glabrous or hairy; pairs of racemes mostly enclosed
in the spathes, about 2 cm. long, one sessile, the other pedicellate, each raceme
with 1 fertile spikelet, only the lower raceme with 1 pair of homogamous spikelets;
fertile spikelet with a sharp callus about 5 mm. long, the first glume firm, deeply
sulcate on the back; awn of fertile lemma rather stout, geniculate, pilose, about
8 cm. long.
Hyparrhenia rufa (Nees) Stapf in Prain, Fl. Trop. Afr. 9: 304.
1918. Trachypogon rufus Nees, Agrost. Bras. 345. 1829. Andro-
pogon rufus Kunth, Rev. Gram. 1: Suppl. XXXIX. 1830. Cymbo-
pogon rufus Rendle, Cat. Afr. PI. Welw. 2: 155. 1899. Jaragud,.
Brushy slopes and moist open ground, up to 1,400 meters; Pete"n;
Izabal; Chiquimula. Commonly cultivated for forage in tropical
America, often escaping or becoming naturalized. Introduced from
tropical Africa.
Perennial; culms erect in large dense clumps 1-2.5 meters high, rarely less,
or as much as 5 meters, glabrous; sheaths keeled toward the summit, glabrous or
papillose-hirsute on the margins toward the summit and in the throat; ligule
brown, membranaceous, 2-4 mm. long; blades linear, elongate, 2-8 mm. wide,
glabrous or scaberulous, the margins sometimes scabrous; inflorescence 20-40
cm. long, loose and open, composed of several to numerous compound branches
from the upper nodes; pairs of racemes terminating the ultimate branchlets,
exserted from the narrow inconspicuous spathes, the peduncles commonly 4-6
cm. long, flexuous, pilose; racemes 2-3 cm. long, reddish brown, the rachis and
sterile pedicels densely ciliate with rufous or sometimes yellowish hairs; sessile
spikelets 3-4 mm. long; first glume acute or subobtuse, sparsely to densely covered
with red hairs; awns 15-20 mm. long, twice-geniculate, brown, the lower segments
tightly twisted, hispidulous; pedicellate spikelet as large as the sessile, acute,
awnless.
ICHNANTHUS Beauv.
Spikelets paniculate or arranged on one-sided racemes or raceme-like branches;
first glume acuminate, often nearly as long as the spikelet; second glume and sterile
lemma subequal, pointed beyond the fruit, usually acuminate; fruit acute or
subacute, the margins of the lemma usually flat, the rachilla disarticulating at
the base of the segment, remaining attached to the fruit as a short stipe, this
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 171
bearing on either side membranaceous appendages adnate to the base of the
lemma, the appendages or wings often much reduced or indicated only by scars.
Annuals or perennials of varying habit with relatively broad flat blades and
terminal and axillary inflorescences.
Species at least 50, tropical America, two species in the tropics
of the Old World.
Appendages of the lemma developed.
Culms coarse, trailing, more than 3 meters long; blades 15-35 cm. long.
7. mexicanus.
Culms relatively slender, less than 1 meter long, erect or decumbent at the
base but scarcely trailing; blades less than 15 cm. long.
Panicle branches raceme-like, densely flowered; spikelets prominently
papillose-hispid with long hairs, 6-7 mm. long 7. standleyi.
Panicle branches not raceme-like; spikelets glabrous or nearly so, not crowded.
Sheaths prominently villous; pedicels of spikelets slender, much longer than
the spikelet 7. villosus.
Sheaths glabrous or only sparsely villous; pedicels of spikelets stout, much
shorter than the spikelet 7. lagotis.
Appendages of the lemma reduced to scars.
Cells plainly visible with a lens on the under side of the blades.
Blades lanceolate, not more than 1.5 cm. wide, usually less; spikelets 4 mm.
long 7. brevivaginatus.
Blades ovate or ovate lanceolate, 1.5-3 cm. wide; spikelets about 3 mm.
long 7. axillaris.
Cells not visible with a lens on the under side of the blades.
Culms caespitose, erect or decumbent at the base, sparingly branching; blades
often petiolate 7. lanceolatus.
Culms widely spreading, freely branching; blades not petiolate.
Peduncles long and slender; blades thin 7. tennis.
Peduncles not long and slender; blades firm.
Inflorescences terminal and axillary, usually exserted 7. pallens.
Inflorescences usually terminal only, partly enclosed in the sheath.
Sheaths much shorter than the internodes; blades 7-14 mm. wide,
very scabrous 7. scaberrimus.
Sheaths mostly longer than the short internodes; blades rarely more
than 5 mm. wide, scabrous only on the margins 7. grarilis.
Ichnanthus axillaris (Nees) Hitchc. & Chase, Contr. U. S.
Nat. Herb. 18: 334. 1917. Panicum axillare Nees, Agrost. Bras.
141. 1829.
Swamps and shady banks, up to 1,800 meters; Alta Verapaz;
Izabal; Zacapa; Guatemala. British Honduras and the West Indies
to Ecuador and Brazil.
172 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Perennial; culms decumbent-spreading, rooting at the nodes, sometimes
clambering in brush, as much as 1-1.5 meters long, the erect or ascending shoots
or branches mostly 10-20 cm. long, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, the nodes
villous; sheaths much shorter than the internodes, or overlapping on new shoots,
usually densely villous; ligule truncate, about 1 mm. long; blades ovate or ovate-
lanceolate, 3-9 cm. (sometimes 12 cm.) long, 1.5-3.5 cm. wide, acute, scabrous
above, usually glabrous beneath; inflorescences terminal and axillary from the
upper sheaths, partly included to long-exserted, rather dense, composed of few
to numerous, stiffly ascending, approximate racemes, rather densely pubescent
or pilose in the axils, the lower ones 2-4 cm. long; spikelets 3 mm. long, glabrous
or sparsely pilose; glumes acuminate, scabrous on the keel, the first half to two-
thirds as long as the spikelet; sterile lemma acute or subacuminate, a little shorter
than the second glume, containing a well-developed palea and a staminate flower;
fruit 1.8-2 mm. long, oblong-elliptic, with prominent scars at the base.
Ichnanthus brevivaginatus Swallen, Phytologia 4, no. 7:
425. 1953.
Forests up to 300 meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal. British Hon-
duras, the type from Monkey River, Toledo District, Gentle 3971.
Annual; culms widely decumbent-spreading, the ascending flowering branches
20-30 cm. long; sheaths mostly 15-20 mm. long, much shorter than the internodes,
usually rather densely pilose; blades lanceolate, as much as 9 cm. long, 15 mm.
wide, acuminate, scabrous below, smooth above, the cells readily visible with
a lens on the under surface; panicles terminal and sometimes axillary from the
upper sheath, 4-7 cm. long, the branches appressed or ascending, the branchlets
and spikelets appressed; spikelets 4 mm. long; first glume acute and about half as
long as the spikelet to acuminate or attenuate and nearly as long as the spikelet,
scabrous on the keel; second glume acuminate, usually longer than the acute
sterile lemma; fruit 2.5 mm. long, acute, the wings reduced to scars.
The only other species of Ichnanthus having the cells plainly
visible on the under surface of the blades is /. axillaris, which has
shorter and broader ovate blades.
Ichnanthus gracilis Swallen, Phytologia 4, no. 7: 426. 1953.
Moist or cloud forests, 900-2,500 meters; Zacapa; Chiquimula;
Suchitepe"quez; San Marcos, the type from Volcan Tajumulco,
Steyermark 37293.
Annual (?); culms slender, creeping, branching, elongate, glabrous, the flowering
branches ascending, mostly about 15 cm. long; sheaths glabrous or sparsely
pilose, the margins ciliate; blades 3-5.5 cm. long, 4-7 mm. wide, lanceolate, acute,
scabrous on the margins, sometimes papillose-hispid on the upper surface toward
the base; panicles about 3 cm. long, narrow, few-flowered, short-exserted or partly
enclosed in the sheath; spikelets 3 mm. long; first glume abruptly acuminate,
equaling the second glume or a little shorter, scabrous on the mid-nerve; second
glume and sterile lemma subequal, the glume acute, the lemma subobtuse; fruit
2 mm. long, smooth and shining, the wings reduced to scars.
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 173
Ichnanthus lagotis (Trin.) Swallen, Jour. Washington Acad.
Sci. 28: 10. 1938. Panicum lagotis Trin. M<m. Acad. St. Pe"tersb.
VI. Sci. Nat. 1:326. 1834.
Rare along roadside in limestone valley, San Antonio, El Cayo
District, British Honduras, Lundell 6941. Not known from Guate-
mala. Eastern Brazil.
Annual; culms erect or ascending, rooting at the lower nodes, 30 cm. to more
than 1 meter high, sparingly branching; sheaths much shorter than the internodes,
villous on the collar and margins; blades asymmetrical, ovate-lanceolate, as much
as 12 cm. long, 3.5 mm. wide, petiolate, with rather strong white margins; in-
florescences terminal, 8-20 cm. long, the branches stiffly ascending to spreading,
the lower as much as 10 cm. long; spikelets 6 mm. long, short-pedicellate, appressed;
first glume acute, half as long as the spikelet; second glume and sterile lemma
subequal, acute, strongly nerved, exceeding the fruit; fruit 5 mm. long, the wings
broad, half as long as the floret.
Ichnanthus lanceolatus Scribn. & Smith, U. S. Dept. Agr.
Div. Agrost. Bull. 4: 36. 1897.
Forests and open brushy places. British Honduras; Yucatan
Peninsula.
Perennial; culms erect or decumbent at the base, 30-90 cm. high; blades
ovate to lanceolate, as much as 11 cm. long and 3 cm. wide, frequently petiolate;
panicle 5-15 cm. long, the branches stiffly ascending; spikelets 4-4.3 mm. long,
appressed; first glume acute, clasping, half as long as the spikelet; second glume
and sterile lemma equal, subacuminate, strongly nerved, exceeding the fruit;
fruit 3 mm. long, blunt, the wings reduced to small scars.
Ichnanthus mexicanus Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 34. 1886.
Moist flats and open places in oak forests. Not known from
Guatemala. British Honduras, without locality, Kinloch 72.
Mexico (Oaxaca).
Perennial; culms rather coarse, trailing, more than 3 meters long, glabrous;
sheaths overlapping or a little shorter than the internodes, densely ciliate on the
margins, densely villous especially toward the summit, sometimes villous only
on the collar; blades flat, more or less cordate at the base, attenuate-pointed,
15-35 cm. long, 18-30 mm. wide (the uppermost reduced), appressed-hispid on
the upper surface, pubescent or glabrous on the lower; panicles 12-30 cm. long,
densely flowered, the branches in small fascicles, stiffly ascending, becoming
more or less spreading at maturity, spikelet-bearing from the base, as much as
10 cm. long; spikelets 4-4.5 mm. long, short-pedicellate, appressed, solitary or
in small clusters; first glume acute, half to two-thirds as long as the spikelets,
villous on the margins and at the apex or sometimes only scabrous; second glume
and sterile lemma equal, scabrous; fruit 3 mm. long, chestnut brown at maturity,
the appendages ovate-oblong, 0.5 mm. long.
174
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Ichnanthus pallens (Swartz) Munro ex Benth. Fl. Hongk. 414.
1861. Panicum pattens Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 23. 1788.
Figure 53.
Wet thickets, forests, and along trails, up to 1,000 meters;
Pete"n; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; El Progreso; Escuintla; San Marcos.
FIG. 53. Ichnanthus pallens. Plant, X %; spikelet and floret, X 10.
British Honduras; southern Mexico and the West Indies to Argen-
tina.
Perennial; culms decumbent or prostrate-spreading, sometimes clambering
in brush, 50 cm. to more than 1.5 meters long, the erect or ascending shoots or
branches as much as 55 cm. long, glabrous or sparsely pilose, the nodes not villous;
sheaths much shorter than the internodes, glabrous or sparsely or rarely densely
pilose or papillose-pilose, especially on the margins; ligule thin, erose or lacerate,
f SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 175
about 1 mm. long; blades lanceolate, acuminate, 5-12 cm. long, mostly 5-15 mm.
wide, rounded and somewhat clasping at the more or less asymmetric base, thin,
scaberulous, finely cross- veined; inflorescences terminal and axillary from the
upper sheaths, long-exserted or the axillary ones appressed and partly included,
usually not dense, the rather slender racemes ascending, the lower ones as much
as 7 cm. long; spikelets 3-3.5 mm. long, glabrous or sparsely pilose or hirsute;
first glume acuminate, half to two-thirds as long as the spikelet, scabrous on
the keel; second glume and sterile lemma acuminate, subequal or the glume a little
longer, the lemma enclosing a palea nearly as long as the lemma and sometimes
a staminate flower; fruit 2 mm. long, oblong-elliptic, the scars extending downward
into very narrow wings.
The spikelets are sometimes proliferous.
I ch nan thus scaberrimus Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29:
424. 1950.
Damp thickets and dense forests, 1,100-1,500 meters; Alta
Verapaz; Quezaltenango, the type from Finca Pireneos, Standley
68296. British Honduras (Boquete and El Cayo Districts).
Perennial; culms somewhat woody, suberect or decumbent, about 65 cm.
long, branching, glabrous; sheaths much shorter than the internodes, papillose-
pilose near the margins, the collar pilose; ligule 0.4 mm. long, truncate, more or
less ciliate; blades 6-12 cm. long, 7-14 mm. wide, lanceolate, acuminate, strongly
nerved, the nerves approximate, glabrous or somewhat scabrous beneath, prom-
inently scabrous above and on the margins; panicles 6-11 cm. long, 4-5 cm. wide,
the branches stiffly ascending or spreading, the branchlets divaricate; spikelets
3-3.4 mm. long, appressed; first glume acuminate or attenuate, as long as the
spikelet or somewhat shorter, 3-nerved, scabrous on the keel; second glume and
sterile lemma subequal, 5-nerved, the glume abruptly acute or acuminate, the
lemma blunt, somewhat cucullate; fruit 2.2 mm. long, 1.2 mm. wide, ovate,
subacute, straw-colored, the wings reduced to scars, the scars 0.5 mm. long.
Ichnanthus standleyi Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 24: 662.
1930.
Ravines and along streams in forests. Not known from Guate-
mala. British Honduras (Mountain Pine Ridge and El Cayo
Districts); Mexico (Chiapas); Honduras, the type from Siguate-
peque, Standley 56207.
Perennial; culms erect or decumbent-spreading, freely branching, rooting
at the nodes, the ascending fertile branches 60-75 cm. long, compressed, papillose,
appressed-pilose, or nearly glabrous on the lower part; sheaths shorter than the
internodes, glabrous or sparsely pilose, the margins densely short-ciliate; ligule
densely ciliate, 0.5 mm. long; blades ovate-lanceolate to broadly lanceolate,
5-15 cm. long, 1.5-3 cm. wide (rarely smaller), pilose, scabrous, or nearly glabrous,
with thick white scabrous margins, the petiolate base 2-4 mm. long; panicles
5-15 cm. long, with 3-5 stiffly ascending or spreading racemes, the lowermost
4-5 cm. long, the uppermost less than 1 cm. long, the main axis terminating with
a single spikelet; rachis of racemes rather thick, triangular, scabrous or pubescent;
spikelets 6-7 mm. long, more or less crowded; first glume equaling or exceeding
176 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
the spikelet, acuminate, 3-nerved, the keel scabrous to papillose-hispid, the
margins papillose-ciliate with weak or coarse spreading hairs; second glume and
sterile lemma equal, 5-nerved, the glume sparsely papillose-pilose to papillose-
hispid on the keel and margins, the sterile lemma subglabrous; fruit 3 mm. long,
white, with appendages 0.5 mm. long.
Ichnan thus tennis (Presl) Hitchc. & Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat.
Herb. 18: 334. 1917. Oplismenus tennis Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 319.
1830. Panicum exile Steud. Norn. Bot. ed. 2. 2: 256. 1841. P.
alsinoides Griseb. Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 550. 1864. Ichnanthus alsinoides
Munro ex Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Amer. Bot. 3: 500. 1885.
Shady slopes, wet thickets, damp forests, sometimes on dry
sandy soil and coffee plantations, up to 1,300 meters; Izabal;
Chiquimula; Santa Rosa; Escuintla; Suchitepe"quez. British Hon-
duras and Trinidad to Colombia and Venezuela; Brazil.
Annual; culms forming large loose mats, very slender, elongate, decumbent
or creeping, rooting at the nodes, freely branching, the erect or ascending branches
10-40 cm. long, pubescent or pilose, rarely nearly glabrous; sheaths usually much
shorter than the internodes, pilose or- papillose-pilose with spreading hairs; blades
ovate to ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, 1-5 cm. long, 4-10 mm. wide, thin,
glabrous to pubescent and sparsely pilose; inflorescences terminal and axillary,
long-exserted on slender peduncles, composed of 2-several slender to spreading
racemes, pubescent or pilose in the axils, the lower ones 1-3 cm. long; spikelets
3-4 mm. long, appressed, sparsely pilose, especially on the margins of the glumes
and sterile lemma; first glume acuminate or attenuate, almost aristate, two-thirds
to nearly as long as the spikelet; second glume and sterile lemma acuminate, equal,
or the glume a little longer, extending beyond the fruit; fruit 2-2.5 mm. long,
oblong-elliptic, the wings reduced to inconspicuous scars.
The spikelets are frequently proliferous and sterile, composed of few to
several herbaceous lemmas.
Ichnanthus villosus Swallen, Jour. Washington Acad. Sci.
28: 10. 1938. I. dasycoleos Tutin, Jour. Bot. Brit. & For. 72: 337.
fig. 8, a. 1934.
In sand along creeks; El Cayo District, British Honduras, the
type from Vaquero, Mountain Pine Ridge, Lundell 6852. British
Guiana (Kaieteur Savannah).
Perennial; culms erect or decumbent at the base and rooting at the lower
nodes, 90-110 cm. long, sparingly branched; sheaths shorter than the internodes,
rather densely villous; ligule membranaceous, truncate, more or less ciliate, 0.5
mm. long; blades lanceolate, acuminate, asymmetric, 8-13 cm. long, 12-20 mm.
wide, softly pubescent on the lower surface, scabrous and pilose on the upper;
panicle about 25 cm. long, the slender branches stiffly spreading, the middle ones
longest, as much as 11 cm. long, with one to few branchlets at the very base;
spikelets 4-4.5 mm. long, appressed, usually in pairs, one on a pedicel 8-20 mm.
long, the other on a much shorter pedicel; first glume acute or subacuminate,
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 177
3-nerved, scabrous; second glume and sterile lemma nearly equal, acute or blunt,
5-nerved, more or less scabrous, extending well beyond the fruit; fruit 3.3 mm.
long, narrowly elliptic, blunt, smooth, shining, the wings subhyaline, 0.7-0.8
mm. long, rather broad.
IMPERATA Cyrillo
Spikelets all alike, in pairs, unequally pediceled on a slender continuous
rachis of a raceme, surrounded at the base by long silky hairs much longer than
the spikelets; pedicels of the spikelets enlarged at the summit in a shallow-cupped
receptacle; glumes about equal, acuminate, the first 5-7-nerved; sterile lemma,
fertile lemma, and palea hyaline, the fertile lemma awnless.
Tough perennial grasses with long, rather stout rhizomes, flat blades narrowed
to a petiole-like base, and narrow silky inflorescences.
Species about 7, in warm regions of both hemispheres.
Panicles 30-40 cm. long, the lower branches ascending or spreading; spikelets
3 mm. long /. contracta.
Panicles not more than 15 cm. long, the branches appressed; spikelets 4 mm.
long /. brasiliensis .
Imperata brasiliensis Trin. Me"m. Acad. St. Pe"tersb. VI. Math.
Phys. Nat. 2: 331. 1832.
Pine ridges, up to 1,350 meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal. Florida;
southern Mexico; El Salvador; Costa Rica; Venezuela to Surinam,
Bolivia, Brazil, and Argentina.
Culms erect from deep scaly rhizomes, mostly 50-100 cm. high, the basal
sheaths becoming conspicuously fibrous with age; blades 3-10 mm. wide, the
lower ones narrowed to a long petiole-like base, conspicuously villous on the
upper surface toward the base; panicles 8-15 cm. long, 1.5-2 cm. wide, dense,
silvery, the branches appressed; spikelets 4 mm. long, obscured by the hairs.
Imperata contracta (H.B.K.) Hitchc. Rep. Mo. Bot. Card.
4: 146. 1893. Saccharum contractum H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1:
182. 1816.
Meadows and grasslands at low altitudes; Pete"n; Izabal. West
Indies; southern Mexico; El Salvador; Costa Rica; Panama; Colom-
bia to Surinam, Peru, and Brazil.
Strongly rhizomatous perennial; culms erect, solitary or a few together,
1-1.5 meters high; sheaths much longer than the internodes, rounded or keeled
toward the summit, glabrous, the lower ones bladeless; ligule brown, not more
than 0.5 mm. long; blades elongate, attenuate, usually some of them narrowed
to a long petiole-like base, narrower than the mouth of the sheath, 5-10 mm. wide,
the margins very scabrous; panicles mostly 30-40 cm. long, narrowed-attenuate
toward the summit, the upper branches short and appressed, the lower ones
178 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
slender, ascending to spreading, somewhat curved or flexuous, commonly 5-10
cm. long; spikelets 3 mm. long, obscured by the long silky hairs on the glumes
and callus.
ISACHNE R. Br.
Spikelets subglobose with two well-developed florets, the lower perfect or
staminate, indurate and similar to the upper, or herbaceous and similar to the
glumes, the rachilla segment between the florets evident; glumes equal, similar,
shorter than the spikelet, exposing the florets; fruit plano-convex, indurate, the
narrow margins of the lemma inrolled.
Herbaceous or sometimes woody annuals or perennials with flat blades and
open or condensed panicles.
About 25 species, in the tropics of both hemispheres.
Plants annual; culms slender, creeping, with broad, thin, cordate blades. Fruit
densely pubescent I. polygonoides.
Plants perennial; culms usually coarse, woody, the blades firm, not cordate.
Culms coarse, 1-6 meters long; blades more than 5 cm., usually more than
10 cm., long.
Spikelets 1.5-1.8 mm. long, clustered at the ends of the branches, these
divided above the middle /. arundinacea.
Spikelets 1.9-2 mm. long, evenly distributed on the branches, these divided
from near the base /. pubescens.
Culms slender, trailing, the blades of the branches 1-3 cm. long, 2-3 mm.
wide /. rigens.
Isachne arundinacea (Swartz) Griseb. Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 553.
1864. Panicum arundinaceum Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 24.
1788.
Dry thickets, steep slopes, and wet pine forests, about 1,400
meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Suchitepe"quez. Southern Mexico;
Nicaragua; Panama to Peru; Jamaica, Trinidad, and Windward
Islands.
Coarse woody perennial; culms cane-like, clambering, 1-6 meters long,
freely branching, the branches drooping, elongate; sheaths of the main culm much
shorter than the internodes, those of the branches overlapping, glabrous to
papillose-hispid, especially on the margins; ligule ciliate, 2-3 mm. long; blades
10-20 cm. long, 1-2 cm. wide, acuminate, scabrous, especially on the margins,
and sometimes shortly hispid; panicles 6-12 cm. long, the branches stiffly ascend-
ing or finally spreading, naked toward the base; spikelets 1.5-1.8 mm. long,
clustered at the ends of the branches; glumes equal, similar, shorter than the
fruits, glabrous or sparsely hispid; fertile florets similar in texture, glabrous on
the back, sparsely pilose at the base, the first elliptic, acutish, the second smaller,
oblong.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 179
Isachne polygonoides (Lam.) Doell in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2(2):
273. 1877. Panicum polygonoides Lam. Encycl. 4: 742. 1798. P.
trachyspermum Nees, Agrost. Bras. 212. 1829. Isachne trachy-
spermum Nees in Seem. Bot. Voy. Herald 224. 1857.
Wet savannas, swamps, and along ditches and streams, up to
about 1,000 meters; Izabal; Santa Rosa. West Indies; Honduras;
Costa Rica; Panama to Peru and northern Brazil.
Decumbent-spreading annual; culms slender, glabrous, ascending, rooting
at the nodes, sometimes geniculate, freely branching, the erect shoots finally
bearing fascicled branchlets; sheaths much shorter than the internodes, papillose-
hirsute to nearly glabrous, the margins usually ciliate; ligule ciliate; blades ovate-
lanceolate, 1-5 cm. long, 5-15 mm. wide, very scabrous, papillose-hispid-ciliate
at the rounded base; panicles 5-10 cm. long, nearly as wide, partly enclosed
in the sheath, the branches and branchlets stiffly spreading or even reflexed,
implicate, glandular spotted; spikelets 1.5-1.7 mm. long, glabrous; first floret
as long as the second glume, similar in texture, not indurate, glabrous; fruit
about 1.2 mm. long, strongly plano-convex, densely pubescent.
Isachne pubescens Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29: 426.
1950.
Bluffs, banks, and pine woods, up to 1,000 meters; Pete"n; Alta
Verapaz, the type from Secanquim, Pittier 252; Izabal; Huehue-
tenango. Mexico (Veracruz).
Perennial (?); culms scandent or clambering, branching, pubescent below the
panicle; sheaths about as long as the internodes, rather densely papillose-pilose,
the margins conspicuously ciliate; ligule composed of hairs 2-3 mm. long; blades
5-16 cm. long, mostly 10-14 mm. wide, acuminate, velvety pubescent, papillose-
pilose above; panicles 8-12 cm. long, about 4-8 cm. wide, the axis and branches
rather densely appressed-pilose, the branches ascending, branching from near
the base, rather evenly flowered, the spikelets not clustered toward the ends of
the branchlets; spikelets 1.9-2 mm. long, the glumes equal, shorter and narrower
than the first floret, sparsely appressed-pilose toward the summit; first floret
1.8 mm. long, sparsely pilose on the margins; second floret 1 mm. long, sub-
hemispheric, the rachilla joint short-pilose at the summit.
Isachne rigens (Swartz) Trin. Gram. Pan. 252. 1826. Panicum
rigens Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 23. 1788.
Summit of Cerro Canana, between Nucapuxlac and Canana,
Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, Dept. Huehuetenango, 2,800 meters,
Steyermark 49031. Jamaica; Venezuela; Colombia; Ecuador.
Culms tufted, erect or trailing, wiry, usually branching, the branches some-
times crowded in rather dense fascicles; sheaths of the main culm much shorter
than the internodes, those of the branches crowded, glabrous to pilose, the margins
ciliate; blades scabrous, stiffly spreading, those of the culm as much as 7 cm. long,
8 mm. wide, but usually less, those of the branches reduced, mostly 1-3 cm. long,
180 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
2-3 mm. wide; panicles 2-5 cm. long, the branches and branchlets stiffly ascending
or spreading; spikelets 1.8-2 mm. long, the pedicels 1-2 mm. long, spreading;
glumes subequal, shorter than the first floret, hispidulous or nearly glabrous;
rachilla between the florets villous; florets glabrous or nearly so, the lower 1.7
mm. long, the upper 1.2 mm. long.
The specimen mentioned above is the first record for this species
in Central America. It consists of a fascicle of branches, and does
not show the trailing habit.
ISCHAEMUM L.
Spikelets in pairs, all alike, perfect, but the pedicellate spikelet not always
fruitful, the rachis and pedicels of the disarticulating racemes thickened; first
glume indurate and rounded below, flattened, herbaceous and sometimes winged
above, often cross- wrinkled or rigid, the narrow margins sharply inflexed; sterile
lemma hyaline, as long as the glumes, enclosing a well-developed palea and
staminate flower; fertile lemma hyaline, deeply bifid, awned from between the
teeth, the awn geniculate, tightly twisted below the bend.
Branching annuals or perennials, often decumbent-spreading, with flat blades
and rather thick racemes, digitate or flabellate at the ends of the branches.
Species about 50, mostly in the tropics of the Old World.
Ischaemum latifolium (Spreng.) Kunth, ReV. Gram. 1: 168.
1829. Andropogon latifolium Spreng. Syst. Veg. 1: 286. 1825.
Carricillo (Izabal).
Moist ground, along ditches and in open places, sometimes in
coffee plantations, up to 1,300 meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Retal-
huleu. British Honduras; Mexico to Costa Rica; West Indies;
Colombia and Venezuela to Ecuador and Brazil.
Annual; culms freely branching, decumbent or widely spreading, rooting at
the lower nodes, as much as 3 meters long; sheaths densely hairy on the collar,
otherwise glabrous; blades 10-20 cm. long, 1-3 cm. wide, acuminate, narrowed
toward the base, the margins scabrous; inflorescence pale or purplish, flabellate,
composed of few to several racemes aggregate on a short axis; racemes 4-8 cm.
long, usually somewhat flexuous, the rachis joints and pedicels rather densely
hairy; spikelets about 4 mm. long, bearing a geniculate awn 8-12 mm. long.
IXOPHORUS Schlecht.
Spikelets solitary, short-pedicellate, arranged on two sides of a narrow tri-
angular rachis, each subtended by a single bristle, the bristle persistent, the
spikelet readily deciduous; first glume triangular, 3-nerved, one-fourth the length
of the spikelet; second glume and sterile lemma equal, acute, the glume many-
nerved, the lemma 5-nerved, the latter enclosing a palea and staminate flower,
the palea winged at maturity, broader than the spikelet; fruit a little shorter than
the sterile lemma, indurate, minutely roughened.
FIG. 54. Ixophorus unisetus, X Yi.
181
182 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Annual grasses with flat linear blades and panicles of numerous racemes.
Monotypic.
Ixophorus unisetus (Presl) Schlecht. Linnaea 31: 420. 747.
1862. Urochloa uniseta Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 319. 1830. Panicum
unisetum Trin. M&n. Acad. St. Pe"tersb. VI. Sci. Nat. 1: 217. 1834.
Setaria uniseta Fourn. in Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Amer. Bot. 3: 506. 1885.
S. cirrhosa Fourn. Mex. PL 2: 43. 1886. Mezmet (Chiquimula).
Figure 54.
Open slopes, cultivated ground and waste places, at low altitudes;
Izabal; Chiquimula; Escuintla. Mexico; Nicaragua; El Salvador;
Honduras; Costa Rica; Cuba; Colombia; Venezuela. Used for
forage.
Culms erect to spreading, rather coarse but succulent, as much as 1.5 meters
long, branching; sheaths smooth, compressed, keeled; blades as much as 60 cm.
long and 4 cm. wide, the margins scabrous; inflorescence 10-20 cm. long, about
5 cm. wide, the usually numerous racemes ascending, approximate, the lower ones
as much as 8 cm. long, the upper ones gradually shorter and more crowded;
spikelets 4-5 mm. long, glabrous, the subtending bristle 3-10 mm. long, smooth
or scabrous.
JOUVEA Fourn.
Dioecious; staminate spikelets several- to many-flowered, sessile, somewhat
distant on opposite sides of the rachis, forming a terminal spike, the florets closely
imbricate; glumes shorter than the first floret; lemmas 3-nerved, acute, awnless;
pistillate spikelets in the axils of the leaves, single or in fascicles of 3 or 4, terete,
somewhat curved, acuminate, consisting of 2-5 florets imbedded in the spongy
tissue of the rachilla, only the summit of the floret free; style and base of stigma
elongate, 2-lobed.
Tough, wiry, stoloniferous perennials.
Species 2, in Mexico and Central America.
Pistillate spikelets single in the axils of the leaves; plants slender. . . J. straminea.
Pistillate spikelets in fascicles; plants relatively stout J. pilosa.
Jouvea pilosa (Presl) Scribn. Bull. Torrey Club 23: 143. 1896.
Brizopyrum pilosum Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 280. 1830. Rhachido-
spermum mexicanum Vasey, Bot. Gaz. 15: 110. pi. 12. 1890.
Sand dunes and beaches, San Jose", Escuintla. Mexico; El
Salvador; Nicaragua.
Culms erect or ascending, commonly 15-30 cm. tall, branching from all the
nodes, the branches short, appressed; sheaths of the main culm much shorter than
internodes, those of the branches crowded; blades 4-14 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide,
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA
183
flat or usually loosely folded, pungent, stiffly spreading, often curved or arcuate,
glabrous beneath, scabrous above; staminate spikes terminal and axillary, short-
exserted from the upper sheaths, few-flowered, the spikelets appressed; pistillate
spikes partly enclosed in short congested uppermost sheaths forming a thorny
mass.
FIG. 55. Jouvea straminea, about X
Jouvea straminea Fourn. Bull. Soc. Bot. Belg. 15: 475. 1876.
Figure 55.
Abundant in low wet salt marshes on landward side of beach
ridge, San Jose", Escuintla, Weatherwax 139. Mexico (Acapulco);
El Salvador; Panama.
184 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Tough, wiry, extensively stoloniferous perennial; culms slender, erect from
a dense knotty crown, branching, 10-35 cm., rarely as much as 60 cm., high;
lowermost sheaths very short, crowded, with reduced blades, the upper ones
much shorter than the long internodes, glabrous, villous at the throat; blades
flat or becoming involute, firm, stiffly ascending or spreading, 2-6 cm. long, 1-3
mm. wide, scabrous; staminate inflorescences 2-3 cm. long, scarcely exserted
from the sheath, bearing 2-3 spikelets; spikelets4-8-flowered; glumes acuminate,
unequal, the first sometimes much reduced, the second 4-5 mm. long; lemmas
acute or acuminate, about 4 mm. long, glabrous; anthers 2 mm. long; pistillate
inflorescences 2-3 together, not crowded; spikelets 15-25 mm. long, 2-4-flowered,
slender, pointed, arcuate.
LAMARGKIA Moench
Spikelets borne in fascicles, one of them fertile, the others sterile; fertile
spikelet 2-flowered, the florets raised on a slender stipe, the lower fertile, the
upper rudimentary, both awned; glumes narrow, acuminate, 1-nerved; lemma
broader, scarcely nerved, bearing a delicate awn below the apex; sterile spikelets
linear, composed of numerous imbricate, obtuse, awnless, empty lemmas.
Low annual with flat blades and dense oblong panicles, the fertile spikelets
hidden by the numerous sterile ones. Monotyptic.
Lamarckia aurea (L.) Moench, Meth. PI. 201. 1794. Cynosurus
awreus L. Sp. PI. 73. 1753. Achyrodes aureum Kuntze, Rev. Gen.
PI. 2: 758. 1891. Figure 56.
A weed around Guatemala City, collected by Seler in 1896.
A Mediterranean species, naturalized in California and Baja Cali-
fornia; Colombia; Brazil; Chile. Probably adventive in Guatemala.
Annual; culms tufted, erect or decumbent at the base, 10-40 cm. high; blades
soft, lax, flat, commonly 2-4 mm. wide; panicles 2-7 cm. long, dense, the branches
appressed, the fascicles of spikelets spreading or reflexed, with a tuft of long hairs
at the base; fertile spikelet 2 mm. long; sterile spikelets 6-8 mm. long.
LASIACIS (Griseb.) Hitchc.
Spikelets paniculate, subglobose, somewhat inflated, placed obliquely on the
pedicels; glumes and sterile lemma papery, usually lanate-pubescent at the tip;
first glume one-third to one-half as long as the spikelet, broad and clasping, the
second glume and sterile lemma nearly equal, a little shorter to a little longer
than the fertile floret; fruit bony-indurate, blunt, the lemma and palea with a
tuft of short hairs from a minute depression at the tip, the margins of the lemma
firm but not inrolled; palea convex above, the tip often free at maturity.
Trailing vines or ctarse, woody, cane-like, high-clambering grasses with
fascicled branches and open or sometimes contracted panicles terminating the
culm and leafy branches, the blades and panicles of the branches usually reduced.
Species at least 20, in tropical America.
FIG. 56. Lamarckia aurea. Plant, Xj-i; fertile spikelet and floret, X 5.
185
186 FIELDI ANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Blades cordate-clasping, usually elongate, as much as 5 cm. wide. Erect, coarse,
semi-woody annual L. procerrima.
Blades not cordate-clasping.
Plants without a strong central cane, creeping or low-clambering, rooting at
the lower nodes.
Ligule short, inconspicuous.
Blades lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 1.5-3 cm. wide L. rhizophora.
Blades narrowly lanceolate, 5-10 mm. wide L. grisebachii.
Ligule conspicuous, 2-5 mm. long, brown.
Panicles 5-6 cm. long, usually partly enclosed in the sheath; blades elliptic-
lanceolate, rarely more than 12 cm. long L. scabrior.
Panicles 10-30 cm. long; blades linear or narrowly lanceolate, as much
as 22 cm. long.
Blades linear; sheaths densely villous; spikelets solitary, long-pedicellate.
L. linearis.
Blades narrowly lanceolate; sheaths glabrous on the back; spikelets
usually in pairs, short-pedicellate L. oaxacensis.
Plants with a strong central cane, erect or clambering.
Blades glabrous on both surfaces.
Blades 1.5-3.5 cm. wide, ovate-lanceolate, smooth and shining; panicles
15-25 cm. long L. sloanei.
Blades mostly less than 1 cm. wide, narrowly lanceolate; panicles 5-10
cm. long L. divaricata.
Blades usually pubescent on one or both surfaces.
Culms densely papillose-pilose; blades usually conspicuously distichous.
L. papillosa.
Culms glabrous; blades not conspicuously distichous.
Blades lanceolate; panicles open, loosely flowered; spikelets 4-5 mm.
long L. sorghoidea.
Blades ovate-lanceolate or elliptic, asymmetric; panicles, or at least
the branches, compactly flowered; spikelets 3-4 mm. long.
L. ruscifolia.
Lasiacis divaricata (L.) Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 15:
16. 1910. Panicum divaricatum L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 2: 871. 1759.
Figure 57.
Moist thickets and forest borders, up to 2,500 meters; Peten;
Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Zacapa; Santa Rosa; Huehuetenango; Quezal-
tenango. Southern Florida; West Indies; Mexico to Bolivia and
northern Argentina.
Culms clambering, as much as 4 meters long, freely branching, glabrous or
sometimes sparsely pilose, the branches often fascicled, the secondary shoots
strongly divaricate or zigzag; sheaths glabrous on the back, the margins densely
villous; blades narrowly lanceolate, 5-15 cm. long, 5-10 (15) mm. wide, glabrous,
the margins scabrous; panicles commonly 5-8 cm. long, or the primary as much
as 20 cm. long, the few-flowered scabrous and sparsely pilose branches 1-5 cm.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 187
long, spreading or reflexed, the panicles of the ultimate branchlets much reduced;
spikelets 4 mm. long.
Lasiacis grisebachii (Nash) Hitchc. Bot. Gaz. 51: 302. 1911.
Panicum grisebachii Nash, Bull. Torrey Club 35: 301. 1908.
Thickets and dense mixed forests, up to 1,400 meters; Pete"n;
Quezaltenango. British Honduras; southeastern Mexico; Cuba;
Honduras.
Culms slender, creeping, freely branching, rooting at the nodes, the fertile
shoots 20-40 cm. long, erect or ascending, the internodes with a densely pubescent
line; sheaths hispid, especially on the margins; ligule inconspicuous; blades
narrowly lanceolate, 6-12 cm. long, 5-10 mm. wide, pubescent beneath; panicles
5-10 cm. long, few-flowered, the few rather short branches stiffly ascending;
spikelets 4 mm. long.
Lasiacis linearis Swallen, Phytologia 4, no. 7: 427. 1953.
Pine-covered canyon bordering Rio Lima, Sierra de las Minas,
below Finca Alejandrla, Dept. Zacapa, 2,000 meters. Known only
from the type, Steyermark 30046.
Culms relatively slender, straggling, the flowering branches about 75 cm.
long; sheaths densely villous, as long as or longer than the internodes; ligule 2-4
mm. long, brown; blades linear, acuminate, narrowed toward the base, 16-22
cm. long, 5-9 mm. wide, scabrous, sometimes sparsely pilose; panicle about 30
cm. long, the slender scabrous branches rather narrowly ascending, solitary,
distant, bearing a few long-pedicellate spikelets; spikelets 4 mm. long, usually
erect.
Lasiacis oaxacensis (Steud.) Hitchc. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washing-
ton 24: 145. 1911. Panicum oaxacense Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1:
73. 1854.
Dry forests, brushy hillsides, and wet thickets, up to 1,500
meters; Izabal; Guatemala; Retalhuleu. West Indies; Mexico to
Peru.
Culms relatively slender, as much as 3 meters long, erect or usually reclining,
rooting at the nodes with no strong central cane, the ascending branches often
1-2 meters long, glabrous; sheaths glabrous on the back, densely villous on the
margins; ligule conspicuous, 2-5 mm. long, brown; blades narrowly lanceolate,
acuminate, 14-22 cm. long, 7-20 mm. wide, glabrous, the margins scabrous;
panicles 10-25 cm. long, the branches ascending to spreading, glabrous in the
axils, usually naked in the lower half, the branchlets narrowly ascending, not
implicate, bearing a few spikelets at the ends; spikelets 4 mm. long, roughly
globose, usually appressed.
Lasiacis papillosa Swallen, Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub. No.
436: 349. 1934.
FIG. 57. Lasiacis divaricata. Plant, X M; spikelet and floret, X 10.
188
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 189
Brushy borders and thickets, up to 975 meters; Alta Verapaz
(Tamahu), Standley 91779. British Honduras; eastern Mexico, the
type from Peto, Yucatan, Swollen 2707.
Culms erect or clambering over brush, 1-2 meters long, densely papillose-
pilose with appressed hairs; sheaths densely pubescent, or those of the young
shoots nearly glabrous, long-ciliate toward the summit; blades ovate-lanceolate,
2-7 cm. long, mostly 10-15 mm. wide, conspicuously distichous, pubescent on
both surfaces, those of the young shoots lanceolate, often much reduced; flowering
branches strongly zigzag with short internodes, the branchlets solitary or fascicled,
often reflexed; panicles 5-12 cm. long, the few distant pubescent branches stiffly
spreading or reflexed, the lower 3-5 cm. long; spikelets 4.5 mm. long.
Lasiacis procerrima (Hack.) Hitchc. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washing-
ton 24: 145. 1911. Panicum procerrimum Hack. Oesterr. Bot.
Zeitschr. 51:431. 1901.
Pine slopes, thickets, open banks, and jungle borders, up to
1,500 meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Zacapa; Santa Rosa; Guatemala;
Quezaltenango. Mexico to Brazil and Peru.
Coarse semi- woody annual; culms 1-4 meters high, erect, single or usually
several together in a loose clump, from a woody branching base, the upper inter-
nodes very short; sheaths glabrous, sometimes ciliate on the margins, the lower
shorter than the internodes, the upper ones closely overlapping; ligule mem-
branaceous, about 1 mm. long; blades 15-40 cm. long, 2-5 cm. wide, often dis-
tichous, acuminate, cordate-clasping at the base, glabrous, the margins scabrous;
panicles as much as 1 meter long, diffuse, the lower branches whorled, naked below,
ascending or finally spreading, as much as 40 cm. long; spikelets 3 mm. long, the
lateral ones short-pedicellate.
Lasiacis rhizophora (Fourn.) Hitchc. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash-
ington 24: 145. 1911. Panicum rhizophorum Fourn. Mex. PL 2: 31.
1886.
Moist brushy hillsides, shady ravines, oak woods, and cloud
forests, 500-1,800 meters; Alta Verapaz; Chiquimula; Jalapa; Santa
Rosa; Guatemala; Sacatepe"quez; Suchitepe"quez; Huehuetenango;
Quezaltenango. Southern Mexico; Costa Rica; Honduras; Nica-
ragua.
Culms straggling, branching, rooting at the lower nodes, the flowering branches
30-100 cm. long; sheaths papillose-hispid or nearly glabrous; ligule inconspicuous;
blades 7-14 cm. long, 1.5-3 cm. wide, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate,
somewhat asymmetrical, scabrous, sometimes papillose-hispid or glabrate;
panicles 8-15 cm. long, the branches stiffly ascending, naked below; spikelets
3-4 mm. long, densely clustered at the ends of the branchlets.
Lasiacis ruscifolia (H.B.K.) Hitchc. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washing-
ton 24: 145. 1911. Panicum ruscifolium H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp.
190 FIELD IANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
1: 101. 1815. P. compactum Swartz, Adnot. Bot. 14. 1829. P.
liebmannianum Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 33. 1886. Lasiacis compacta
Hitchc. Bot. Gaz. 51: 302. 1911. L. liebmanniana Hitchc. Proc.
Biol. Soc. Washington 24: 145. 1911.
Thickets, along streams in shady ravines, brushy slopes, and
grassy slopes in pine woods, up to 1,300 meters; Pete*n; Alta Verapaz;
Izabal; Zacapa; Chiquimula; Jalapa; Jutiapa; Santa Rosa; Retal-
huleu. West Indies; Mexico to Peru and Argentina.
Very robust, with a strong central cane; culms clambering, several meters
high, usually glabrous, freely branching; sheaths usually shorter, sometimes
a little longer than the internodes, glabrous or rarely hispid, the margins glabrous
or sometimes villous; ligule inconspicuous; blades usually asymmetrical, ovate-
lanceolate to lanceolate, acuminate, the primary ones 10-15 cm. long, 3-6 cm.
wide, those of the branches, especially the secondary branches, often much smaller,
softly pubescent to glabrous on the lower surface, the upper surface glabrous or
scabrous; panicles 5-20 cm. long, narrow, compact, or the lower branches some-
what distant and spreading, but densely flowered, the whole panicle sometimes
open, with implicate loosely flowered branches; spikelets 3-4 mm. long, green,
nearly globose, at least at maturity.
Lasiacis scabrior Hitchc. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 40: 85.
1927.
Border of forest at Cubilgiiitz, Dept. Alta Verapaz, 350 meters,
Tuerckheim 4036, type. Southern Mexico (Veracruz); Nicaragua;
Costa Rica; Panama; Colombia; Ecuador.
Culms climbing or straggling, as much as 3 meters long, usually papillose-
pilose; sheaths papillose-hispid, densely villous on the margins; ligule prominent,
brown, 3-5 mm. long; blades elliptic-lanceolate, mostly 8-12 cm. long, 1-1.5 cm.
wide, scabrous above, pubescent beneath; panicles short-exserted or partly
enclosed in the sheath, mostly 5-6 cm. long, about as wide, the branches spreading,
or the lower reflexed, pubescent; spikelets 4 mm. long, pale.
Lasiacis sloanei (Griseb.) Hitchc. Bot. Gaz. 51: 302. 1911.
Panicum latifolium Hamilt. Prodr. PI. Ind. Occ. 10. 1825. Not P.
latifolium L., 1753. P. sloanei Griseb. Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 551. 1864.
Thickets and secondary forests; Pete"n; Quezaltenango. British
Honduras; West Indies; eastern Mexico; Honduras; Nicaragua;
Costa Rica; Colombia and Venezuela.
Culms widely spreading or clambering with long flowering branches; sheaths
villous on the collar and margins, otherwise glabrous; ligule very short; blades
ovate-lanceolate, somewhat asymmetrical, bright green, often very glossy, 8-15
cm. long, 1.5-3.5 cm. wide, scabrous on the margins, otherwise glabrous; panicles
pyramidal, 15-25 cm. long, the few branches stiffly ascending or spreading,
few-flowered, the lower ones often 10-12 cm. long; spikelets 4-5 mm. long, oblique-
ly placed on short appressed pedicels.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 191
Lasiacis sorghoidea (Desv.) Hitchc. & Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat.
Herb. 18: 338. 1917. Panicum lanatum Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind.
Occ. 24. 1788. Not P. lanatum Rottb., 1776. P. sorghoideum Desv.
ex Hamilt. Prodr. PI. Ind. Occ. 10. 1825. P. swartzianum Hitchc.
Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 140. 1908. Lasiacis swartziana Hitchc.
Bot. Gaz. 51:302. 1911.
Thickets, brushy slopes, oak forests, and pine ridges, up to
1,600 meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Chiquimula; Guatemala;
Sacatepe"quez; Chimaltenango; Quezaltenango; San Marcos. West
Indies; Mexico to Bolivia and Argentina.
Robust, with a strong central cane; culms erect or clambering, 2-7 meters
high, freely branching, the main branches as much as 1 meter long, arcuate,
drooping, or the branchlets fascicled on the main culm; sheaths papillose-hirsute
to glabrate with a densely villous line on the collar, those of the main culm and
branches shorter than the internodes, those of the branchlets longer than the
internodes, often somewhat crowded; ligule inconspicuous; blades lanceolate,
symmetrical, velvety on both surfaces or nearly glabrous above, those of the main
culm as much as 20 cm. long and 3 cm. wide, those of the branches mostly 8-15
cm. long, 1-3 cm. wide, and those of the ultimate branches frequently much
smaller; panicles of the main branches 10-20 cm. long, open and comparatively
loosely many-flowered, the panicles of the fascicled and ultimate branches usually
much reduced; spikelets 3.5-5 mm. long.
LEERS I A Swartz
Spikelets 1-flowered, disarticulating below the glumes, laterally compressed;
glumes wanting; lemma awnless, chartaceous, oblong, usually 5-nerved, the
lateral nerves close to the margins, these and the keel often hispid-ciliate; palea
as long as the lemma, 3-nerved, the lateral nerves near the margins, usually
hispid-ciliate, the margins firmly held by the margins of the lemma; stamens 1-6.
Semi-aquatic grasses, with flat, usually rough blades and open panicles.
Species about 10, in temperate and tropical regions.
Panicles 15-40 cm. long, the slender branches spreading, as much as 15 cm. long,
spikelet bearing only toward the ends; spikelets 2-2.5 mm. long.
L. distichophylla.
Panicles 4-15 cm. long, the branches narrowly ascending, 1-4 cm. long, spikelet
bearing nearly to the base; spikelets 3 mm. long L. hexandra.
Leersia distichophylla Bal. & Poit. Bull. Soc. Hist. Nat. Toul.
12: 221. t. 1, f. 2. 1878. Oryza monandra var. grandiflora Doell in
Mart. Fl. Bras. 2, pt. 2: 9. 1871. Homalocenchrus grandiflorus
Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 17: 273. 1913. Leersia grandiflora
Prodoehl, Bot. Archiv. Mez 1: 219. 1922.
Slopes along waterfall, above Rio Hondo, Dept. Zacapa, about
400 meters, Steyermark 29443. Mexico to Panama; Guadeloupe
192
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
and Martinique; Colombia and Venezuela; Brazil, Paraguay, and
northern Argentina.
Perennial; culms relatively slender, erect, 1-2 meters high, glabrous or sparsely
hispid below the nodes, the nodes densely retro rsely bearded; sheaths usually
longer than the internodes, keeled toward the summit, auriculate, retrorsely
papillose-hispid, sometimes sparsely so; ligule 1-2 mm. long, truncate-erose,
fused with the auricles of the sheath; blades flat, 15-30 cm. long, 1-1.5 cm., rarely
as much as 2 cm., wide, scabrous, sometimes sparsely appressed-hispid ; panicles
15-40 cm. long, open, the relatively few distant widely ascending slender branches
as much as 15 cm. long, spikelet bearing only toward the ends; spikelets 2-2.5
mm. long, sparsely hispid-scabrous on the nerves, otherwise nearly glabrous;
stamens 2.
FIG. 58. Leersia hexandra, X 1.
Leersia hexandra Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 21. 1788. L.
mexicana H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 195. 1816. Oryza hexandra
Doell in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2, pt. 2: 10. 1871. Leersia gouinii Fourn.
Mex. PL 2: 2. 1886. Homalocenchrus hexandrus Kuntze, Rev. Gen.
PL 2: 777. 1891. Figure 58.
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 193
Swamps and margins of lakes and streams, up to 1,500 meters;
Pete'n; Izabal; Jalapa; Jutiapa; Santa Rosa; Guatemala; Huehue-
tenango. Southeastern United States; West Indies; Mexico to
Argentina; tropics of both hemispheres.
Aquatic perennial; culms slender, erect from a decumbent or creeping base,
rooting at the lower nodes, 0.5 to more than 1 meter long, the nodes retrorsely
hirsute; sheaths shorter than the internodes, keeled, glabrous, auriculate, the
auricles acuminate; ligule 1-3 mm. long, truncate, fused with the auricles; blades
4-20 cm. long, 4-12 mm. wide, scabrous; panicles 4-15 cm. long, narrow, the
short branches 1-4 cm. long, narrowly ascending, floriferous nearly to the base;
spikelets 3 mm. long, hispid, strongly hispid-ciliate on the keels of the lemma
and palea; stamens 2.
I LEPTOCHLOA Beauv.
Spikelets few to several-flowered, the upper floret reduced to a small awnless
rudiment, sessile or short-pediceled, crowded or somewhat distant on one side
of the slender rachis; glumes 1-nerved, the second usually longer and broader than
the first; lemmas 3-nerved, acute, minutely bifid, awnless or rarely short awned,
pubescent or pilose on the margins and sometimes on the internerves.
Annual or perennial grasses with flat blades and numerous slender spikes
scattered along the common axis.
Species about 20, in tropical and subtropical regions of both
hemispheres.
Plants annual.
Sheaths sparsely pilose, rarely glabrous; lemmas 1-1.5 mm. long. .L. filiformis.
Sheaths glabrous or scabrous; lemmas 2-4 mm. long.
Lemmas very abruptly obtuse or subacute, the margins nearly parallel;
blades 1-4 mm. wide L. uninervia.
Lemmas gradually narrowed toward the summit; blades, at least some of
them, more than 4 mm. wide.
Spikes curved or flexuous; lemmas 2 mm. long L. scabra.
Spikes straight; lemmas 2.5-3 mm. long L. panicoides.
Plants perennial. Lemmas awnless, or rarely short awned L. virgata.
Leptochloa filiformis (Lam.) Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 71, 161, 166.
1812. Festuca filiformis Lam. Tabl. Encycl. 1: 191. 1791. Eleusine
mucronata Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer. 1: 65. 1803. Leptochloa mucronata
Kunth, ReV. Gram. 1: 91. 1829. L. paniculata Fourn. Bull. Soc.
Bot. France II. 27: 296. 1880. Figure 59.
Sand bars, fields, and waste places at low altitudes; Pete'n; Izabal.
Southeastern United States to Argentina.
Annual; culms slender to rather coarse, branching, erect or sometimes genic-
ulate at the lower nodes, 10 cm. to more than 1 meter high; sheaths sparsely
FIG. 59. Leptochloa filiformis. Plant, X \i\ spikelet and floret, X 10.
194
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 195
papillose-pilose with long hairs, rarely glabrous; ligule membranaceous, 1-2 mm.
long; blades 5-30 cm. long, 3-10 mm. wide, flat, lax, glabrous or sparsely papillose-
pilose; inflorescence nearly half the length of the culm; spikes several to numerous,
racemose on an elongated axis, spreading 6*r reflexed, 2-15 cm. long (usually less
than 10 cm.); spikelets 2-3-flowered, 1.5-2 mm. long, the upper floret scarcely
exceeding the glumes; glumes acuminate, subequal; lemmas 1-1.5 mm. long,
obtuse, minutely bilobed, awnless, pubescent on the nerves and sometimes on the
internerves.
Leptochloa panicoides (Presl) Hitchc. Amer. Jour. Bot. 21:
137. 1934. Megastachya panicoides Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 283. 1830.
Poa panicoides Kunth, ReV. Gram. Suppl. XXVIII. 1830. Era-
grostis panicoides Steud. Syn. Gram. 278. 1854. Leptochloa flori-
bunda Doell in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2, pt. 3: 89. 1878. L. halei Scribn.
& Merr. Bull. U. S. Dept. Agr. Agrost. 24: 27. 1901.
Manicaria swamp near Puerto Barrios, Dept. Izabal. South-
central United States; Mexico (Sinaloa, Guerrero, Tepic, Oaxaca,
and Sonora); Brazil.
Annual; culms erect, branching, glabrous, 40 cm. to more than a meter tall;
sheaths glabrous or scabrous, mostly longer than the internodes; ligule mem-
branaceous, truncate, erose, 1-2 mm. long; blades flat, acuminate, 10-25 cm. long,
3-10 mm. wide, scabrous, especially on the margins; terminal inflorescence
12-30 cm. long, mostly 4-8 cm. wide, the numerous spreading spikes rather
crowded, the lowermost as much as 8 cm. long (usually about 4 cm.); spikelets
scarcely crowded, pedicellate, 5-7-flowered, about 4 mm. long; glumes acute or
acuminate, the first narrow, 1-nerved, 1 mm. long, the second much broader,
1-3-nerved, 2 mm. long; lemmas 2.5-3 mm. long, densely pubescent on the
margins near the base, the tip minutely lobed, mucronate.
Leptochloa scabra Nees, Agrost. Bras. 435. 1829. L. lang-
loisii Vasey, Bull. Torrey Club 12: 7. 1885. L. liebmanni Fourn.
Mex. PI. Gram. 2: 147. 1886.
Margin of swamp, valley of Rio Motagua, near Santa Marta,
Dept. Zacapa, Steyermark 29231. Louisiana; Mexico; Nicaragua;
El Salvador; Costa Rica; West Indies; Colombia and Venezuela to
Peru and Brazil.
Annual; culms stout, erect, branching, usually more than a meter tall; sheaths
glabrous or scaberulous, rounded on the back, usually shorter but sometimes longer
than the internodes; ligule ciliate, 1-2 mm. long; blades flat, lax, 10-45 cm. long,
6-14 mm. wide, scabrous; inflorescence 20-35 cm. long; spikes numerous, crowded,
flexuous, spreading, the lower mostly 6-8 cm. long, the upper one somewhat
shorter; spikelets 3-4-flowered, 3-4 mm. long; glumes acute or acuminate,
1-nerved, the first 1 mm. long, the second 1.5 mm. long; lemmas 2 mm. long,
acute or minutely lobed, mucronate, pilose on the lower half of the midnerve
and margins.
196 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Leptochloa uninervia (Presl) Hitchc. & Chase, Contr. U.S. Nat.
Herb. 18: 383. 1917. Megastachya uninervia Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1:
283. 1830. Poa uninervia Kunth, ReV. Gram. 1: Suppl. XXVIII.
1830. Eragrostis uninervia Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 278. 1854. Lep-
tochloa imbricata Thurber in S. Wats. Bot. Calif. 2: 293. 1880.
Diplachne uninervia Parodi, Univ. Nac. Buenos Aires Rev. Ce*ntr.
Estud. 18: 147. 1925.
Swamps and ditches, British Honduras (Belize District) . South-
western United States; Mexico; West Indies; Venezuela to Peru,
Brazil, and Argentina.
Annual; culms erect, simple or sparingly branched, 30-100 cm. tall, glabrous;
sheaths rounded on the back, glabrous or scabrous, shorter than the internodes;
ligule membranaceous, 2-3 mm. long; blades firm, flat or loosely involute, atten-
uate, scabrous, 10-45 cm. long, 1-4 mm. wide; panicle 10-30 cm. long; spikes
numerous, approximate, stiffly ascending, the lower ones 4-9 cm. long, the upper
ones gradually shorter and closer together; spikelets lead-colored, 6-9-flowered,
5-7 mm. long, appressed; first glume narrow, acute, 1-1.5 mm. long, the second
much broader, abruptly acute or obtuse, mucronate; lemmas 2-3 mm. long,
scarcely narrowed toward the tip, abruptly subacute or obtuse, minutely lobed, apic-
ulate, the lateral nerves more or less excurrent, the margins pilose near the base.
Leptochloa virgata (L.) Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 71, 161, 166. 1812.
Cynosurus virgatus L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 2: 876. 1759. Festuca
virgata Lam. Tabl. Encycl. 1: 189. 1791. Eleusine virgata Pers. Syn.
PL 1: 87. 1805. Chloris digitaria H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 168.
1816. Leptostachya virgata G. Meyer, Prim. Fl. Esseq. 74. 1818.
Cynodon virgatus Raspail, Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. 5: 302. 1825. Lep-
tochloa perennis Hack. Inf. Est. Centr. Agron. Cuba 1: 411. 1906.
Open banks, swamps, pine ridges, and roadsides, often a weed
in cultivated ground and waste places at low altitudes; Pete*n;
Izabal; Escuintla. British Honduras; Texas and Florida; West
Indies; Mexico to Argentina.
Perennial; culms tufted, erect or somewhat decumbent at the base, 30 cm.
to more than 1 meter high; sheaths rounded, glabrous or nearly so; ligule 0.2-0.3
mm. long, minutely erose; blades 10-20 cm. long, 4-12 mm. wide, flat, acuminate,
the margins scabrous; inflorescence drooping, 10-15 cm. long; spikes somewhat
aggregate, slender, drooping, mostly 6-10 cm. long; spikelets 3-4-flowered, 2-3
mm. long; glumes similar, acute, the first 1.5 mm. long, the second a little longer;
lemmas 1.5-2 mm. long, sparsely pilose on the margins, the tip blunt, often
minutely lobed, awnless or rarely short-awned.
LEPTOCORYPHIUM Nees
Spikelets lanceolate, paniculate; first glume wanting, second glume and
sterile lemma subequal, longer than the fruit, the glume 3-nerved, the lemma
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 197
5-nerved, both covered with white silky hairs; fruit reddish brown with a thin
hyaline tip, scarcely indurate, the margins of the lemma not inrolled, the palea
free at the summit.
Densely tufted perennials with long narrow blades and small, narrow, some-
what silky panicles.
Species one or two, in tropical America.
Leptocoryphium lanatum (H.B.K.) Nees, Agrost. Bras. 84.
1829. Paspalum lanatum H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 94. pi. 29.
1816. Milium lanatum Roem. & Schult. Syst. Veg. 2: 322. 1817.
Anthaenantia lanata Benth. Jour. Linn. Soc. Bot. 19: 39. 1881.
Figure 60.
Open grassy plains and pine woods at low altitudes; Pete"n; Alta
Verapaz; Izabal. British Honduras; West Indies; southern Mexico
to Argentina.
Perennial; culms 50-100 cm. high in small dense tufts; leaves somewhat
crowded toward the base, the blades elongate, flat or folded, sometimes involute,
2-4 mm. wide, scabrous; panicles 6-17 cm. long, narrow but loose, the branches
narrowly ascending or rarely spreading; spikelets 4 mm. long, densely pilose with
pale, silky, appressed or spreading hairs.
One of the dominant grasses of the savannahs of central Pete*n.
I LITHACHNE Beauv.
Plants monoecious; panicles small, the terminal staminate or wanting, the
axillary composed of one pistillate spikelet and several staminate spikelets below
it; pistillate spikelet: first glume wanting; second glume and sterile lemma nearly
equal, acuminate, 5-7-nerved; fruit laterally flattened, bony-indurate, white,
smooth and shining, the lemma gibbous, the margins tightly enclosing the convex
palea; staminate spikelets reduced to the lemma and palea.
Wiry perennials with broad asymmetrical blades and small terminal and
axillary panicles.
Species 2, tropical America.
Lithachne pauciflora (Swartz) Beauv. ex Poir. Diet. Sci. Nat.
27: 60. 1823. Olyra pauciflora Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 21.
1788. 0. axillaris Lam. Encycl. 4: 547. 1797. Lithachne axillaris
Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 166. pi. 24, f. 2. 1812. Figure 61.
Damp forests, up to 1,400 meters; Pete"n; Alta Verapaz; Izabal;
Quezaltenango. British Honduras; West Indies; eastern Mexico to
Ecuador, Brazil, and northern Argentina.
FIG. 60. Leptocoryphium lanatum. Plant, X Vi', floret, X 10.
198
FIG. 61. Lithachne pauciflora. Plant, X \i; glumes and floret of pistillate
spikelet, X 5.
199
200 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Slender erect perennial; culms tufted, woody, 25-50 cm. high, more or less
geniculate at the lower nodes; sheaths, except the uppermost, shorter than the
internodes, glabrous or minutely pubescent, sometimes ciliate on the margin, the
lower ones bladeless; ligule ciliate, about 1 mm. long; blades asymmetrical,
acuminate, 5-8 cm. long, 1.5-2.5 cm. wide, glabrous, the margins scabrous;
staminate spikelets 4-6 mm. long, acuminate; pistillate spikelets about 10 mm.
long, the second glume a little longer than the sterile lemma; fruit 4-5 mm. long,
triangular-gibbous, smooth and shining, white, or sometimes mottled brown.
LOLIUM L.
Spikelets several-flowered, placed edgewise, alternate, on opposite sides of
the continuous rachis; first glume wanting; lemmas rounded on the back, obtuse,
awned or awnless.
Annuals or perennials with flat blades and usually long slender spikes.
Species about 8, in Europe and Asia. A few are introduced in
America, some being valuable as forage grasses in cool or temperate
regions.
Glume about half as long as the spikelet; lemmas awnless L. perenne.
Glume nearly as long as the spikelet; lemmas long-awned L. temulentum.
Lolium perenne L. Sp. PI. 83. 1753.
Meadows at upper altitudes; Jalapa; Quezaltenango. Intro-
duced from Europe; cultivated for forage in cool moist climates.
Culms erect or geniculate ascending, mostly 20-50 cm. tall, glabrous; sheaths
glabrous, shorter than the internodes, the auricles small or wanting; blades lax,
smooth and shining on the lower surface, 6-15 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide; spike
8-15 cm. long, sometimes longer, erect or somewhat drooping; spikelets 8-14 mm.
long, about as long as or somewhat longer than the internode of the rachis; glume
usually about half as long as the spikelet, obtuse; first lemma 6-7 mm. long,
obtuse or acutish, awnless, or rarely with a short awn.
Lolium temulentum L. Sp. PI. 83. 1753.
A weed in flax, wheat, and corn fields at upper altitudes ; Jalapa ;
Chimaltenango; Quezaltenango. Introduced from Europe.
Annual; culms erect, commonly 40-90 cm. high; sheaths mostly longer than
the internodes, smooth or scaberulous, with rather prominent auricles; blades 3-6
mm. wide, scabrous; spikes erect, stiff, as much as 25 cm. long; spikelets 5-7-
flowered, the glume obtuse, 1.5-2.5 cm. long, as long as or somewhat exceeding
the florets; florets plump, the lemmas 6-8 mm. long, obtuse, the awn 6-12 mm.
long.
LUZIOLA Juss.
Monoecious, the staminate and pistillate spikelets in separate inflorescences,
the staminate usually terminal, the pistillate from the middle and upper nodes;
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 201
glumes wanting; lemma and palea nearly equal, thin, several- to many-nerved,
the nerves more prominent in the pistillate spikelets; stamens several; stigmas
long, plumose; caryopsis free, subspherical, smooth or minutely striate.
Aquatic or semiaquatic perennials.
Species about 7 or 8, in tropical and subtropical America.
Luziola peruviana Gmel. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 2: 1269. 1759.
Figure 62.
Marshes and wet meadows, up to 1,600 meters; Alta Verapaz;
Jalapa; Jutiapa. Southern Mexico; Honduras; Cuba; Colombia to
Bolivia, Brazil, and northern Argentina.
Perennial; culms soft, decumbent-spreading and rooting at the nodes; sheaths
somewhat inflated, glabrous, at least the lower ones overlapping; ligule hyaline,
about 5 mm. long; blades linear, 8-15 cm. long, 2-3 mm. wide, the margins sca-
brous; staminate panicles exserted, 5-7 cm. long, the branches ascending or
spreading, the spikelets 5-7 mm. long; pistillate panicles 1-7 cm. long, usually
partly enclosed in the sheath, the spikelets 2 mm. long, acuminate, pale or purple.
MANISURIS L.
Spikelets in pairs at the nodes of a thickened, readily disarticulating rachis,
one sessile and perfect, the other pedicellate and sterile, the sessile spikelet ap-
pressed to the rachis forming a subcylindrical raceme; first glume of sessile spikelet
indurate, obtuse, winged, smooth or variously wrinkled or pitted; sterile lemma,
fertile lemma, and palea hyaline, the fertile lemma awnless; pedicellate spikelet
smaller and less indurate than the sessile, sterile.
Slender perennials with narrow flat blades and solitary subcylindrical racemes.
Species probably about 25, in warmer parts of both hemispheres.
Manisuris ramosa (Fourn.) Hitchc. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington
40: 88. 1927. Rottboellia ramosa Benth. ex Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Amer.
Bot. 3: 521. 1885. Not R. ramosa Cav., 1801. Apogonia ramosa
Fourn. Mex. PL 2: 63. 1886. Rottboellia aurita stigmosa Hack, in
DC. Monogr. Phan. 6: 311. 1889. Coelorachis ramosa Nash, N. Amer.
Fl. 17: 86. 1909.
Ditch along railroad near Cristina, Izabal, Blake 7586. Southern
Mexico; Honduras; Panama; Colombia.
Perennial; culms tufted, erect, about 1 meter high, branching from the middle
and upper nodes; sheaths compressed, keeled, glabrous, the lower ones longer,
the upper ones shorter than the internodes; blades elongate, conduplicate toward
the base, becoming flat toward the tip, 3-6 mm. wide, glabrous; racemes mostly
6-9 cm. long, partly enclosed or usually exserted on long peduncles from narrow
inconspicuous spathes; pedicel of secondary spikelet often winged toward the
summit; sessile spikelet 4-5 mm. long, the first glume indurate, rather prominently
pitted in lines, broadly winged, bilobed, the lobes obtuse; pedicellate spikelet
usually much reduced.
FIG. 62. Luziola peruviana. Plant, X /4', pistillate and staminate spikelets, X 5.
202
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA
MELINIS Beauv.
203
Spikelets with one perfect floret and a sterile lemma below; first glume very
small; second glume and sterile lemma about equal, lobed, the glume mucronate,
the lemma bearing a long slender awn from between the lobes; fertile floret some-
what cartilaginous, shorter than the sterile lemma, awnless.
Species about 15, in Africa; one introduced in America.
FIG. 63. Melinis minutiflora. Plant, X 1; spikelet, X 10.
Melinis minutiflora Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 54. pi. 11, f. 4. 1812.
Panicum minutiflorum Raspail, Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. 5: 299. 1825.
P. melinis Trin. M<m. Acad. St. Pe"tersb. VI. Sci. Nat. 1: 291. 1834.
Calinguera (Sacatepe"quez) ; Zacate gordura; pasto de gordura; molasses
grass. Figure 63.
204 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Pastures and brushy slopes, about 1,500 meters; Alta Verapaz;
Sacatepe"quez. Native of Africa, introduced for forage. Becoming
widespread in Central and South America and the West Indies.
Annual; culms freely branching, erect from a decumbent base, rooting at
the lower nodes, usually more than 1 meter long; lower sheaths much longer than
the internodes, densely and rather softly papillose-pilose; blades mostly 10-20
cm. long, 5-10 mm. wide, pilose or papillose-pilose; panicles 10-25 cm. long,
rather dense, purple, the numerous slender branches narrowly ascending or
sometimes spreading; spikelets about 2 mm. long, the slender awn as much as
1 cm. long.
The pubescence is usually very viscid, so that the plants are
sticky and produce a strong sweetish odor.
t*
MELOCANNA Trin.
Unarmed bamboos growing in more or less open clumps, spreading by tardily
determinate rhizomes provided (at least in the type species) with a long, budless
neck, giving an open, dumetose clump habit; culms erect or suberect, nodding
to broadly arched at the tip; culm sheaths tardily deciduous; branches numerous,
slender, subequal; leaves without typically tessellate venation, but often with
visible ridges connecting the tertiary veins. Inflorescences spicate, terminating
leafy or leafless branches; spikelets few-several-flowered, the lemmas preceded
by several bracts, the upper bracts gemmiparous; palea not keeled; lodicules 2;
stamens 6 (5-7), the filaments free or irregularly connate; ovary glabrous, the
style elongate, slender, crowned by 2-4 hairy stigmas. Fruit (known only in the
type species) large, pear-shaped, beaked, with a thick, fleshy pericarp.
The genus is here defined on the basis of the type species only,
the other species ascribed to it being imperfectly known and of
uncertain affinity.
One species has been introduced in Guatemala.
Melocanna baccifera (Roxb.) Kurz, Prelim. Rep. For. Veg.
Pegu, Appendix B: 94. 1875. Bambusa baccifera Roxb. PI. Coro-
mandel 3: 37. pL 21*3. 1819. Melocanna bambusoides Trin. in
Spreng. Neue Entd. 2: 43. 1821. Figure 64.
A bamboo of India and Burma, where it often occurs in vast
natural groves. It is one of the most versatile bamboos in the area
of its nativity, being much used for building purposes and woven
ware, and as a source of paper pulp. The species was introduced
to the Western Hemisphere at the old Castleton Gardens, Jamaica,
about 45 years ago, through the agency of the Officer in Charge
of the Botanical Department of the Jamaican Government at that
time. In 1948, through the kindness of Mr. E. J. Downes, then
in charge of the Botanic Gardens of the island, the Institute Agro-
FIG. 64. Melocanna baccifera (Roxb.) Kurz. 1, leaf-branch with flowers
showing stigmas, X 1 A', 2, part of flower-panicle, X 1 A\ 3, culm-sheath, reduced;
4, spikelet, enlarged; 5, spikelet, opened to show lodicules, stamens, and stigmas,
enlarged; 6, lodicule, enlarged; 7, stamen, enlarged; 8 and 9, caryopsis, reduced.
From J. S. Gamble, Bambuseae of British India, Calcutta Botanic Gardens,
Annals 7: pi 105. 1907.
205
206 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
pecuario Nacional was able to secure propagating material for trial
in Guatemala, this having been established successfully at Chocola,
Suchitepe"quez. The species later (in 1951) flowered and fruited
in Oahu, Hawaiian Islands, and with the aid of Mr. Max F. Landgraf
and Professor Marie C. Neal, viable fruits were shipped to Guate-
mala and successfully propagated there. Suchitepe"quez; Alta
Verapaz. India (whence the type) ; Burma.
Clumps open, dumetose; culms exceeding 20 meters in height and reaching
a diameter of 7.5 cm., erect or suberect, with a broadly arched, slender tip; inter-
nodes thick-walled at the base of the culm, rather thin above, cylindrical, smooth,
glabrous, lightly or not at all pruinose; nodes not at all inflated, the sheath scar
thin, glabrous, the nodes in the lower half or more of the culm without buds
in plants of mature stature; culm sheaths somewhat persistent, very brittle,
glabrous on the back and margins; auricles and oral setae lacking; ligule very
short, delicate, extending in a narrow band across the broad, concave apex of
the sheath proper, fimbriate on the margin with fragile, fugacious bristles; sheath
blade deciduous, long, narrow, canaliculate, tapering gradually toward the smooth,
subulate tip, appressed, glabrous or nearly so on both surfaces. Branches
numerous, slender, subequal. Leaf sheaths striate with salient veins, glabrous
on the back, ciliolate on one margin; auricles lacking; oral setae numerous, up to
20 mm. long, slender, glabrous, pale, straight or slightly wavy, appressed, per-
sistent; petiole elongate, glabrous on both surfaces; leaf blade up to 35 cm. long
and 75 mm. wide, usually much smaller, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, narrowed
above into a slender, scabrous, penicillate, hairy, twisted tip, scabrous along one
margin and glabrous elsewhere on the upper surface, more or less noticeably
paler and usually puberulent on the lower surface when young, more or less
completely glaucescent at length, lightly cartilaginous and finely serrulate on both
margins, midrib and secondary veins salient on the lower surface, the secondary
veins not distinguishable from the tertiary ones on the upper surface, the tertiary
veinlets in some leaves irregularly connected on the lower surface by visible trans-
verse ridges.
MEROSTACHYS Spreng.
Unarmed, caespitose bamboos, spreading by thick, determinate rhizomes;
culms erect, ascending, broadly arched or scandent above; internodes cylindrical,
usually not at all flattened above the point of insertion of the branches, thin-walled ;
nodes usually not at all inflated, the sheath scar often thickened by a persistent
callus; culm sheaths deciduous, the blade usually slender, much narrower than
the truncate apex of the sheath proper and strongly reflexed, often fugacious;
branches slender, fascicled, subequal; leaf blades often with transverse veinlets
or ridges visible between the tertiary veins on the lower surface. Inflorescences
spicate, usually secund or apparently so; spikelets subsessile, without subtending
bracts; empty glumes 2, very unequal, with usually one, rarely 2 or 3 perfect
florets and a terminal rudiment borne on a slender, stiff, elongate rachilla segment;
palea narrowly sulcate when addorsed to the terminal rudiment, more broadly
and shallowly so when addorsed to a perfect floret; lodicules 3; stamens typically
3; ovary often triquetrous, the style slender, relatively short, thickened or not
at the base, styles 2, plumose. Fruit a typical caryopsis.
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 207
About 20 species have been described, principally from Brazil,
with one each in Paraguay, Peru, British Honduras, and Guatemala.
The one from British Honduras is included here.
FIELD KEY
Leaf blades ovate-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, abruptly acuminate, up to
28 cm. long and 75 mm. wide; petiole up to 8 mm. long M. argyronema.
Leaf blades lanceolate, acuminate, up to 12 cm. long and 14 mm. wide; petiole
up to 3 mm. long M. pauciflora.
Merostachys argyronema Lindm., Svensk. Vet. Akad. Handl.
34 (6): 22. pi. XV. 1900. Flauta.
A species of the cloud forest at elevations above 1,500 meters.
The culms are used at Purulha and elsewhere to make flutes, reso-
nance tubes for marimbas, and basketry. Baja Verapaz; Hue-
huetenango; El Progreso. Brazil (whence the type).
Culms to 10 or 12 meters tall and 5 cm. in diameter, erect or suberect, broadly
arched and clambering above; internodes elongate (to about 1 meter long), thin-
walled, green, finely figured with greenish-yellow or wine-colored splotches,
sparsely strewn with retrorse, papillose, fugacious setae, antrorsely canescent-
hirsute below the nodes; nodes scarcely inflated, the sheath scar retaining a broad
coarse callus from the base of the culm sheath; culm sheaths deciduous, fragile, with
distant, salient veins, retrorse-hirsute with white hairs on the back, glabrous on
one margin, fringed on the other margin near the top, with long, stiff, basally
scabrous bristles up to 10 mm. long (longer in the upper sheaths), auricles lacking;
oral setae numerous, pale, coarse and weakly scabrous at the base, about 10 mm.
long, fine and recurved at the tip; ligule very short (scarcely 2 mm. high), concave,
densely ciliolate on the margin; sheath blade fugacious, linear-lanceolate, strongly
reflexed, prominently striate with coarse, salient nerves on both surfaces, antrorse-
hispid on the inner (adaxial) surface, sparsely villous on the outer (abaxial)
surface, serrulate on both margins. Branches at each node numerous, coarse,
relatively short. Leaf sheaths striate with salient nerves, retrorse-hispid on the
back, glabrous on one margin, fringed near the apex on the other margin with
several basally dark, coarse and weakly, asperous bristles, up to 10 mm. long,
pale, glabrous, and tapered above to a fine, crisped-recurved point; auricles
lacking; oral setae numerous, in one row, similar to the marginal bristles but
several and longer (to 15 mm.); petiole up to 8 mm. long, dark, slender, asperous
or glabrous on the upper surface, glabrous on the lower surface; leaf blade up to
28 cm. X 75 mm., commonly much smaller, ovate-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate,
asymmetrically rounded to cuneate at the base, gradually tapered upward,
abruptly acuminate near the tip, scabrous near the outer margin and sometimes
hispid near the base on the upper surface, glabrous or nearly so and, excepting
a narrow zone along the outer margin, distinctly paler on the lower surface,
spinulose on the margins; midrib and secondary veins weakly salient on the lower
surface, with a few obliquely transverse ridges visible here and there between
the tertiary ones.
208
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Known in Guatemala only by sterile specimens. The following
details of the reproductive parts are supplied from Lindman's
original description (op. cit., p. 23) :
Inflorescences simple, falcate, secund spikes, terminal to leafy twigs, emerging
not quite completely from the uppermost leaf sheath, the rachis strigose, with
FIG. 65. Merostachys pauciflora. Inflorescence, X 1 ; florets, X
Mid. Nat. 29:469./. 1. 1943.
Amer.
very short hairs. Spikelets 11 mm. long, narrowly fusiform, a little incurved,
acute when closed, sessile, or the pedicel with rudimentary glumes reduced to
a very short, hispid callus. Sterile lemmas 2, purplish, glabrous, the lower one
facing the base of the inflorescence and about one-fourth as long as the spikelets,
recurved, lanceolate-subulate, the midnerve scabrous, the upper sterile lemma
lanceolate, apiculate, half as long as the spikelet, 5-nerved. Perfect floret one,
sitting on a rachilla segment 2 mm. long; fertile glume (lemma) oblong-lanceolate,
sparsely pubescent, green-spotted on the inside, 11-nerved; the palea a little
narrower but a little longer (than the lemma), incurved, 5-nerved, green-spotted
in the same way as the lemma, ciliolate at the apex, the dorsal keels minutely
ciliolate. Anthers linear, 6 mm. long. Pistil 5 mm. long, the ovary subcylindrical,
the stigmas long, weakly long-fringed. Mature fruit unknown.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 209
Merostachys pauciflora Swallen, Amer. Mid. Nat. 29: 469.
/. 1. 1943. Figure 65.
Known only from the type collection from the bank of Big Eddy
Creek, Stann Creek District, British Honduras, Gentle 3485.
Culms tall, slender, hollow, as much as 3.5 cm. thick at the base, retrorsely
scabrous and sometimes appressed hirsute, especially above the nodes; leafy
branches very slender, smooth, numerous in dense whorls from just above the
nodes, as much as 40 cm. long, with short leafless flowering branches intermixed,
the leafy branches often bearing inflorescences, these whorls, then, usually without
shorter leafless flowering branches; lower internodes of the branches short, the
middle ones elongate with short leafless sheaths, the several upper ones again
short with overlapping leaf-bearing sheaths; sheaths glabrous, fimbriate at the
mouth; blades rather thin, shiny, lanceolate, acuminate, 7-12 cm. long, 8-14 mm.
wide, rounded and narrowed at the base to a short petiole 2-3 mm. long; in-
florescence a simple raceme, the 3-sided densely pubescent axis bearing 3-8
spikelets or sometimes reduced to a single spikelet; spikelets inflated, 10-12 mm.
long, solitary, distant, alternate on two sides of the rachis, ascending to finally
reflexed, the densely pubescent pedicels about 2 mm. long; glumes subequal,
glabrous, 7-nerved, a little shorter than the spikelet, the first broadly lanceolate,
acute, the second oblong, abruptly narrowed at the somewhat saccate tip to
a short point, the margins ciliate toward the summit; lemma about as long as
the second glume and similar to it in shape, firm, smooth and shining, about
15-nerved, the nerves obscure; palea a little longer than the lemma, similar in
texture, the keels close together, enclosing between them the prolonged rachilla;
rachilla villous in the upper half, the hairs protruding from between the keels
of the palea. (Swallen, loc. cit.)
MESOSETUM Steud.
Spikelets sessile or very shortly pedicellate, in two rows on one side of the
flattened rachis, the first glume turned toward the rachis, hence the back of the
fruit turned away from the rachis; first glume more than two-thirds as long as
the spikelet, 3-5-nerved; second glume and sterile lemma equal, exceeding the
fruit; fertile lemma acute, minutely striate or roughened, the margins flat, but
tightly enclosing the palea.
Perennial grasses (in our species) with narrow blades and solitary, one-sided,
spikelike racemes.
Plants stoloniferous M. stoloniferum.
Plants caespitose, without stolons.
Blades flat, prominently hispid on both surfaces; sterile lemma with a well-
developed palea M . blakei.
Blades involute, glabrous or nearly so; sterile lemma without a palea.
M. filifolium.
Mesosetum blakei Swallen, Brittonia 2: 390. 1937.
Known only from the type, collected on open grassy plain, at
Cristina, Izabal, Blake 7657.
210 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Perennial; culms densely tufted, as much as 55 cm. tall, glabrous, the nodes
upwardly bearded; sheaths papillose-pilose, the uppermost bladeless or nearly so;>
blades flat or involute-pointed, firm, 8-12 cm. long, 2-3 mm. wide, densely pilose
or papillose-pilose; raceme erect, 6-8 cm. long, silvery; spikelets 5 mm. long,
appressed; first glume 3.5-4 mm. long, acute, densely pilose across the lower part
of the back, the margins densely hispid on the lower half; second glume 4-5 mm.
long, acute or subacuminate, the margins papillose-hispid just above the middle;
sterile lemma equaling the second glume, the margins and lateral nerves evenly
papillose-hispid from the base nearly to the apex, the palea well developed; fruit
4 mm. long, acute, minutely striate.
Mesosetum filifolium F. T. Hubb. Proc. Amer. Acad. 49: 494.
1913. Peniculus angustifolius Swallen, Amer. Jour. Bot. 19: 581.
fig. 1. 1932. M. angustifolium Swallen, Jour. Washington Acad. Sci.
23:460. 1933.
Pine ridges, British Honduras. Type from Manatee Lagoon,
Peck 136.
Perennial; culms densely tufted, slender, erect, 25-45 cm. tall, the nodes
pubescent; blades firm, involute, 5-9 cm. long, the uppermost much reduced,
those of the innovations elongate; raceme 2-6 cm. long, the rachis more or less
flexuous; spikelets distant, 5 mm. long; first glume 4.5 mm. long, tuberculate-
ciliate on the lower half; second glume and sterile lemma equal, acute, tuberculate-
ciliate in the upper half; fruit 4.5 mm. long, firm, acute, glabrous.
Mesosetum stoloniferum Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
29:412. 1950. Figure 66.
Known only from the type, collected on dry rocky slopes,
Montana Castilla, 3 miles south of Quezaltepeque, Chiquimula,
Steyermark 31266.
. Stoloniferous perennial; culms erect, 26-47 cm. high, glabrous, more or less
bearded at the nodes; sheaths longer or somewhat shorter than the internodes,
glabrous, more or less ciliate toward the summit; ligule densely ciliate, 0.5 mm.
long; blades 8-15 cm. long, 3-4 mm. wide, flat, firm, glabrous, the margins thick-
ened, whitish, scabrous, sparsely hispid ciliate; stolons as much as 1 meter long,
purple, the internodes mostly 2.5-4 cm. long, the nodes bearded, the sheaths
about half as long as the internodes, papillose-pilose, the margins densely ciliate,
the blades reduced; raceme 3.5-7.5 cm. long, the rachis narrowly winged, the
margins scabrous; spikelets 5 mm. long, short-pedicellate, the glumes and sterile
lemma subequal; first glume 3-nerved, narrowed at the base, scabrous, abruptly
pointed; second glume 5-nerved, the lateral nerves approximate, the margins
densely ciliate in the lower half; sterile lemma obtuse, appressed villous on the
margins nearly to the summit; fertile lemma subacuminate, with a line of long
hairs on each side.
MICROCHLOA R. Br.
Spikelets 1-flowered, sessile in two rows on one side of a narrow flattened
rachis, the rachilla disarticulating above the glumes; glumes subequal, longer
FIG. 66. Mesosetum stoloniferum. Plant, about X }>; spikelet, X 15.
211
212
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
than the floret, acute, 1-nerved; floret with a soft, pointed callus; lemma thin,
3-nerved, flabellate, ciliate on the margins; palea narrow, a little shorter than the
lemma, ciliate on the keels.
Densely tufted annuals or perennials with short narrow or involute blades
and solitary slender arcuate spikes.
Species 5 or 6, mostly in tropical America and Africa.
FIG. 67. Microchloa kunthii. Plant, X 1 A', spikelet and floret, X 10.
Microchloa kunthii Desv. Opusc. 75. 1831. Paspalum tenuis-
simum M. E. Jones, Contr. W. Bot. 18: 24. 1935. Figure 67.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 213
Bare open rocks; Santa Rosa (Santa Rosa); Sacatepe'quez
(Magdalena). Mexico; Honduras; probably also in South America.
Perennial; culms very slender, erect in small dense tufts, 10-30 cm. high;
sheaths, except the lowermost, much shorter than the internodes, scaberulous;
ligule ciliate, 1-1.5 mm. long; blades firm, flat or usually folded, with thick white
scabrous margins, those of the culm 1-2.5 cm. long, those of the innovations as
much as 6 cm. long, 1-1.5 mm. wide; spike 6-15 cm. long, arcuate, the rachis
ciliate; spikelets 2.5-3.5 mm. long; lemma 2-2.5 mm. long, pilose on the midnerve,
the margins densely ciliate with hairs about 1 mm. long.
MUHLENBERGIA Schreb.
Spikelets 1-flowered, the rachilla disarticulating above the glumes; glumes
very short to as long as the floret, 1-nerved, obtuse to acuminate, awnless or
awned; lemma 3-nerved, usually rather firm, 3-5-nerved, mucronate or awned,
with a short, usually pilose callus; palea as long as the lemma or nearly so.
Annuals or perennials with very slender to coarse culms, flat, folded, or
involute blades, and narrow, dense, or diffuse panicles of small spikelets.
Species about 125, mostly American.
Plants annual; culms slender, branching, usually spreading.
Spikelets awnless.
Panicles partly enclosed in the sheath, inconspicuous. Spikelets 1.8 mm.
long M . vaginata.
Panicles exserted, open.
Spikelets 2.5-2.8 mm. long M. breviculmis.
Spikelets not more than 1.8 mm. long.
Pedicels stout, at least the lateral ones shorter than the spikelets.
M, ramulosa.
Pedicels filiform, elongate, at least much longer than the spikelets.
M . confusa.
Spikelets awned.
Second glume prominently 3-toothed M. pusilla.
Second glume entire.
Glumes unlike, one of some of the spikelets of each branch long-awned.
M . diver siglumis.
Glumes of all spikelets alike.
Glumes obtuse, awnless.
Pedicels capillary, flexuous or recurved, implicate M. implicate,.
Pedicels short, relatively stout, not curved or flexuous.
M. microsperma.
Glumes awned.
Lemma ciliate; panicle open, the branches spreading M. ciliata.
Lemma not ciliate; panicle narrow, the branches appressed.
M. ienella.
214 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Plants perennial.
Culms straggling, widely spreading, as much as 1 meter long M. setarioides.
Culms erect or decumbent at the base.
Culms not more than 25 cm. high.
Spikelets 3-3.5 mm. long, the lemma awned; culms simple. . . .M. orophila.
Spikelets 2 mm. long, the lemma awnless; culms with short branches from
the lower nodes M. calcicola.
Culms more than 50 cm. high.
Lower sheaths conspicuously compressed, keeled.
Ligule prominent, decurrent, 0.5-2.0 cm. long M. emersleyi.
Ligule inconspicuous, not decurrent, very short or enclosed in the
folded base of the blade.
Lemma awnless M. presliana.
Lemma awned.
Awns 1-1.7 cm. long; culms glabrous below the nodes.
Spikelets 2.5-3 mm. long; blades 1-3 mm. wide, attenuate.
M. breviligula.
Spikelets 2-2.2 mm. long; blades 4-5 mm. wide M. aurea.
Awns not more than 5 mm. long M. distans.
Lower sheaths rounded, not compressed or keeled.
Panicles narrow, very dense and spikelike.
Panicles 15-30 cm. long, about 5 mm. wide, grayish-green; spikelets
4 mm. long M. macroura.
Panicles 5-15 cm. long, about 1 cm. wide; spikelets 6-10 mm. long.
M. nigra.
Panicles open, not spikelike.
Second glume 3-toothed.
Glumes subequal, the second deeply toothed; awns mostly 1-1.5
mm. long M. montana,
Glumes unequal, the second with very shallow lobes; awns mostly
5-10 mm. long M. quadridentata.
Second glume entire. Panicles diffuse with capillary branches and
long-pedicellate spikelets M. capillaris.
Muhlenbergia aurea Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29: 411.
1950.
Known only from the type, collected in thickets at base of vertical
slopes along railroad, Finca Pirineos, Volcan de Santa Maria,
Dept. of Quezaltenango, altitude 1,300-1,500 meters, Steyermark
33175.
Perennial; culms erect, about 75 cm. tall; sheaths conspicuously flattened and
keeled, about 5 mm. wide as folded, scabrous, auriculate, with a rather definite
ridge at the junction of the sheath and blade, the lower ones about 20 cm. long,
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 215
subequitant; ligule hyaline, inconspicuous, about 2 mm. long; blades about
75 cm. long, 4-5 mm. wide, conduplicate at the base, flat above, very scabrous,
the margins strongly scabrous-serrate; panicle 35 cm. long, golden, dense, the
slender, scabrous, flexuous branches naked in the lower half, the lower ones about
12 cm. long; spikelets 2-2.2 mm. long; glumes acuminate, subequal, scabrous
on the keel, a little shorter than the floret; lemma acuminate, scabrous, sparsely
pilose below, the callus rather densely bearded on the sides, the hairs about
0.5 mm. long, the awn slender, flexuous, scabrous, 13-17 mm. long.
Muhlenbergia breviculmis Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
29:408. 1950. Figure 68.
Known only from the type collection, from the top of Cerro
Chemalito, Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, Dept. of Huehuetenango,
altitude 3,100-3,150 meters, Steyermark 49905.
Annual; culms slender, erect, or decumbent at the base, mostly 8-12 cm. high,
branching, glabrous; sheaths mostly shorter than the internodes, rounded, gla-
brous; ligule 0.8-1 mm. long; blades 6-17 mm. long, 1 mm. wide, flat, firm, strongly
nerved, scaberulous; panicles usually long-exserted, mostly 1.5-2.5 cm. long, the
relatively slender branches stiffly ascending, few-flowered, the lower ones 8-10
mm. long; spikelets 2.5-2.8 mm. long, appressed, lead-colored; glumes obtuse,
about half as long as the spikelet; lemma acute or mucronate.
Muhlenbergia breviligula Hitchc. N. Amer. Fl. 17: 458. 1935.
Prairies, pine and pine-oak forests, 250-1,500 meters; Alta
Verapaz; Chiquimula; Jalapa; Guatemala (Hitchcock 9063, type).
Southern Mexico; Honduras.
Perennial; culms erect in small clumps, 1-1.5 meters high, glabrous; sheaths
keeled, broader than the base of the blade, scabrous, usually longer than the
internodes; ligule a very short membranaceous rim, or nearly obsolete; blades
elongate, attenuate, 1-3 mm. wide, very scabrous; panicle 25-35 cm. long, the
slender branches 10-15 cm. long, ascending, very scabrous, somewhat flexuous;
spikelets 2.5-3 mm. long, the glumes equal, acute or acuminate, scabrous; lemma
acute, about 2-2.5 mm. long, appressed-pilose below, the awn 1-1.5 cm. long,
very slender, flexuous.
Muhlenbergia calcicola Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29:
407. 1950. Figure 69.
Dense colonies in alpine meadows, wet rocky banks, and open
limestone Juniperus forests, 2,800-3,300 meters, Huehuetenango,
the type from region of Che"mal (Standley 81703) ; Totonicapan.
Perennial; culms in very dense tufts, erect from a decumbent base, 4-7 cm.
tall, bearing short branches with short fascicled blades from the lower nodes;
sheaths short, crowded, glabrous; ligule hyaline, truncate, decurrent, as much
as 0.6 mm. long; blades thick, firm, 6-15 mm. long, 1-1.5 mm. wide, flat or the
margins incurved toward the blunt tip, smooth below, more or less scabrous
216
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
above and on the margins; panicles 1-1.5 cm. long, narrow, few-flowered, the
short, stiff, relatively stout branches appressed or narrowly ascending, minutely
hispidulous, bearing one or two spikelets; spikelets about 2 mm. long, the glumes
obtuse, a little more than half as long as the lemma, the lemma acuminate, mu-
cronate, glabrous.
Muhlenbergia capillaris (Lam.) Trin. Gram. Unifl. 191. 1824.
Stipa capillaris Lam. Tabl. Encycl. 1: 158. 1791. Podosaemum
capillare Desv. Nouv. Bull. Soc. Philom. 2: 188. 1810. Trichochloa
FIG. 68. Muhlenbergia breviculmis.
Plant, X 2; spikelet, X 10.
FIG. 69. Muhlenbergia calcicola.
Spikelet, X 15.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 217
polypogon DC. Cat. Hort. Monsp. 152. 1813. Muhlenbergia trichodes
Steud. Syn. Gram. 177. 1854.
Open prairies, dry slopes, and hillsides in pine-oak forests, 1,500
2,000 meters; Guatemala; Quiche"; Huehuetenango. Eastern
United States and Mexico; West Indies.
Perennial; culms in dense clumps, erect, 60 cm. to more than 1 meter high,
puberulent; leaves crowded toward the base, the sheaths glabrous, the blades
elongate, usually involute and somewhat curved at the base, firm, scaberulous,
those of the culm sometimes flat, 1-2 mm. wide; ligule 2-5 mm. long; panicle
one-third to one-half as long as the culm, diffuse, with capillary, flexuous branches
and long capillary pedicels; glumes acute or subacuminate, about one-third as long
as the lemma; lemma 4-5 mm. long, acuminate, scaberulous, sparsely pilose
at the base, the slender, often flexuous awn mostly 10-15 mm. long.
Muhlenbergia ciliata (H.B.K.) Kunth, ReV. Gram. 1: 63. 1829.
Podosaemum ciliatum H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 128. 1815. Trich-
ochloa ciliala R. & S. Syst. Veg. 2: 386. 1817. Polypogon ciliatus
Spreng. Syst. Veg. 1: 243. 1825. Podosaemum brachyphyllum Nees ex
Nees & Shauer, Linnaea 19: 690. 1847. Polypogon brachyphyllus
Fourn. ex Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Amer. Bot. 3: 552. 1885.
Dry hills and open ground, 1,350-3,500 meters; Alta Verapaz;
Guatemala; Zacapa; Sacatepe"quez. Mexico; El Salvador; Costa
Rica; Ecuador; Peru.
Annual; culms very slender, 10-30 cm. long, erect or usually spreading,
freely branching; sheaths mostly much shorter than the internodes, glabrous
or more or less pilose above and on the margins; blades 1-3 cm. long, as much
as 2 mm. wide, spreading or reflexed, pilose on the upper surface; panicles mostly
4-10 cm. long, the rather distant branches spreading to reflexed, rather densely
flowered, the branchlets and pedicels appressed; spikelets about 2 mm. long;
glumes about 0.5 mm. long, rather abruptly acute, the nerve extending into
a short awn; lemma strongly 5-nerved, the lateral nerves ciliate on the upper
half, the awn 5-20 mm. long, straight or somewhat flex\ious.
Muhlenbergia confusa (Fourn.) Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat.
Herb. 29: 207. 1947. Milium microspermum Lag. Gen. & Sp. Nov. 2.
1816. Not Muhlenbergia microsperma Kunth, 1829. Vilfa confusa
Fourn. Mex. PL 2: 101. 1886. Sporobolus confusus Vasey, Bull.
Torrey Club 15: 293. 1888. S. microspermus Hitchc. Jour. Wash-
ington Acad. Sci. 23: 453. 1933.
Open ground, mostly 2,000-3,500 meters; Quiche"; Guatemala
(Volcan de Agua). Mexico.
Annual; culms commonly 5-20 cm. high, rarely more, delicate, erect or
spreading, rather sparingly branching at the lower nodes; leaves mostly crowded
toward the base, the blades less than 1 mm. wide, glabrous or scabrous; ligule
218 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
membranaceous, about 2 mm. long; panicles oblong, usually more than half the
length of the culm, 2-4 cm. wide, the slender branches ascending or finally spread-
ing; spikelets 0.8-1 mm. long, the pedicels filiform, longer than the spikelets;
glumes obtuse, half as long as the floret, glabrous on the back, sparsely pilose
at the tip; lemma glabrous, awnless.
Muhlenbergia distans Swallen, N. Amer. Fl. 17: 461. 1935.
Huapito.
Pine forests, Sierra de las Minas, Dept. Zacapa, 1,700-2,000
meters; Steyermark 29773. Oaxaca, dry hills near Las Sedas, Pringle
5575, type.
Perennial; culms rather slender, erect, 0.5-1.2 meters high, pubescent below
the nodes, scabrous below the panicle; sheaths narrow, compressed-keeled,
scaberulous; ligule delicate, 4-8 mm. long, enclosed in the folded base of the
blade; blades mostly basal, elongate, 1-4 mm. wide, folded at the base, flat above,
rather lax, finely scabrous on the margins, the apex slender and acuminate; panicle
20-30 cm. long, the slender branches appressed or ascending, naked on the lower
half, some of the lower ones as much as 10 cm. long; spikelets 3-3.5 mm. long,
the glumes equal, subobtuse, scaberulous; lemma about as long as the glumes,
acute, moderately villous, the awn 2-5 mm. long, somewhat curved or flexuous.
Muhlenbergia diversiglumis Trin. Me*m. Acad. St. Pe"tersb.
VI. Sci. Nat. 4 (1): 298. 1841. M, trinii Fourn. ex Hemsl. Biol.
Centr. Amer. Bot. 3: 543. 1885.
Scrub-oak hillsides, shady ravines, and open ground, sometimes
in cultivated places, 1,350-1,700 meters; Alta Verapaz; Jalapa;
Jutiapa; Guatemala; Sacatepe"quez. Southern Mexico to Costa
Rica; Colombia and Venezuela to Peru.
Annual; culms usually very slender, erect or more commonly widely spreading,
freely branching at all the nodes, as much as 50 cm. long; sheaths mostly shorter
than the internodes, papillose-pilose to nearly glabrous; ligule less than 0.5 mm.
long; blades 2-5 cm. long, 0.5-2 mm. wide, thin, lax, pilose on both surfaces;
panicles commonly 2-5 cm. long, narrow, the short slender branches spreading
or reflexed, straight or sometimes flexuous, the lower ones rather distant, bearing
2-5 spikelets, the upper ones approximate, bearing 2 spikelets; glumes about
equal, broad, irregular, 0.2-0.3 mm. long, the first glume of the terminal spikelet
with a scabrous awn 1-7 mm. long; lemma 3-5 mm. long, scabrous on the back,
pilose at the base, tapering into a slender scabrous awn 5-15 mm. long.
Muhlenbergia emersleyi Vasey, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 3:
66. 1892. M. vaseyana Scribn. Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 10: 52. 1899.
Epicampes emersleyi Hitchc. Bull. U. S. Dept. Agr. 772: 144. 1920.
E. subpatens Hitchc. Bull. U. S. Dept. Agr. 772: 144. 1920.
Pine-oak forests, 1,900-2,200 meters; Huehuetenango; Quezal-
tenango. Southwestern United States to Panama.
T SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 219
Perennial; culms densely tufted, erect, 0.5-1 meter high, glabrous, the lower
ones elongate, compressed, keeled, all longer than the internodes; ligule 0.5-2
cm. long, decurrent; blades elongate, conduplicate at the base, 2-5 mm. wide,
scabrous, especially on the margins; panicles 15-40 cm. long, dense but rather
loose, erect, the narrowly ascending branches 5-10 cm. long, naked below for
a short distance, or spikelet-bearing nearly to the base; spikelets 2.5-3 mm. long;
glumes equal, as long as or a little shorter than the floret, acute, scabrous; lemma
scabrous above, pilose across the back near the base, the awn mostly 1-2 cm.
long, flexuous.
Muhlenbergia implieata (H.B.K.) Kunth, Rev. Gram. 1: 63.
1829. Podosaemum implicatum H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 127.
1815. Trichochloa implieata Roem. & Schult. Syst. Veg. 2: 385. 1817.
Agrostis implieata Spreng. Syst. Veg. 1: 262. 1825. Muhlenbergia
erecta Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 231. 1830.
Moist thickets, brushy slopes, sand bars along streams, sandy
fields, and rocky hills, 1,350-1,900 meters; Alta Verapaz; Chiqui-
mula; Jalapa; Jutiapa; Guatemala; Sacatepe"quez; Chimaltenango.
Mexico to Colombia and Venezuela.
Annual; culms 15-70 cm. long, erect or spreading, branching at the lower
nodes, puberulent; sheaths glabrous, shorter than the internodes; ligule 2-3 mm.
long; blades rather lax, as much as 10 cm. long, 2 mm. wide, pubescent on the
upper surface, the margins scabrous; panicles 5-15 cm. long, loose and open,
the branches spreading, the long capillary pedicels curved and implicate; spikelets
3 mm. long; glumes minute, obtuse, more or less erose; lemma narrow, scabrous
on the 5 prominent nerves, the apex bifid, the teeth extending into minute awns,
the awn 1-2 cm. long, straight or somewhat flexuous.
Muhlenbergia macroura (H.B.K.) Hitchc. N. Amer. Fl. 17:
468. 1935. Crypsis macroura H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 140. 1815.
Cinna macroura Kunth, ReV. Gram. 1: 67. 1829. Crypsis setifolia
Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 245. 1830. Epicampes macroura Benth. Jour.
Linn. Soc. 19: 87. 1881. Paj6n.
Plateaus, sandy thickets, open places, and along roads, 1,500-
3,000 meters; Guatemala; Sacatepe"quez; Totonicapan; Huehue-
tenango; Quezaltenango; San Marcos. Southern Mexico. Common
bunch grass used for thatch (Huehuetenango).
Perennial; culms in large coarse bunches 1-1.5 meters high, strigose below
the nodes; sheaths roughish, the lower ones relatively short and crowded, those
of the culm elongate, usually shorter than the internodes; ligule broad, decurrent,
usually obtuse, 0.5-2.0 cm. long, or those of the culm leaves elongate, as much
as 4 cm. long; blades elongate, firm, scabrous, strongly nerved, narrow and loosely
involute, the upper ones commonly flat, as much as 0.5 mm. wide; panicle erect,
15-35 cm. long, about 5 mm. thick, grayish green, the short branches densely
flowered, appressed; spikelets about 4 mm. long, the glumes narrow, acute, sca-
brous; lemma a little shorter than the glumes, acute, scabrous, awnless.
220 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Muhlenbergia microsperma (DC.) Kunth, ReV. Gram. 1:
64. 1829. Trichochloa microsperma DC. Cat. Hort. Monsp. 151. 1813.
Podosaemum debile H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 128. 1815. Muh-
leribergia debilis Kunth, ReV. Gram. 1: 63. 1829. M. ramosissima
Vasey, Bull. Torrey Club 13: 231. 1886.
Moist banks and wet thickets, 1,500-1,680 meters; Zacapa;
Guatemala; Sacatepequez. Nevada, Arizona, and southern Cali-
fornia; Mexico; Colombia and Venezuela to Peru.
Annual; culms slender, erect or commonly widely spreading, usually freely
branching, as much as 60 cm. long; sheaths glabrous, or scabrous toward the
summit, shorter than the internodes; blades 3-10 cm. long, 1-2 mm. wide, lax,
scabrous, more or less pubescent or pilose above; panicles 3-15 cm. long, rather
lax, the scabrous branches stiffly ascending to spreading, spikelet-bearing to
the base; spikelets short-pedicellate, usually abruptly spreading; glumes obtuse,
subequal, 0.5-1 mm. long; lemma 2-4 mm. long, scabrous, with a slender awn
1-3 cm. long.
Muhlenbergia montana (Nutt.) Hitchc. Bull. U. S. Dept. Agr.
772: 145, 147. 1920. Calycodon montanum Nutt. Jour. Acad. Phila.
II. 1: 186. 1848. Muhlenbergia trifida Hack. Repert. Sp. Nov. 8:
518. 1910. M. enerves Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 17: 302. 1913.
Dry pine and oak woods, 1,800-2,100 meters; Guatemala;
Quiche" ; Huehuetenango. Western United States; Mexico.
Perennial; culms in dense tufts, erect, 30-60 cm. high, the leaves mostly
crowded toward the base, with numerous innovations; sheaths longer than the
internodes, the lower ones becoming loose and flat; ligule as much as 1 cm. long;
blades flat, or becoming involute, firm and scabrous, the lower ones about 10 cm.
long, the upper ones much longer, 1-3 mm. wide; panicles as much as 30 cm. long,
loose or rather dense, the branches appressed or narrowly ascending, floriferous
from the base; glumes subequal, or the second a little longer, the first narrow,
acute, the second broad, usually deeply 3-toothed; lemma about 4 mm. long,
rather densely pilose below, scabrous above, tapering into a slender, scabrous,
flexuous awn 1-1.5 cm. long.
Muhlenbergia nigra Hitchc. N. Amer. Fl. 17: 468. 1935.
Pajdn largo (Quezaltenango).
Exposed summits, 2,300-4,200 meters; Sacatepe"quez; Quezal-
tenango; Huehuetenango. Southern Mexico.
Perennial; culms 0.5-1.5 meters high, in coarse dense clumps, pubescent
below, scabrous at least below the panicle; sheaths scabrous to nearly glabrous,
the lower ones crowded, the upper elongate; ligule firm, 1-2 cm. long; blades
firm, involute, elongate, scabrous, usually curved, at least at the base, attenuate;
panicles 5-15 cm. long, dense, spikelike, dark gray-green or olive, the short densely
flowered branches appressed; glumes 6-10 mm. long, acuminate, narrow, scabrous,
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 221
sometimes awn-pointed; lemma a little shorter than the glumes, acute or acumi-
nate, scabrous.
Muhlenbergia orophila Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29:
408. 1950. Figure 70.
Known only from the type, collected in alpine meadow, Cerro
Che"mal, summit of Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, Dept. Huehue-
tenango, altitude 3,700-3,800 meters, Steyermark 50309.
Perennial; culms very densely tufted, erect, 12-25 cm. tall; sheaths all longer
than the internodes, glabrous; ligule truncate, about 0.5 mm. long; blades 6-8
cm. long, 1-1.5 mm. wide, subattenuate, glabrous, or finely scabrous toward the
tip and on the margins; panicles 5-8 cm. long, partly enclosed in the sheath,
the slender scabrous branches naked below, bearing a few spikelets at the ends
of the branchlets; spikelets dark purple, 3-3.5 mm. long not including the awn;
glumes subequal or the first a little shorter, 1.5-2 mm. long, acute; lemma gla-
brous, gradually tapering into the short scabrous awn, the awn 0.5-1 mm. long.
Muhlenbergia presliana Hitchc. N. Amer. Fl. 17: 462. 1935.
Epicampes stricta Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 235. pi. 39. 1830. Not M.
stricta Kunth.
Rocky hills, brushy slopes and pine forests, 1,500-2,000 meters;
Guatemala; Sacatepe*quez; Chimaltenango. Southern Mexico.
Perennial; culms in large dense clumps 1-1.7 meters high, scabrous below
the panicle; basal sheaths strongly compressed, keeled, the upper rounded; ligule
narrower than the sheath, usually about 2 mm. long; blades elongate, attenuate,
1-4 mm. wide, folded at the base, the margins strongly retrorsely scabrous;
panicles 25-50 cm. long, dense, the branches narrowly ascending or appressed,
densely flowered, naked at the base, the lower ones 10-15 cm. long, sometimes
rather distant, the upper ones shorter and approximate; spikelets 2 mm. long,
acute or subobtuse, pale, scabrous; lemma about as long as the glumes, scaberulous,
awnless or mucronate.
Muhlenbergia pusilla Steud. Syn. Gram. 177. 1854. M.
bourgaei Fourn. ex Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Amer. Bot. 3: 539, name
only, 1885; Mex. PL Gram. 86. 1886.
Damp meadow, mountains above Totonicapan, Dept. Toton-
icapan, 2,800-3,100 meters, Standley 84470. Central and southern
Mexico.
Annual; culms 3-30 cm. high, erect, freely branching from the base; sheaths
longer than the internodes, glabrous, with thin hyaline margins; ligule thin, about
3 mm. long, acute; blades as much as 5 cm. long, less than 1 mm. wide, minutely
pubescent on the upper surface; panicles 1-4 cm. long, narrow and rather loose,
the branches ascending or appressed, sometimes spreading, floriferous from the
base, or the lowermost naked at the base, few-flowered; spikelets 2.5-3 mm. long,
the pedicels short, usually appressed; glumes equal, one-half to two-thirds as long
FIG. 70. Muhlenbergia orophila. Plant, X 1 ; spikelet, X 10.
222
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 223
as the floret, the first acute, entire, the second broader, 3-toothed; lemma acute,
minutely toothed, densely pilose on the lower half, the very slender flexuous
awn 5-10 mm. long.
Muhlenbergia quadridentata (H.B.K.) Kunth, Re"v. Gram.
1: 64. 1829. Podosaemum quadridentatum H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp.
1: 130. 1815. P. gracile H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 131. 1815.
Trichochloa quadridentata Roem. & Schult. Syst. Veg. 2: 388. 1817.
Pine-Juniperus woods near Tojquia, summit of Sierra de los
Cuchumatanes, Dept. Huehuetenango, 3,700 meters, Steyermark
50229. Southern Mexico.
Very similar in habit and aspect to M. monlana, differing primarily in the
unequal glumes, the second with very shallow lobes, the sparsely pilose lemma,
and the usually shorter awn, 5-10 mm. long.
Muhlenbergia ramulosa (H.B.K.) Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat.
Herb. 29: 204. 1947. Vilfa ramulosa H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1:
137. 1815. Sporobolus ramulosus Kunth, ReV. Gram. 1: 68. 1829.
Open ground and damp meadows, sometimes a weed in corn-
fields, 2,000-3,000 meters; Guatemala; Chimaltenango; Toton-
icapan; Huehuetenango; Quezaltenango. Mexico to Costa Rica.
Annual; culms 5-20 cm. high, very slender, erect or spreading, rather freely
branching; sheaths usually much shorter than the internodes, glabrous; blades
5-20 mm. long, less than 1 mm. wide, pilose on the upper surface; panicles
mostly 3-4 cm. long, 5-15 mm. wide, or those of the branches reduced, the slender
branches rather stiffly ascending; spikelets short-pedicellate, 0.8-0.9 mm. long,
the glumes less than half as long, obtuse, the lemma acute, awnless, glabrous
or nearly so.
Muhlenbergia setarioides Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 84. 1886. M.
sylvatica var. setarioides Beal, Grasses N. Amer. 2: 249. 1896. M.
polypogonoides Hack. Ann. Naturhist. Hofmus. Wien 17: 253. 1902.
Moist or wet 'forests and shady banks, 1,500-2,400 meters;
Escuintla; Guatemala; Sacatepe"quez; Quezaltenango; San Marcos.
Mexico (Veracruz) to Panama.
Straggling, freely branching perennial; culms as much as 1 meter long, usually
with a long decumbent or creeping rooting base, many-noded, the internodes
relatively short, glabrous; sheaths longer or shorter than the internodes, glabrous
or scaberulous; ligule 1-2 mm. long, thin, lacerate; blades 2-12 cm. long, 3-8 mm.
wide, thin, flat, lax, scabrous; panicles 5-15 cm. long, rather dense, interrupted,
the short densely flowered branches narrowly ascending or appressed; spikelets
subsessile or short-pedicellate; glumes acuminate, mostly 1.5-2 mm. long, the
second a little longer than the first, thin, with a prominent green midnerve; lemma
2 mm. long, acute, pilose on the lower part, scabrous above, the awn 2-10 mm.
long, slender, flexuous.
224 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Muhlenbergia tenella (H.B.K.) Trin. Gram. Unifl. 192. 1824.
Podosaemum tenellum H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 128. 1815. Muh-
lenbergia exilis Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 84. 1886.
Damp thickets, shady banks, and moist cliffs, 500-1,800 meters;
Jutiapa; Sacatepe"quez; Chimaltenango; Escuintla; Suchitepe"quez.
Mexico to Panama.
Delicate annual; culms 8-20 cm. long, freely branching, erect or usually
decumbent-spreading; sheaths pilose or nearly glabrous; ligule 0.5 mm. long;
blades 1-3 cm. long, mostly less than 1 mm. wide, flat, pilose, especially on the
upper surface; panicles 4-10 cm. long, the branches ascending or appressed,
rather distant, solitary, closely flowered to the base, the branchlets appressed;
spikelets short-pedicellate, appressed; body of glumes about 0.5 mm. long, abruptly
narrowed to a short awn; lemma 2 mm. long, glabrous, the callus minutely pu-
bescent, the awn very slender, mostly 10-20 mm. long.
Muhlenbergia vaginata Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
29: 406. 1950.
Alpine meadows, limestone hills, and sand flats, 1,500-3,800
meters; Huehuetenango; Quezaltenango; San Marcos, type from
near San Sebastian (Steyermark 35598).
Annual; culms very slender, decumbent-spreading with ascending ends,
rather freely branching, the branches short with very short fasciculate branches;
sheaths short, crowded, glabrous; ligule 1.2-2 mm. long, thin, decurrent; blades
6-14 mm. long, 0.6-1 mm. wide, flat, firm, strongly nerved, acute, the tip na-
vicular, smooth beneath, scabrous above and on the margins; panicles not more
than 1.5 cm. long, usually much less, narrow, few-flowered; spikelets 1.8 mm.
long; glumes one-third to nearly one-half as long as the spikelet, subequal,
irregularly obtuse, the first sometimes notched; lemma acute, strongly nerved,
sparsely pubescent at the base, awnless.
OLYRA L.
Plants monoecious; staminate and pistillate spikelets in the same inflorescence,
the pistillate on the upper branches and at the ends of the lower branches, the
staminate scattered along the lower branches; pedicels of pistillate spikelets
enlarged toward the summit; pistillate spikelet: first glume wanting; second glume
and sterile lemma 5-7-nerved, caudate-acuminate, the glume much longer than
the lemma; fruit bony-indurate, white, the margins inrolled, clasping the palea;
staminate spikelets much smaller, reduced to the lemma and palea.
Erect or clambering, usually woody perennials with broad flat blades and
open panicles terminating the main culm and branches.
Species about 25, American tropics; one in Africa.
Culms as much as 5 meters long, branching; fruit smooth O. latifolia.
Culms about 1 meter high, simple; fruit villous on the margins of the lemma.
O. yucatana.
FIG. 71. Olyra latifolia. Plant, X K>; pistillate and staminate spikelets, and
fertile floret, X 5.
225
226 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Olyra latifolia L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 2: 1261. 1759. 0. paniculata
Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 21. 1788. 0. arundinacea H.B.K.
Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 197. 1816. 0. latifolia var. arundinacea Griseb.
Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 535. 1864. Figure 71.
Wet thickets, forests, and brushy slopes, up to 550 meters;
Pete"n; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Suchitepe"quez; Retalhuleu. Southern
Florida; West Indies; Mexico to Bolivia, northern Argentina, and
Brazil.
Culms erect, freely branching from the upper nodes, as much as 5 meters
long, the branches often clambering over the surrounding vegetation; sheaths
glabrous, pubescent or hispid, usually longer than the internodes, the lower ones
of the main culm short, nearly bladeless; blades asymmetrical, 10-30 cm. long,
2-9.5 cm. wide, or those of the branches smaller, acuminate, scabrous, short-
petiolate, the petioles hispid; panicles 5-15 cm. long, terminal on the main culm
and branches, sometimes axillary from the upper sheath, the branches usually
narrowly ascending, with a single pistillate spikelet at the end, the staminate
spikelets scattered on short branchlets below it; staminate spikelets 5 mm. long,
the lemma awned, the awn 2-3 mm. long; second glume and sterile lemma of the
pistillate spikelets 10-25 mm. long, long-acuminate, divergent, exposing the fruit;
fruit 5-6 mm. long, smooth and shining, white to drab.
Olyra yucatana Chase, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 21: 178.
1908.
Forests and dense brush, Pete"n. British Honduras; south-
eastern Mexico.
Perennial; culms in small clumps, simple, erect, about 1 meter tall; blades
unsymmetrical, 10-16 cm. long, 2-5 cm. wide, short-petiolate, the petioles hispid;
panicles narrow, terminal and axillary, 5-10 cm. long; staminate spikelets 6 mm.
long, purple; pistillate spikelets 15-25 mm. long; fruit 7 mm. long, the lemma
densely villous on the margins in the lower half.
OPLISMENUS Beauv.
Spikelets subsessile, solitary or in pairs, crowded, in two rows on one side of
a slender rachis; glumes nearly equal, more than half as long as the sterile lemma,
3-5-nerved, the first long-awned, the second short-awned; sterile lemma longer
than the fruit, mucronate or short-awned, enclosing a hyaline palea; fruit elliptic,
acute, indurate, smooth and shining, the margins firm, enclosing the palea.
Creeping, branching annuals or perennials with thin lanceolate or ovate-
lanceolate acuminate blades and inflorescences composed of few to several stiffly
ascending or spreading racemes approximate or rather distant on a main axis.
Species about 10, in the tropics of both hemispheres.
Rachis of racemes densely hairy; awns antrorsely scabrous O. burmanni.
Rachis of racemes scabrous; awns smooth.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 227
Racemes loosely flowered, 2-5 cm. long 0. rariflorus.
Racemes densely flowered, mostly less than 2 cm. long.
Rachis of racemes 2-3 mm. long, the few spikelets appearing as if in clusters.
O. setarius.
Rachis of racemes 1-2 cm. long, the spikelets not clustered.. . .0. hirtellus.
Oplismenus burmanni (Retz.) Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 54. 1812.
Panicum burmanni Retz. Obs. Bot. 3: 10. 1783. Orthopogon bur-
manni Trin. Fund. Agrost. 181. 1820. Oplismenus cristatus Presl,
Rel. Haenk. 1: 323. 1830. 0. affinis Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 323. 1830.
Moist forests, thickets, and savannas, a common weed in fields
and waste places up to about 2,500 meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal;
Jalapa; Jutiapa; Santa Rosa; Guatemala; Sacatepe'quez; Retal-
huleu; Quezaltenango. British Honduras; tropics of both hemi-
spheres.
Low creeping annual; culms slender, 15-50 cm. long, nearly simple to freely
branching, with short internodes, decumbent or prostrate-spreading with ascend-
ing branches; sheaths usually much shorter than the internodes, sparsely to
densely papillose-hispid, the margins densely ciliate; blades broadly lanceolate-
elliptic, often asymmetrical, acuminate, 1.5-5 cm. long, 5-15 mm. wide, glabrous
to pubescent or hirsute, the margins scabrous; inflorescence 1-6 cm. long, fre-
quently long exserted, of 3-6, rarely 10, short, approximate racemes, the axis
densely villous, flexuous; racemes 0.5-2 cm. long, ascending, the rachis densely
villous; spikelets 3 mm. long, usually densely villous; glumes minutely lobed,
about 2 mm. long, the second a little longer than the first; awns retrorsely sca-
brous, that of the first glume 10-14 mm. long, of the second 3-8 mm. long; sterile
lemma minutely lobed, awnless, or with an awn 1-3 mm. long; fruit 2 mm. long,
narrowly elliptic, acute.
Oplismenus hirtellus (L.) Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 54, 168. 1812.
Panicum hirtellum L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 2: 870. 1759. Orthopogon
cubensis Spreng. Syst. Veg. 1 : 307. 1825. Echinochloa cubensis Schult.
Mant. 3 (Add. 1): 596. [1827]. Oplismenus cubensis Kunth, ReV.
Gram. 1: 45. 1829. Panicum cubensis Steud. Nom. Bot. ed. 2. 2: 255.
1841. Oplismenus chondrosioides Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 39. 1886.
Moist hills and fields, forests, thickets, along streams, and river
bluffs, up to 1,800 meters; Pete"n; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Sacate-
p6quez; Jalapa; Guatemala; Chimaltenango; Quezaltenango. Brit-
ish Honduras; West Indies; Mexico to Argentina.
Widely spreading perennial; culms with short internodes, freely branching,
decumbent-spreading and rooting at the nodes, the erect or ascending branches
20-70 cm. long; sheaths glabrous to densely papillose-hispid, the margins ciliate,
the lower ones usually much shorter than the internodes, the upper frequently
overlapping; blades 4-10 cm. rarely 15 cm. long, 1-2 cm. wide, acuminate, usually
228 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
asymmetric, rather thin, glabrous or sometimes pubescent, the margins scabrous;
inflorescence 5-15 cm. long, of 3-7 stiffly ascending, rather distant racemes 1-2
cm. rarely 3 cm. long, the rachis more or less papillose-hispid, especially at the
base; spikelets 3-3.5 mm. long, glabrous to sparsely pilose; glumes about equal,
2 mm. long; awns glabrous, usually purplish, that of the first glume 5-10 cm. long,
that of the second about 2 mm. long; sterile lemma acuminate; fruit 3 mm. long,
elliptic, acute, minutely striate.
Oplismenus rariflorus Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 320. 1830. 0.
liebmanni Fourn. Mex. PL 2: 38. 1886. 0. thiebauti Fourn. Mex.
PI. 2: 39. 1886.
Moist shady places and pine-covered slopes up to 1,500 meters;
Zacapa; Guatemala. Southern Mexico; Honduras; Colombia and
Venezuela to Peru.
Similar to O. hirtellus, differing in the slender few-flowered racemes 2-5 cm.
long, the spikelets distant, sometimes as much as 1 cm. apart.
Oplismenus setarius (Lam.) Roem. & Schult. Syst. Veg. 2: 481.
1817. Panicum setarium Lam. Tabl. Encycl. 1 : 170. 1791. Figure 72.
Shady places, up to 1,500 meters; Alta Verapaz; Santa Rosa;
Guatemala. Southeastern United States; West Indies; southern
Mexico; Colombia; Brazil; Uruguay; Paraguay; and northern
Argentina.
Perennial; culms slender, widely spreading, freely branching, the flowering
culms mostly 20-30 cm. high; blades ovate or usually ovate-lanceolate, commonly
1-3 cm. or as much as 6 cm. long, 4-10 mm. wide; racemes 4-6, distant, the rachis
less than 5 mm. long, usually with 4 to 8 crowded spikelets; awn of first glume
4-8 mm. long.
ORTHOCLADA Beauv.
Spikelets falling entire, 1-2-flowered, the florets distant, the second rudimen-
tary; glumes acuminate, awnless, the first narrow, 3-nerved, the second broader,
5-nerved; lemma acuminate, awn-pointed, 5-nerved, the nerves obscure except
near the summit.
Perennials with lanceolate, flat, transversely veined, petiolate blades, and
diffuse panicles, the branches spikelet-bearing only near the ends. Monotypic.
Orthoclada laxa (L. Rich.) Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 70, 149, 168.
1812. Aira laxa L. Rich. Act. Soc. Hist. Nat. Paris 1: 106. 1792.
Panicum rariflorum Lam. Encycl. 4: 746. 1798. Orthoclada rariflora
Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 70. pi. 14, f. 9. 1812. Figure 73.
Wet thickets and forests at low altitudes; Alta Verapaz; Izabal.
Southeastern Mexico (Oaxaca, Veracruz, and Tabasco); Honduras;
Nicaragua; Colombia to Surinam, Peru, and Brazil.
FIG. 72. Oplismenus setarius. Plant, X 1 A', two views of spikelet, and
floret, X 10.
229
230
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
FIG. 73. Orthodada laxa, about X
Erect or decumbent-spreading, sparingly stoloniferous perennial; culms 60
cm. to more than 2 meters long, glabrous; sheaths rather densely pilose or some-
times nearly glabrous, usually shorter than the internodes; ligule a very short
ciliate membrane; blades 5-17 cm. long, 1-3 cm. wide, acuminate, narrowed at the
base to a petiole 2-3 cm. long, hispid on the upper surface, glabrous below with
conspicuous cross-veins; panicle diffuse, 15-30 cm. long, about as wide, the
branches rather readily disarticulating, stiffly spreading, spikelet-bearing only
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 231
at the ends; spikelets 6-7 mm. long; glumes subequal, acuminate, 3-4 mm. long,
the first 3-nerved, the second 5-nerved, scabrous on the nerves; lemma about
6 mm. long, 5-nerved, sparsely scabrous.
ORYZA L.
Spikelets 1-flowered, disarticulating below the glumes, laterally compressed;
glumes narrow, much shorter than the lemma (in our species); lemma indurate,
rigid, keeled, 3-nerved, awned or sometimes awnless, sparsely to rather densely
hispid; palea similar to the lemma but narrower and with no midnerve on the
back, the two nerves close to the margins.
Annuals or perennials with flat blades and open or contracted panicles.
Species probably about 20, in tropical Asia, Africa, and America.
Plants annual, cultivated, sometimes escaped O. saliva.
Plants perennial, native.
Spikelets 8-9 mm. long; awns 2-3 cm. long O. alta.
Spikelets 5 mm. long; awns 1-2 cm. long O. latifolia.
Oryza alta Swallen, Carnegie Inst. Washington Pub. 461: 156.
1936.
Swamps and river margins at low altitudes. British Honduras
(Stann Creek District); Brazil, the type from Obidos, Para; Para-
guay.
Perennial; culms erect or leaning, 3 to more than 4 meters tall, glabrous;
sheaths shorter than the internodes, auriculate, glabrous, the margins usually
hispid-ciliate; ligule membranaceous, lacerate to hispid-ciliate, 5 mm. long;
blades flat, acuminate, 25-80 cm. long, 20-28 mm. wide, scaberulous, the margins
scabrous-serrulate; panicles open, drooping, 30-40 cm. long, the branches rather
distant, densely pilose in the axils, naked on the lower half, the lower whorled,
as much as 15 cm. long; spikelets 8-9 mm. long, appressed on the short branchlets,
the lateral short-pedicellate, the terminal long-pedicellate; glumes lunate, narrow,
acuminate, 1-nerved, about half as long as the spikelet; lemma minutely pitted,
hispid on the keels and margins, unsymmetrically narrowed at the summit to
a short scabrous beak, terminating in a scabrous or somewhat appressed-hispid
awn 2-3 cm. long; palea slightly longer than the lemma, similar in texture, ter-
minating in a hispid beak about 1 mm. long.
Oryza latifolia Desv. Jour, de Bot. Desv. II. 1: 77. 1813.
0. saliva latifolia Doell in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2(2): 7. 1871.
Ponds, swamps, and ditches at low altitudes; Izabal; Retalhuleu.
British Honduras; southern Mexico to Panama; West Indies;
Colombia to Surinam, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Brazil.
Coarse erect perennial; culms 1-2 meters high, succulent, scaberulous; sheaths
elongate, longer than the internodes, keeled toward the summit, glabrous, pu-
FIG. 74. Oryza saliva. Plant, X 1 A', spikelet, X 5.
232
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 233
bescent on the collar, auriculate, the auricles sometimes hispid-ciliate; ligule 3-5
mm. long, hispid; blades mostly 30-50 cm. long, 1-3.5 cm. wide, scabrous and
sparsely pubescent on both surfaces, the margins prominently hispid-scabrous;
panicles 30-40 cm. long, the branches verticillate, ascending, scabrous, as much
as 25 cm. long, naked toward the base; spikelets 5 mm. long, short-pedicellate,
oblong, sparsely hispid, the awns 1-2 cm. long or sometimes wanting; glumes
narrow, acuminate, 1 mm. long.
Oryza sativa L. Sp. PI. 333. 1753. Arroz; rice. Figure 74.
Cultivated throughout tropical and warm temperate regions at
low altitudes.
Annual; culms erect, 1 meter high or more; sheaths all longer than the inter-
nodes, soft, glabrous, auriculate, the auricles sometimes hispid-ciliate; ligule
acuminate, mostly 1-2 cm. long; blades 20-40 cm. long, 1-1.5 cm. wide, acuminate,
scabrous; panicles 10-30 cm. long, narrow, dense, becoming top-heavy; spikelets
oblong, 7-10 mm. long; glumes narrow, 2-3 mm. long; lemmas hard, ridged by the
lateral nerves, more or less hispid, especially on the keel, awnless or awned, the
awn variable.
PANICUM L.
Spikelets paniculate or sometimes short-pedicelled in one-sided racemes;
first glume minute to nearly as long as the spikelet; second glume and sterile
lemma nearly equal, similar, the lemma often enclosing a hyaline palea and
sometimes a staminate flower; fertile floret indurate, the nerves obsolete, the
margins of the lemma inrolled, firmly enclosing the palea.
Annuals or perennials, exceedingly variable in habit, size, and appearance.
Species about 600, in warmer regions of both hemispheres.
Basal blades distinctly different from the culm blades, forming a winter rosette;
culms at first simple, finally sparingly to freely branching.
Plants forming soft, dense cushions, the culms branching from the base only.
Sheaths conspicuously retrorsely pilose; spikelets 1.9-2 mm. long, papillose-
pilose P. xalapense.
Sheaths glabrous or ciliate only.
Blades glabrous on the upper surface; spikelets 1.5-1.6 mm. long.
P. polycaulon.
Blades pilose; spikelets 1.3-1.5 mm. long P. strigosum.
Plants not forming soft cushions, the culms branching from the middle and
upper nodes.
Spikelets attenuate at the base, prominently pustulose; blades firm, linear.
Spikelets fusiform, 3.3-3.5 mm. long, pointed beyond the fruit.
P. fusiforme.
Spikelets obovate, 2-2.5 mm. long, not pointed beyond the fruit.
Plants glabrous or nearly so; spikelets 2 mm. long, subsecund along
the suberect panicle branches . . P. neuranthum.
234 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Plants pubescent, at least on the lower half; spikelets mostly about
2.4 mm. long P. arenicoloides.
Spikelets not attenuate at the base.
Ligule prominent, composed of hairs 3-5 mm. long.
Sheaths glabrous or appressed-pubescent.
Spikelets 1.2 mm. long P. longiligulatum.
Spikelets not more than 1 mm. long P. wrightianum.
Sheaths conspicuously villous.
Spikelets 2. 2-2 A mm. long.
Culms conspicuously pilose with long spreading hairs; autumnal
culms prostrate P. villosissimum.
Culms with appressed hairs; autumnal culms stiffly ascending.
P. pseudopubescens.
Spikelets 1.9-2 mm. long; culms freely branching from the middle
and upper nodes P. olivaceum.
Ligule very short, inconspicuous.
Spikelets glabrous or nearly so.
Blades cordate, 5-15 mm. wide, ciliate at the base. . .P. sphaerocarpon.
Blades not cordate, usually less than 5 mm. wide.
Spikelets 2 mm. long, strongly nerved, asymmetrically pyriform.
Blades firm, glabrous above; culms stiffly ascending.
P. lancearium.
Blades lax, softly pubescent on both surfaces; culms decumbent.
P. patulum.
Spikelets 1.1 mm. long, not strongly nerved P. chamaelonche.
Spikelets pubescent.
Spikelets 1.5 mm. long; blades with conspicuous white cartilaginous
margins P. albomarginatum.
Spikelets 2 mm. long; nodes bearded P. nitidum.
Basal blades similar to the culm blades; branches of the culm, if any, not reduced
or with greatly reduced blades.
Plants annual.
Fruit transversely rugose; spikelets short-pedicellate along the raceme-like
branches.
Spikelets 2 mm. long; culms decumbent-spreading, freely branching.
P. reptans.
Spikelets 2.5-4 mm. long.
Spikelets glabrous, usually dark brown, 2.5-3 mm. long.
P. fasciculatum.
Spikelets densely pubescent, 3.5-4 mm. long P. molle.
Fruit smooth; spikelets in open panicles.
First glume about one-fourth as long as the spikelet, acute or obtuse.
Glabrous, rather succulent, aquatic or subaquatic grasses.
Spikelets 4-5 mm. long; culms elongate, as much as 2 cm. thick.
P. elephantipes.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 235
Spikelets 3 mm. long; culms 20-40 cm. long, slender P. aquaticum.
First glume at least more than half as long as the spikelet.
Culms erect; spikelets at least 2 mm. long; blades elongate.
Panicles terminal and axillary, crowded, implicate. . .P. cayennense.
Panicles terminal only, not crowded or implicate.
Spikelets 2.5-3.3 mm. long P. hirticaule.
Spikelets 4-4.5 mm. long.
First glume usually more than three-fourths as long as the
spikelet P. pampinosum.
First glume about half as long as the spikelet P. lepidulum.
Spikelets 5-6 mm. long P. parcum.
Culms decumbent-spreading; spikelets 1.2-1.5 mm. long; blades ovate
or elliptic, cordate.
Spikelets placed obliquely on the pedicels, papillose-hirsute.
P. hirtum.
Spikelets not placed obliquely, pubescent P. trichoides.
Plants perennial.
Palea of sterile floret becoming enlarged, indurate; spikelets borne on the
upper part of the branches or toward the ends only P. hians.
Palea of sterile floret not conspicuously enlarged.
Spikelets short-pedicellate along one side of the panicle branches, forming
spike-like or one-sided racemes.
Fruit transversely rugose.
Nodes glabrous; panicle branches short, closely appressed.
Spikelets 2.8-3 mm. long P. paludivagum.
Spikelets not over 2.4 mm. long P. geminatum.
Nodes bearded; panicle branches ascending or spreading.
P. purpurascens.
Fruit smooth, not rugose.
Blades lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate.
Spikelets sparsely pilose or hispid, the sterile lemma with two
crateriform glands on the back.
Spikelets 2 mm. long, pilose P. pulchellum.
Spikelets 3.6 mm. long, sparsely hispid P. biglandulare.
Spikelets glabrous, glandless.
Blades 1-5 cm. long; racemes few to several, scarcely crowded.
P. stoloniferum.
Blades 5-11 cm. long; racemes numerous, crowded.
P. frondescens.
Blades linear, often elongate, sometimes cordate at the base.
Spikelets nearly sessile, densely arranged along one side of the
pilose rachis.
Culms as much as 2 meters high; panicles 25-45 cm. long.
P. milleflorum.
236 FIELD IANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Culms not more than 1 meter high; panicles 5-15 cm. long.
P. pilosum.
Spikelets in part on short branchlets on the lower side of the rachis.
Blades 20-25 cm. long, 1.5-3 cm. wide; panicles 20-40 cm. long.
P. stagnatile.
Blades not more than 15 cm. long; panicles 5-30 cm. long.
Nodes pubescent P. polygonatum.
Nodes glabrous.
Blades narrowed toward the base P. laxum.
Blades somewhat cordate at the base P. boliviense.
Spikelets in open or contracted panicles, but not on one-sided racemes.
Fruit transversely rugose.
Culms with a corm-like base P. bulbosum.
Culms with short stout rhizomes, in large coarse clumps.
P. maximum.
Fruit not rugose.
First glume acute or acuminate, two-thirds to three-fourths as long
as the spikelet.
Panicles terminal and axillary, crowded, implicate P. rudgei.
Panicles terminal only, not crowded or implicate. Spikelets more
than 3 mm. long.
Spikelets 5.5-6 mm. long; fruit with a laterally compressed crest.
Culms decumbent-spreading P. zizanioides.
Spikelets not more than 4.5 mm. long; fruit not crested.
Culms with creeping rhizomes.
Culms erect; spikelets 4-4.5 mm. long P. lundellii.
Culms straggling, 2-4 meters long; spikelets 3.2-4 mm.
long P. altum.
Culms without rhizomts.
Culms coarse, 1.5-2 meters high; spikelets 3.5-4.2 mm.
long P. ichnanthoides.
Culms 10-20 cm. high; spikelets 1.5-1.6 mm. long.
P. furvum.
First glume obtuse or not more than half as long as the spikelet.
Panicles very narrow, few-flowered. Culms erect, wiry.
Spikelets pointed; second glume and sterile lemma exceeding
the fruit P. tenerum.
Spikelets blunt; second glume and sterile lemma about as long
as the fruit.
Spikelets 2 mm. long, attenuate at the base P. stenodoides.
Spikelets 1.5 mm. long, not attenuate at the base. . .P. stenodes.
Panicles many-flowered, usually open.
First glume obtuse or rounded, about two-thirds as long as the
spikelets.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 237
Spikelets 1.5 mm. long.
Culms decumbent or creeping, very slender; blades 1-3 cm.
long P. parvifolium.
Culms erect, firm; blades 3-6 cm. long P. cyanescens.
Spikelets 2 mm. long or longer.
Spikelets 2 mm. long, appearing clustered on the branches.
P. sellowti.
Spikelets 3-3.5 mm. long, not clustered P. glutinosum.
First glume acute or less than half the length of the spikelet.
Culms tufted, erect.
Sheaths rounded; nodes densely pubescent or bearded.
Spikelets 3 mm. long, acuminate, the first glume a small
nerveless scale . P. tuerckheimii.
Spikelets 2 mm. long, acute, the first glume acute or sub-
obtuse, about half as long as the spikelet . . P. hirsutum.
Sheaths compressed, keeled; nodes glabrous. . .P. agrostoides.
Culms decumbent-spreading or clambering.
Blades as much as 1 meter long, 6 cm. wide P. grande.
Blades much smaller.
Second glume and sterile lemma 5-nerved; spikelets blunt,
turgid, the fruit usually sparsely to rather densely
silky-hairy.
Culms pubescent, villous, or papillose-pilose.
Spikelets 1.5 mm. long, arranged in clusters on the
branches P. schiffneri.
Spikelets 2.3-3 mm. long, evenly distributed on the
branches, not in clusters.
Panicles about 6 cm. long, few-flowered; spikelets
2.9-3 mm. long; sheaths much longer than the
internodes P. incumbens.
Panicles about 20 cm. long, (many-flowered:
spikelets 2.3-2.5 mm. long; sheaths mostly
shorter than the internodes P. cayoense.
Culms glabrous or nearly so.
Culms slender, creeping or clambering; spikelets 1.5-2
mm. long, densely crowded in clusters.
Culms creeping; blades falcate P. schmitzii.
Culms clambering; blades not falcate.
Spikelets 1.5 mm. long P. arundinariae.
Spikelets 2 mm. long P. breviramosum.
Culms coarser; spikelets 2-2.5 mm. long.
Blades 12-25 mm. wide; fruit glabrous; culms
sparingly branching P. parviglume.
Blades 4-10 mm. wide; fruit sparsely silky; culms
rather freely branching P. guatemalense.
238 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Second glume and /or sterile lemma 3- or 7-9-nerved.
Second glume and sterile lemma 3-nerved; panicles
diffuse, the spikelets on long capillary pedicels.
Spikelets 1.2-1.5 mm. long; first glume one-fifth as
long as the spikelet P. trichanthum.
Spikelets 1.8-2 mm. long; first glume half as long as
the spikelet P. bartlettii.
Second glume and sterile lemma 7-9-nerved (sterile
lemma 3-nerved in P. venezuelae).
Second glume 3-nerved. Spikelets crowded on short,
distant, raceme-like branches P. venezuelae.
Second glume 7-9-nerved.
Blades less than 5 cm. usually less than 4 cm. long.
Spikelets 2-2.1 mm. long; blades velvety-pu-
bescent, ciliate only at the base . P. furtivum.
Spikelets 1.5-1.6 mm. long; blades pubescent
but not velvety, strongly ciliate nearly to the
apex P. blakei.
Blades, or at least some of them, more than 5 cm.
long.
Blades papillose-hispid with long hairs; panicles
sparsely few-flowered P. alsophilum.
Blades not papillose-hispid; panicles relatively
densely flowered.
Spikelets pubescent.
Spikelets 1.8-1.9 mm. long; panicle branches
pubescent, implicate P. riscidellum.
Spikelets 2.5-2.8 mm. long; panicle branches
glabrous, not implicate.
P. albomaculatum.
Spikelets glabrous.
Spikelets 3.5-4 mm. long P. transiens.
Spikelets 2.7 mm. long; second glume and
sterile lemma shorter than the fruit.
P. alcobense.
Spikelets 2.2-2.5 mm. long; second glume
and sterile lemma covering the fruit.
Blades 7-13 mm. wide, pubescent.
P. ramiparum.
Blades 3-7 mm. wide, glabrous. Panicle
branches spreading, implicate.
P. umbonulatum.
Panicum agrostoides Spreng. PI. Pugill. 2: 4. 1815. P. elon-
gatum ramosius Mohr, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 6: 357. 1901.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 239
Wet ground, New River at Orange Walk, British Honduras.
Not known from Guatemala. Eastern United States.
Perennial; culms in dense clumps, erect, 50-100 cm. or more tall, glabrous;
sheaths longer than the internodes, compressed, keeled; ligule membranaceous,
about 1 mm. long; blades 20-50 cm. long, 5-12 mm. wide; panicles 10-30 cm. long,
terminal and axillary, the stiff branches ascending or spreading, with divergent,
rather densely flowered branchlets; spikelets 1.8-2.2 mm. long, the first glume
about half as long as the spikelet; second glume and sterile lemma subequal,
the midnerve scabrous toward the summit; fruit 1.3 mm. long.
Panicum albomaculatum Scribn. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div.
Agrost. Circ. 19: 2. 1900.
Shady banks near Antigua, Sacatepe"quez, Hitchcock 9139.
Mexico (Jalisco; Michoacan).
Perennial; culms erect or geniculate-ascending from a hard knotty base,
at first simple, finally branching from lower and middle nodes; sheaths long,
usually exceeding the internodes, densely ciliate on the margins, more or less
spotted or mottled; blades 6-17 cm. long, 6-15 mm. wide, lanceolate, ascending
or spreading, the margins very scabrous, ciliate at the rounded base, otherwise
glabrous or sometimes sparsely hispid; panicles 10-16 cm. long, as much as 12
mm. wide, the slender, flexuous, few-flowered branches spreading or sometimes
reflexed, more or less implicate; spikelets 2.5-2.8 mm. long, subobtuse, sparsely
pubescent; first glume one-third to one-half as long as the spikelet, acute or
subobtuse; second glume and sterile lemma equal, scarcely as long as the fruit.
Panicum albomarginatum Nash, Bull. Torrey Club 24: 40.
1897.
Pine lands, Alta Verapaz. British Honduras (El Cayo District) ;
southeastern United States; Cuba.
Perennial; culms slender, erect, wiry, mostly 15-40 cm. tall; blades 4-6 cm.
(rarely 8 cm.) long, 4-6 mm. wide, glabrous or nearly so, the conspicuous white
cartilaginous margins scabrous, the uppermost blade not much reduced; ligule
very short; panicles usually about 4 cm. long, the branches ascending or spreading;
spikelets 1.5 mm. long, pubescent. Autumnal phase bushy-branched, the branches
rather closely appressed, the blades and panicles usually greatly reduced.
Panicum alcobense Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29:
423. 1950.
Oak woods and pine forests. Known only from the summit
of Cerro Alcoba, Jalapa, about 1,700 meters (Steyermark 32515,
type).
Annual(?); culms about 80 cm. long, straggling, branching, pilose with
appressed hairs, the nodes pubescent; sheaths mostly a little shorter than the
internodes, glabrous, the margins densely papillose-ciliate; ligule a ciliate mem-
240 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
brane about 1 mm. long including the hairs, blades 4-7.5 cm. long, 5-8 mm. wide,
subacuminate, glabrous, the margins scabrous, sparsely papillose-hispid-ciliate
at the base; panicles 4-6 cm. long, 2-3 cm. wide, the branches ascending, glabrous
or scabrous, the lower ones 1-2 cm. long; spikelets 2.7 mm. long, 1 mm. wide,
sparsely pubescent; first glume 1-1.3 mm. long, nerveless; second glume and
sterile lemma equal, a little shorter than the fruit, obtuse, the glume 7-nerved,
the lemma 5-nerved; fruit 2.2 mm. long, about 1 mm. wide, ovate, pale, smooth
and shining.
Panicum alsophilum Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29:
422. 1950.
Oak woods. Known only from the summit of Cerro Alcoba,
east of Jalapa, about 1,700 meters (Steyermark 32513, type).
Perennial (?); culms spreading, about 50 cm. long, with nearly equal inter-
nodes, papillose-pilose with appressed or spreading hairs, the nodes more or less
bearded; sheaths about as long as or longer than the internodes, papillose-pilose,
densely pilose on the collar; ligule ciliate, 0.3 mm. long; blades 5-10 cm. long,
4-9 mm. wide, acuminate, rather conspicuously papillose-pilose below, papillose-
hispid above, the margins scabrous and papillose-hispid-ciliate; panicle 8 cm.
long, about as broad, the slender branches spreading, few-flowered; spikelets
2.4 mm. long, glabrous, or the second glume sparsely pilose; first glume 0.5-1
mm. long, nerveless; second glume and sterile lemma equal, covering the fruit;
fruit 2 mm. long, elliptic, subacute, pale, shining.
Panicum altum Hitchc. & Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
17:488./. 57. 1915.
Marshes near the coast. British Honduras (Belize District).
Not known from Guatemala. Panama; Trinidad and Tobago.
Perennial; culms 2-4 meters long, from strong rhizomes, stout, reedlike,
tangled, decumbent and straggling at the base, glaucous, sometimes with erect
sterile branches at the swollen nodes; sheaths smooth; blades 30-45 cm. long,
8-15 mm. wide, glabrous on both surfaces, the margins scabrous; panicles 20-30
cm. long, the slender scabrous branches fascicled, ascending to spreading, some
of them naked at the base; spikelets 3.2-4 mm. long, short-pediceled, turgid,
glabrous, gaping, the first glume about two-thirds as long as the spikelet; fruit
2-2.2 mm. long.
Panicum aquaticum Poir. in Lam. Encycl. Suppl. 4: 281. 1816.
Margins of streams and ponds and other wet places; Jutiapa
(Jutiapa); Izabal (Puerto Barrios). British Honduras (Gracie
Rock); Mexico (Colima); Cuba; South America as far south as
Paraguay.
Perennial; culms soft, somewhat succulent, decumbent, rooting at the lower
nodes, glabrous, the ascending ends mostly 20-40 cm. tall; blades flat, acute,
usually stiffly ascending or spreading, 5-17 cm. long, 5-10 mm. wide; panicles
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 241
about 10 cm. long, rarely longer, the branches rather stiffly ascending; spikelets
appressed, glabrous, 3 mm. long; first glume subacute, broad and clasping, about
1 mm. long; second glume and sterile lemma pointed beyond the fruit.
Panicum arenicoloides Ashe, Jour. Elisha Mitchell Soc. 16:
89. 1900. P. orthophyllum Ashe, Jour. Elisha Mitchell Soc. 16: 90.
1900.
Pine and pine-oak forests, mostly 900-1,500 meters; Alta Vera-
paz; Zacapa; Huehuetenango; Chiquimula; Jalapa. Coastal plain,
North Carolina to Texas; southern Mexico; Honduras; Cuba;
Colombia; Venezuela.
Perennial; culms slender, 20-50 cm. tall; lower sheaths and usually the lower
blades villous; blades mostly 7-12 cm. long, 3-5 mm. wide, becoming involute
toward the apex; panicles 4-6 cm. long, the rather narrowly ascending branches
somewhat flexuous; spikelets 2.1-2.5 mm. long, obovate, obtuse; first glume
about one-third as long as the spikelet, usually obtuse or truncate; second glume
and sterile lemma equal, just covering the fruit, densely pubescent between the
prominent nerves. Autumnal phase rather freely branching, becoming top-heavy,
the blades somewhat reduced, finally involute.
Panicum arundinariae Trin. ex Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 25. 1886.
P. virgultorum Hack. Oesterr. Bot. Zeitschr. 51: 369. 1901.
Brushy slopes and forests, 1,300-2,000 meters; Alta Verapaz;
Chiquimula; Guatemala; Sacatepe"quez ; Huehuetenango. Southern
Mexico to Panama.
Perennial; culms clambering or straggling, 0.5-1.5 meters long, freely branch-
ing, glabrous or very sparsely pubescent; sheaths shorter than the internodes,
glabrous, densely pubescent on the collar; blades lanceolate, 4-15 cm. long, 5-12
mm. wide, glabrous on the lower surface, scabrous and sparsely papillose-hispid
on the upper, the margins very scabrous; panicles mostly 4-8 cm. long (rarely
as much as 15 cm., those of the branches often much reduced), the branches
narrowly ascending to spreading, the lower rarely more than 5 cm. long, densely
flowered, sometimes naked at the base; spikelets 1.5 mm. long, oval, the first
glume minute, nerveless; fruit oval, smooth and shining, sparsely pilose with
long appressed hairs.
Panicum bartlettii Swallen, Carnegie Inst. Washington Pub.
436: 346. 1934.
Moist forests and river bluffs, near sea level; Pete"n, the type
from Uaxactun (Bartlett 12245). British Honduras; southern
Mexico (Veracruz, Oaxaca, Campeche, Quintana Roo).
Perennial; culms sprawling, rooting at the lower nodes, glabrous, as much
as 1.5 meters long; sheaths much shorter than the internodes, ciliate on the
margins, otherwise glabrous or nearly so; blades flat, oblong-lanceolate, 10-20
242 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
cm. long, 15-25 mm. wide (rarely smaller), glabrous or sometimes pubescent,
the margins scabrous; ligule 0.2-0.3 mm. long; panicle diffuse, 10-30 cm. long,
as much as 25 cm. wide, the branches widely ascending; spikelets long-pediceled,
1.8-2 mm. long; first glume obtuse or subacute, half as long as the spikelet; second
glume and sterile lemma equal, pointed beyond the fruit, minutely bulbate-
rugose, the second glume falling away toward maturity of the spikelet; fruit
1.5 mm. long, smooth, shining.
Panicum biglandulare Scribn. & Smith, U. S. Dept. Agr. Div.
Agrost. Bull. 4: 13. pi 4. 1897.
Pine and pine-oak forests, 1,350-2,800 meters; Alta Verapaz;
San Marcos. Guerrero; Oaxaca; Chiapas, the type from Pinabete
(Nelson 3781).
Culms wiry, widely spreading, freely branching, rooting at the lower nodes,
glabrous; sheaths much shorter than the internodes, villous-ciliate on the margins
and across the back on the collar; blades 3-10 cm. long, 10-18 mm. wide, lance-
olate, acuminate, more or less pilose on both surfaces; racemes 5-30 mm. long,
finally spreading; spikelets 3.6 mm. long, sparsely hispid; first glume acute,
one-third to one-half as long as the spikelet; second glume and sterile lemma
unequal, the glume acute, the lemma acute or subacuminate, bearing a crateriform
gland on either side of the midnerve toward the summit.
Panicum blakei Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29: 422. 1950.
Prairies and along trails, Izabal (Los Amates to Izabal, Blake
7817, type; Milla to Cristina, Steyermark 38655).
Annual(?); culms more or less decumbent-spreading, 15-28 cm. long, pilose
with spreading hairs, the nodes retrorsely bearded; sheaths mostly shorter than
the nearly equal internodes, papillose-pilose, densely pilose on the collar; ligule
ciliate, 0.2-0.4 mm. long; blades 2.5-4.3 cm. long, 5-10 mm. wide, lanceolate,
clasping, sparsely pubescent, the margins ciliate nearly to the tip, the uppermost
and those of the branches somewhat reduced; panicle 3.3 cm. long, nearly as
wide, the slender branches stiffly ascending or spreading, the axis and axils pilose;
spikelets 1.5-1.6 mm. long, 0.8 mm. wide, sparsely pilose; first glume 0.5 mm.
long, triangular, 1-nerved; second glume and sterile lemma equal, just covering
the fruit; fruit 1.4 mm. long, 0.7 mm. wide, elliptic, acute, straw-colored, shining,
minutely striate.
Panicum boliviense Hack. Repert. Sp. Nov. Fedde 11: 19. 1912.
P. schiedeanum Mez, Bot. Jahrb. Engler 56: Beibl. 125: 4. 1921.
River banks and moist or wet thickets, forests, and fields,
usually at low altitudes, but occurs up to 1,000 meters; Pete"n; Alta
Verapaz; Izabal; Solola; Santa Rosa; Escuintla. British Honduras
(Temash River); Cuba; southern Mexico (Veracruz) to Argentina.
Perennial; culms as much as 1.5 meters long, decumbent-spreading, rooting
at the lower nodes, the nodes glabrous (rarely minutely pubescent) ; ligule a ciliate
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 243
membrane, about 0.5 mm. long; sheaths glabrous or papillose-hispid toward the
summit, the margins ciliate or nearly glabrous; blades 5-15 cm. long (rarely to
20 cm.), 7-20 mm. wide, acuminate, cordate at the base, glabrous on both surfaces,
the margins very scabrous; panicles 10-25 cm. long, loosely flowered, the branchlets
spreading, usually secund on the lower side of the ascending branches; spikelets
1.5-1.6 mm. long, glabrous, the first glume acute, about half the length of the
spikelet; fruit 1.4 mm. long, subacute.
Panicum breviramosum Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
29:419. 1950.
Known only from pine-clad slopes along stream, vicinity of
Nucapuxlac, Huehuetenango, 2,500 meters (Steyermark 48948, type).
Perennial(?); culms slender, straggling, branching, about 75 cm. long, gla-
brous; sheaths mostly shorter than the internodes, glabrous, the collar densely
pubescent; ligule an erose membrane 0.2 mm. long; blades 4-10 cm. long, 4-9
mm. wide, acuminate, sparsely papillose-hispid with a tuft of long hairs just
above the ligule, the margins scabrous; panicles 4.5-5.5 cm. long, with a few
ascending, densely flowered branches, the lowermost 1-1.5 cm. long, scabrous;
spikelets 2 mm. long, glabrous; first glume 0.5-1 mm. long; second glume and
sterile lemma equal, obtuse, covering the fruit; fruit 1.9 mm. long, 1.2 mm. wide,
elliptic, straw-colored, sparsely pilose.
Panicum bulbosum H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 99. 1815. P.
avenaceum H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 99. 1815. P. maximum
bulbosum Vasey in Wheeler, Rep. U. S. Surv. 100th Merid. 6: 295.
1878. Maiz de cuevo.
Brushy slopes, about 2,100 meters; Solola; Chimaltenango.
New Mexico; Arizona; Mexico; Colombia; Ecuador.
Perennial; culms as much as 2 meters tall, erect, the lowest internode short,
thickened into a hard corm-like base; lower sheaths overlapping, the upper ones
shorter than the internodes, usually glabrous; blades 25-60 cm. long, 3-12 mm.
wide, scabrous above, glabrous beneath; panicles 20-50 cm. long, the branches
relatively stout, ascending or spreading; spikelets 3.5-4.2 mm. long, somewhat
crowded on the branchlets; first glume one-half to two-thirds as long as the
spikelet, subacute; second glume and sterile lemma subequal, or the glume
shorter, exposing the transversely rugose fruit.
Panicum cayennense Lam. Tabl. Encycl. 1: 173. 1791. P.
pedunculare Willd. ex Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 77. 1854. P. cayen-
nense patulum Doell in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2 (2) : 220. 1877.
Common in wet stream-bed, San Agustin, El Cayo District,
British Honduras. Not known from Guatemala. Wet savannas
and moist ground along roads and waste places; southern Mexico
and the West Indies to Panama and northern South America.
244 FIELDIANA: BOTANY VOLUME 24
Annual; culms 20-75 cm. high, usually erect, simple or sometimes much
branched at the base; sheaths densely papillose-hispid, the hairs ascending or
spreading; ligule ciliate, 1-1.5 mm. long; blades 12-20 cm. long, 5-8 mm. wide
(smaller in depauperate specimens), linear-lanceolate, sparsely to rather densely
papillose-pilose, the margins very scabrous; panicles terminal and axillary, 8-20
cm. long, the branches and branchlets divergent, becoming implicate, few-flowered;
spikelets about 2.2 mm. long, obovoid, strongly nerved, the first glume acute,
half as long as the spikelet; fruit 1.7 mm. long.
Panicum cayoense Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29: 418.
1950.
Limestone hills at San Agustin, Mountain Pine Ridge, El Cayo
District, British Honduras (Lundell 6809, type).
Perennial; culms apparently erect, 105 cm. high, sparingly branching, densely
villous; sheaths densely hispidulous to papillose-hispid, the uppermost smooth,
the lower ones longer, the upper ones shorter than the internodes; ligule a ciliate
membrane 0.5 mm. long; blades 10-16 cm. long, 15-21 mm. wide, acuminate,
softly pubescent, almost velvety, on both surfaces; panicles about 21 cm. long,
partly enclosed in the sheath, the branches stiffly ascending, scabrous, bearing
short appressed branchlets from near the base; spikelets 2.3-2.5 mm. long, evenly
spaced on the branches, not clustered, glabrous; first glume one-fourth as long
as the spikelet, broadly acute, nerveless; second glume and sterile lemma sub-
equal, pointed beyond the fruit; fruit 2 mm. long, 1 mm. wide, acutish, densely
villous with silky hairs on the palea and margins of the lemma, the back of the
lemma glabrous or nearly so.
Panicum chamaelonche Trin. Gram. Pan. 242. 1826.
Pineland; British Honduras (Belize District). Not known from
Guatemala. Southeastern United States; Cuba.
Perennial; culms slender, densely tufted, erect or ascending, 8-30 cm. tall,
glabrous; ligule very short; blades 3-5 cm. long, 2-3 mm. wide, often involute-
pointed; panicles usually 2-3 cm. long, the axis and stiffly spreading branches
flexuous; spikelets 1.1 mm. long, long-pedicellate, glabrous. Autumnal phase
freely branching, forming dense cushions, the blades much reduced, becoming
involute.
Panicum cyanescens Nees ex Trin. Gram. Pan. 202. 1826.
Moist or wet places along streams, margins of ponds, and wet
savannas; probably to be found in Guatemala. British Honduras
(El Cayo and Belize districts) ; southern Mexico (Chiapas) ; Colombia
to French Guiana, Peru, and Brazil.
Perennial; culms erect, densely tufted, 30-50 cm. high, simple or sparingly
branching, the internodes relatively short, subequal; sheaths about half as long
as the internodes; blades 3-6 cm. long, 2-6 mm. wide, glaucous, ascending or
appressed, smooth or scaberulous; panicles 4-10 cm. long, as much as 10 mm.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 245
wide; spikelets 1.5 mm. long, subglobose, glabrous, the first glume rounded or
subacute, about two-thirds as long as the spikelet.
Panicum elephantipes Nees ex Trin. Gram. Pan. 206. 1826.
In water, near mouth of Rio Polochic, Alta Verapaz. West
Indies; Colombia to British Guiana, Brazil, and northern Argentina.
Succulent aquatic perennial; culms elongate, decumbent-spreading, rooting
at the nodes, as much as 2 cm. thick, the lower internodes relatively short, sub-
equal; sheaths inflated, glabrous; ligule a dense line of hairs 1-2 mm. long; blades
flat, elongate, 5-20 mm. wide, acuminate, scabrous above; panicles as much as
40 cm. long, nearly as broad at maturity, the branches elongate with short,
appressed branchlets; spikelets 4-5 mm. long, glabrous; first glume triangular,
acute, about one-fourth as long as the spikelet; second glume and sterile lemma
equal, acuminate, as long as the acuminate fruit.
Panicum fasciculatum Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 22. 1788.
P. chartaginense Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 22. 1788. P. fuscum
Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 23. 1788. P. reticulatum Griseb.
Abh. Wiss. Gott. 7: 264. 1857.
Moist ground, fields, and waste places; Pete"n; Alta Verapaz;
Izabal; Zacapa; Escuintla; Solola; Huehuetenango; undoubtedly to
be found in other departments. Florida; Texas; Mexico and the
West Indies to Ecuador and Brazil.
Annual; culms slender, branching, erect or decumbent at the base, glabrous
or papillose-hispid, 15 cm. to as much as 1 meter long; sheaths papillose or papil-
lose-hispid, especially on the margins; blades 5-25 cm. long, 0.5-2 cm. wide,
glabrous or scaberulous, the margins scabrous; panicles 3-15 cm. long, rather
dense, the branches ascending to spreading; spikelets 2.5-3 mm. long, dark brown,
often tinged with purple, glabrous, the second glume and sterile lemma prominently
reticulate- veined; fruit pale, strongly transversely rugose, acute.
Panicum frondescens Meyer, Prim. Fl. Esseq. 56. 1818. P.
stoloniferum major Kunth, ReV. Gram. 2: 389. 1831. P. kegelii
Steud. Syn. PL Glum. 1: 65. 1854. Hymenachne frondescens Fourn.
Mex. PL 2: 36. 1886.
Moist ground in open forests, forest margins, and river banks;
Pete"n. British Honduras; southern Mexico; Lesser Antilles; Costa
Rica to northern Argentina.
Perennial; culms slender, ascending from a decumbent base, rooting at the
nodes, branching, sparsely pilose, 15-60 cm. long; sheaths much shorter than
the internodes, ciliate, more or less pilose in the throat, pubescent across the back
on the collar; blades lanceolate, acuminate, mostly 5-11 cm. long, 8-15 mm. wide,
narrowed at the more or less petiolate base, glabrous or minutely pubescent,
the margins scabrous; panicles 4-11 cm. long, the usually numerous crowded
246 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
densely flowered racemes 5-25 mm. long, finally spreading or even reflexed;
spikelets about 2.7 mm. long, crowded, spreading, glabrous, the first glume acute,
about one-third as long as the spikelet; fruit 1.5-1.6 mm. long, short-stipitate.
Panicum furtivum Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29:
421. 1950.
Thickets. Known only from the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes,
between Quetzal and Barillas, Huehuetenango, 1,600-2,000 meters
(Steyermark 49123, type).
Perennial; culms erect from a decumbent base, about 30 cm. long, papillose-
pilose, the upper part of the internodes glabrous or nearly so; sheaths longer or
shorter than the internodes, pilose or papillose-pilose, especially along the margins
and on the collar; ligule ciliate, about 0.5 mm. long; blades 3.5-4.5 cm. long,
rarely less, 6-12 mm. wide, ovate-lanceolate, acute, softly pubescent on both
surfaces, the whitish margins finely scabrous, papillose-ciliate toward the rounded
subcordate base; panicle 5 cm. long, about 4 cm. wide, partly enclosed in the
elongate upper sheath, the branches rather widely ascending, glabrous, more or
less glandular-spotted; spikelets 2-2.1 mm. long, 1 mm. wide, glabrous or very
sparsely pilose, tinged with purple; first glume one-third as long as the spikelet,
triangular, broadly acute or subobtuse; second glume and sterile lemma obtuse,
as long as the fruit, or the glume a little shorter, exposing the tip of the fruit;
fruit 1.8 mm. long, 1 mm. wide, broadly elliptic, subacute, minutely striate.
Panicum furvum Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29: 416.
1950.
Known only from the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, between
Nenton and Las Palmas, Huehuetenango, 800-1,200 meters (Steyer-
mark 51627, type).
Perennial; culms densely tufted, erect, 10-21 cm. high, glabrous, or sparsely
pilose near the bearded nodes; leaves mostly crowded at the base, one on the
mid-culm; sheaths rounded, glabrous, or with a few long hairs toward the base;
ligule ciliate, about 0.5 mm. long; blades 2-6.5 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide, glabrous,
sparsely papillose-ciliate toward the base; panicles 3.5-6 cm. long, long-exserted,
the branches narrowly ascending, the lowermost about 3 cm. long; spikelets
1.5-1.6 mm. long, glabrous, pale, tinged with purple; first glume 1.3-1.5 mm.
long, acute, broadly triangular, clasping, strongly 5-nerved; second glume and
sterile lemma subequal or the sterile lemma a little longer, gaping, strongly
5-nerved; fruit 1.6 mm. long, elliptic, acute, dark brown, smooth and shining.
Panicum fusiforme Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12:
222. 1909.
Sandy pine woods; British Honduras (Belize, Toledo, and El
Cayo districts) . Not known from Guatemala. Southeastern United
States; Cuba; Jamaica.
FIG. 75. Panicum geminatum. Plant, X H; two views of spikelet, and
floret, X 10.
247
248 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Perennial; culms tufted, erect or ascending, 30-50 cm. tall, the lower inter-
nodes softly hairy; blades 6-15 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide, acuminate, narrowly
ascending, glabrous or nearly so; panicle branches rather short, stiffly ascending;
spikelets 3-3.5 mm. long, fusiform, papillose- villous; first glume about 1.5 mm.
long, obtuse or subacute; second glume and sterile lemma nearly equal, exceeding
the fruit. Autumnal culms becoming branched and somewhat top-heavy, the
blades soon involute, the panicles reduced, partly hidden in the leaves.
Panicum geminatum Forsk. Fl. Aegypt. Arab. 18. 1775.
Figure 75.
Wet ground, ditches, often floating in margins of lakes at low
altitudes; Izabal; Jutiapa; Zacapa; Escuintla. Tropical regions of
both hemispheres.
Perennial; culms caespitose, spreading from a decumbent base, 25-85 cm. long,
succulent at least toward the base, smooth, shining; sheaths longer than the
internodes, more or less inflated; ligule ciliate, about 1 mm. long; blades 10-20
cm. long, 3-6 mm. wide, flat or loosely rolled, glabrous on the lower surface,
scaberulous on the upper, the margins glabrous or scabrous; panicle 12-30 cm.
long with 12-18 rather short erect or ascending racemes; spikelets 2-2.5 mm.
long, about 1.5 mm. wide, acute, the first glume 0.5 mm. long, clasping, truncate;
fruit strongly transversely rugose.
Panicum glutinosum Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 24. 1788.
A roadside weed at Coban, Alta Verapaz. Southern Mexico;
Costa Rica; Honduras; West Indies; Colombia to Brazil and Ar-
gentina. A common forest grass in tropical America.
Perennial; culms coarse, erect or decumbent at the base, sometimes stolon-
like, compressed, glabrous, as much as 2 meters long; sheaths usually longer than
the internodes, glabrous or sometimes pilose, densely villous on the collar; blades
15-50 cm. long, 15-25 mm. wide, acuminate, narrowed toward the base, glabrous
or sparsely pilose; panicles 15-30 cm. long, the verticillate branches ascending,
usually naked below, the branchlets and pedicels appressed; spikelets 3-3.5 mm.
long, obtuse, viscid; first and second glumes subequal, obtuse, a little shorter
than the spikelet; sterile lemma about as long as the fruit.
Panicum grande Hitchc. & Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
17: 529. /. 143, 1915. P. myrianthum Mez, Bot. Jahrb. Engler 56:
Beibl. 125: 3. 1921.
Swamps and swampy openings in woods, Izabal (Lago Izabal).
Honduras; Nicaragua; Costa Rica; Panama; Trinidad; Colombia;
Venezuela; Surinam; Brazil (Matto Grosso).
Stoloniferous perennial; culms 1.5-2 meters high, erect from a long decumbent
base, 1-2 cm. thick, simple or sparingly branched, the nodes densely appressed-
hirsute; sheaths mostly longer than the internodes, papery or somewhat succulent,
sparsely hispid at the throat; ligule membranaceous, about 2 mm. long; blades
of the midculm as much as 1 meter long, 6 cm. wide, the upper and lower ones
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 249
smaller, the margins serrulate; panicles 30-60 cm. long, 10-40 cm. wide, the axis
rather deeply furrowed, the branches stiffly ascending, naked at the base, the
lower ones whorled, mostly 20-30 cm. long; spikelets 2.5 mm. long, short-pedicel-
late, appressed to the branchlets, pointed, glabrous, the first glume acute, a little
more than half as long as the spikelet; fruit 1.8 mm. long, obovate, smooth and
shining.
Panicum guatemalense Swallen, Jour. Washington Acad. Sci.
23: 460. 1933.
Known only from Guatemala, the type from Santa Maria,
Quezaltenango, Weatherwax 1689.
Perennial; culms more than 75 cm. tall, scaberulous, sparsely papillose-pilose,
much branched above; sheaths glabrous, papillose or papillose-pilose, those of
the main culm much shorter than the internodes, those of the branches over-
lapping, the collar densely pubescent; blades flat, 7-12 cm. long, 4-10 mm. wide,
scaberulous, more or less papillose or papillose-pilose, densely pilose on the upper
surface at the very base, the white-cartilaginous margins distinctly scabrous;
ligule membranaceous, about 0.2 mm. long; panicle 10 cm. long, the branches
ascending or appressed, spikelet-bearing from the very base or nearly so; spikelets
glabrous, 2.2-2.4 mm. long, appressed, the pedicels shorter than the spikelets;
first glume obtuse, 0.5-1 mm. long; second glume and sterile lemma equal, en-
closing the fruit; fertile lemma 2 mm. long, shining, sparsely hairy toward the
summit.
Panicum hians Ell. Bot. S. C. & Ga. 1: 118. 1816. P. oblongi-
florum Desv. Opusc. 89. 1831. P. jejunum Trin. Me"m. Acad. St.
Pe"tersb. VI. Sci. Nat. 2 (1): 103. 1836.
Known in Guatemala only from the vicinity of Jalapa, Dept.
Jalapa, at about 1,360 meters, Standley 76607. Ditches, along
streams and lakes, and on wet savannas, southeastern United
States; southern Mexico; Honduras; Panama.
Perennial; culms tufted, simple or sparingly branching, erect or geniculate
and rooting at the lower nodes, as much as 70 cm. tall; sheaths shorter than the
internodes, keeled, glabrous; blades 5-15 cm. long, 1-5 mm. wide, glabrous, or
pilose on the upper surface toward the base; panicles 5-20 cm. long, the slender,
rather distant branches ascending or finally spreading or drooping, usually naked
in the lower half; spikelets 2.2-2.4 mm. long, clustered on the short appressed
branchlets, glabrous; first glume acute, about half as long as the spikelet; second
glume and sterile lemma subequal, about as long as the fruit, the sterile palea
becoming enlarged and indurate, expanding the spikelet.
Panicum hirsutum Swartz, Fl. Ind. Occ. 1: 173. 1797.
Moist ground or swamps near sea level; found in Guatemala
only on sandy seashore around Punta Palma, Izabal. West Indies;
southern Mexico to Ecuador; Brazil (Para).
250 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Perennial; culms robust, erect, 1-1.5 meters or more high; the nodes densely
appressed-pubescent; sheaths papillose or papillose-pilose, somewhat inflated;
ligule 4-5 mm. long, densely ciliate; blades 30-60 cm. long, 1.5-4 cm. wide,
glabrous or nearly so on both surfaces, the margins scabrous-serrate; panicles
as much as 45 cm. long, the branches narrowly ascending or somewhat spreading,
densely flowered, naked toward the base; spikelets 2 mm. long, acute, glabrous,
the first glume acute or subobtuse, about half as long as the spikelet.
Panicum hirticaule Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 308. 1830. P.
flabellatum Fourn. Bull. Soc. Bot. France II. 27: 293. 1880.
Dry ground, along railroads, and in waste places; Izabal; Zacapa.
Cuba; Haiti; Mexico to Panama and western South America to
Argentina.
Annual; culms 10-70 cm. tall, in small erect or ascending tufts, sparingly
branched, papillose-hispid, especially below the nodes; sheaths usually a little
shorter than the internodes, conspicuously papillose-hispid with spreading hairs;
ligule ciliate, about 1 mm. long; blades 8-25 cm. long, 4-10 mm. wide, lanceolate,
subcordate, sparsely to rather densely papillose-hispid, the margins scabrous
and often papillose-hispid-ciliate; panicles 5-15 cm. long, usually brown, the
rather slender ascending branches naked in the lower half; spikelets 2.5-3.3 mm.
long, acuminate or abruptly pointed, the first glume acute, one-half to two-thirds
as long as the spikelet; fruit 1.8-2 mm. long, smooth and shining.
Panicum hirtum Lam. Encycl. 4: 741. 1798.
Moist shady places in forests, British Honduras (Toledo and
Belize districts). Not known from Guatemala. Mexico (Oaxaca);
Trinidad; Colombia; Venezuela; British Guiana; Ecuador; Brazil.
Annual; culms appressed-pilose, becoming decumbent-spreading, rooting
at the nodes, the branches erect or ascending, 15-30 cm. long; sheaths much
shorter than the internodes, pilose; blades thin, cordate, 2-6 cm. long, 8-15 mm.
wide, sparsely pilose, the margins scabrous, papillose-ciliate toward the base;
panicles 5-7 cm. long, pyramidal, the branches spreading; spikelets 1.2-1.4 mm.
long, obliquely placed on the pedicels, papillose-hirsute, the hairs spreading.
Panicum ichnanthoides Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 30. 1886.
Dry sandy ground and rocky hillsides. British Honduras (Belize
District). Southern Mexico; Nicaragua.
Perennial; culms in large clumps, 1.5-2 meters tall, erect or decumbent at
the base, smooth and hard; sheaths shorter than the internodes, pubescent on
the margins; blades flat, elongate, 8-15 mm. wide, the upper surface scabrous,
sometimes villous at the base; panicle 20-40 cm. long, the long slender branches
ascending, naked at the base; spikelets 3.5-4.2 mm. long, glabrous; first glume
acuminate, more than half as long as the spikelet; second glume and sterile lemma
unequal, longer than the fruit, the glume acuminate, the lemma acute.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 251
Panicum incumbens Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29:
417. 1950.
Known only from cloud forest on top of Cerro Tixixi, Chiqui-
mula, about 1,500 meters (Steyermark 31573, type).
Perennial; culms 85 cm. long, decumbent-spreading, sparingly branching,
rather sparsely appressed-pilose; sheaths all longer than the internodes, papillose-
or papillose-hispid with spreading hairs; ligule membranaceous, ciliate, about
0.5 mm. long; blades 13-22 cm. long, 9-18 mm. wide, acuminate, scabrous
above, nearly smooth beneath, with thickened, white, sharply serrate-scabrous
margins; panicle 6 cm. long, few-flowered, the branches stiffly ascending, the
axis and branches scabrous and pilose; spikelets 2.9-3 mm. long, elliptic, acute,
glabrous; first glume one-sixth to one-third as long as the spikelet, subacute,
nerveless; second glume and sterile lemma equal, 5-7- nerved, slightly longer
than the fruit; fruit 2.6 mm. long, striate, very minutely transversely veined,
rather densely silky-villous.
Panicum lancearium Trin. Gram. Pan. 223. 1826.
Pine ridges, British Honduras (Belize District). Not known
from Guatemala. Southeastern United States; Cuba; Dominican
Republic.
Perennial; culms densely tufted, erect, 20-50 cm. high, minutely puberulent;
blades 2-6 cm. long, 3-7 mm. or commonly 4-5 mm. wide, usually glabrous above,
the white margins scabrous; panicles 3-6 cm. long; spikelets 2-2.1 mm. long,
asymmetrically pyriform, pubescent or sometimes glabrous; first glume obtuse,
clasping, smooth and shining. Autumnal culms geniculate-spreading, branching
from the middle and upper nodes, the branches, panicles, and blades crowded,
much reduced.
Panicum laxum Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 23. 1788.
Forests, brushy slopes, swampy meadows, margins of swamps,
and open banks, usually in moist places, from sea level to about
1,350 meters; Pete"n; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Zacapa; Chiquimula;
Jutiapa; Santa Rosa. British Honduras; Mexico and the West
Indies to Paraguay.
Perennial; culms geniculate-ascending or decumbent at the base and rooting
at the nodes, 15-100 cm. long, branching, glabrous; sheaths mostly shorter than
the internodes, nearly glabrous to papillose or papillose-hispid, especially near
the summit, with a dense pubescent line on the collar, the margins usually densely
ciliate; blades mostly 5-12 cm. long, sometimes longer, 5-10 mm. or rarely to
15 mm. wide, rounded or subcordate at the base, the lower surface nearly smooth,
the upper scaberulous, sometimes sparsely pilose, the margins usually scabrous;
panicle 5-30 cm. long, composed of several to many slender raceme-like branches,
the lower ones rather distant, spreading, the upper ascending, successively shorter;
branchlets secund on the lower side of the branches, densely flowered; spikelets
1-1.5 mm. long, the first glume about half as long.
252 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Panicum lepidulum Hitchc. & Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
15:75./. 64. 1910.
Cornfield, Guatemala (Guatemala City). Mexico.
Perennial; culms in small tufts, erect, 25-70 cm. tall, simple or sparingly
branching at the lower nodes; sheaths papillose-hispid .with ascending hairs,
mostly longer than the internodes; blades 7-30 cm. long, 5-10 mm. wide, flat,
sparsely papillose-pilose or nearly glabrous; terminal panicles long-exserted, as
much as 20 cm. long, the branches ascending, somewhat flexuous, the spreading
branchlets bearing a few spikelets toward the ends; spikelets 4-4.2 mm. long,
turgid, acuminate, glabrous, the first glume acuminate, about half as long as the
spikelet.
Panicum longiligulatum Nash, Bull. Torrey Club 26: 574.
1899.
Sandy pine woods, British Honduras (Belize District). Not
known from Guatemala. Southeastern United States; Dominican
Republic.
Perennial; culms 30-70 cm. tall, slender or rather stout, erect or ascending;
ligule 3 mm. long; blades 4-8 cm. long, 4-8 mm. wide, glabrous above, minutely
pubescent beneath; panicles 3-8 cm. long, the branches rather densely flowered,
ascending or spreading; spikelets 1.2 mm. long, pubescent; first glume about
one-third the length of the spikelet, subacute. Autumnal culms spreading or
reclining with usually numerous, rather crowded, reduced blades and panicles.
Panicum lundellii Swallen, Jour. Washington Acad. Sci. 28:
9. 1938.
Wet alluvial lowland, along Mahogany Creek, Mountain Pine
Ridge, El Cayo District, British Honduras (Lundell 6903, type).
Perennial, glaucous; culms coarse, erect, 2.5-3 meters tall, as much as 9 mm.
thick at the base, producing short rhizomes, glabrous; sheaths glabrous, or the
margins ciliate, mostly a little shorter than the long internodes, deeply tinged
with purple, especially near the nodes; ligule ciliate, about 2 mm. long; blades
firm, flat, narrowed toward the base, attenuate-pointed, 40-70 cm. long, 15-20 mm.
wide, glabrous, the margins hispid-serrate; panicle about 35 cm. long, the branches
narrowly ascending, naked in the lower half, as much as 15 cm. long; pedicels terete,
glabrous, 1-5 mm. long; spikelets 4-4.5 mm. long, glabrous, usually tinged with
purple; first glume rather abruptly acute or acuminate, 2.5-3 mm. long, 3-nerved;
second glume abruptly acuminate, 4-4.5 mm. long, 5-nerved; sterile lemma 3-3.5
mm. long, acute, 5-7-nerved, the nerves rather obscure especially toward the
base; fruit (immature) 2.5 mm. long, 0.9 mm. wide, elliptic, blunt, whitish.
Panicum maximum Jacq. Coll. Bot. 1: 76. 1786. P. poly-
gamum Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 24. 1788. P. laeve Lam. Tabl.
Encycl. 1: 172. 1791. P. jumentorum Pers. Syn. PI. 1: 83. 1805.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 253
P. trichocondylum Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1 : 74. 1854. Zacate; Zacatdn;
Guinea grass. Figure 76.
Fields and waste places, much cultivated for forage and escaping
up to 1,500 meters or more; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Jutiapa; Chiqui-
mula; Jalapa; Escuintla; Guatemala; Quezaltenango. Florida; West
Indies; Mexico to Ecuador and Brazil. Africa.
Perennial with stout rhizomes; culms usually in large clumps, 1-2.5 meters
high, erect or sometimes geniculate at the lower nodes, the nodes usually densely
hirsute; sheaths shorter than the internodes, papillose-hirsute or nearly glabrous;
ligule 4-6 mm. long, densely ciliate; blades elongate, 1-2 cm. wide, narrowed
toward the base, the margins very scabrous; panicles 20-45 cm. long, the branches
in rather distant whorls, ascending or spreading, somewhat drooping at maturity,
naked toward the base, pilose in the axils; spikelets 3 mm. long, acute, glabrous,
the first glume obtuse, about one-third as long as the spikelet; fruit 2.3-2.5 mm.
long, transversely rugose.
This is a very important forage grass in tropical countries. It is
rather variable in size and habit, but the different forms are scarcely
worthy of varietal rank. A native of Africa very early introduced
in America.
Panicum milleflorum Hitchc. & Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat.
Herb. 17:494./. 70. 1915.
Swamps. British Honduras (Manatee River, Belize District);
Panama to Brazil.
Perennial; culms erect or sometimes geniculate, as much as 2 meters high,
glabrous, the nodes pubescent; sheaths shorter than the internodes, sparsely
to rather densely papillose-pilose, densely pubescent on the collar; ligule obsolete
or nearly so; blades acuminate, 15-35 cm. long, 12-20 mm. wide, sparsely pilose,
the margins scabrous; panicles 25-45 cm. long, the axis papillose-pilose, the lower
branches in rather distant fascicles, ascending, with numerous short branchlets,
the upper ones simple, spreading; spikelets 1.3 mm. long.
Panicum molle Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 22. 1788.
Dry or moist, usually open ground, fields, and waste places;
Baja Verapaz; Izabal; Zacapa. Central Mexico and the West Indies
to Argentina.
Annual; culms 15-75 cm. long, erect or ascending, often geniculate and
rooting at the lower nodes, finely pubescent or pilose, especially below the densely
pubescent nodes; sheaths softly pubescent, usually shorter but often longer than
the internodes; ligule ciliate, about 1 mm. long; blades 5-25 cm. long, 6-20 mm.
wide, or sometimes those of the branches smaller, softly pubescent on both sur-
faces, the white firm margins scabrous; panicles 5-12 cm. long, the main axis and
rachis of the narrowly ascending racemes densely pubescent; spikelets 3.5-4 mm.
long, rather dense, usually brown or tinged with purple, abruptly pointed, densely
FIG. 76. Panicum maximum. Plant, X 1 A', two views of spikelet, and
floret, X 10.
254
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 255
pubescent, the first glume broad, acute, one-half to three-fourths as long as the
spikelets; fruit 2.5-3 mm. long, acute or apiculate, finely transversely rugose.
Panicum neuranthum Griseb. Cat. PL Cub. 232. 1866.
Edge of creek, near Salt Creek, British Honduras (O'Neill 8454) .
Not known from Guatemala. Southeastern United States; Bahamas;
Cuba.
Similar to P. arenicoloides; plants glabrous or nearly so; panicles 5-9 cm.
long, the branches narrowly ascending, the branchlets appressed; spikelets 2 mm.
long, obovate, the first glume about one-third as long as the spikelet; second
glume and sterile lemma equal, about as long as the fruit. Autumnal phase with
erect culms, the blades involute, not much reduced.
Panicum nitidum Lam. Tabl. Encycl. 1: 172. 1791. P.
dichotomum nitidum Wood, Class-book ed. 3. 786. 1861. P. mul-
tirameum Scribn. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Circ. 19: 2. 1900.
P. subbarbulatum Scribn. & Merr. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost.
Circ. 29: 9. 1901.
Swamps and open banks, 1,300-1,350 meters; Alta Verapaz.
Southeastern United States; southern Mexico; Bahamas; Cuba;
Dominican Republic; Jamaica.
Perennial; culms at first erect, 30 cm. to as much as 1 meter long, the nodes
retrorsely bearded; sheaths much shorter than the internodes, usually glandular-
mottled; blades 5-12 cm. long, 5-10 mm. wide, glabrous, hispid-ciliate at the
rounded base; panicles 5-8 cm. long, the axis and branches viscid-spotted, the
branches ascending or spreading, often implicate; spikelets 2 mm. long, pubescent,
the first glume one-fourth to one-third as long as the spikelet. Autumnal phase
with long branches from the lower and middle nodes, these often repeatedly
branched forming flabellate clusters, the blades and panicles much reduced.
The three specimens from Guatemala (Standley 92838, Steyer-
mark 43942, and Tuerckheim II 1322) have been referred heretofore
to P. multirameum Scribn., along with specimens from southern
Mexico. The type of P. multirameum was collected on dry hills,
near Jalapa, Veracruz, Mexico (Pringle 7882). It is a plant in the
autumnal phase with rather dense, clustered branches, the character
used to distinguish this species from P. nitidum. The character is
probably a result of the habitat or conditions under which the plant
was growing. There are no other correlated characters.
Panicum olivaceum Hitchc. & Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
15:225./. 234. 1910.
Open pine woods, thickets, and roadsides, mostly 1,000-2,000
meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Huehuetenango. British Honduras
(Toledo and El Cayo districts) ; southern Mexico to Venezuela.
256 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Perennial; culms 20-40 cm. high, erect or spreading at the base, softly ap-
pressed-villous, the nodes bearded; sheaths mostly shorter than the internodes,
velvety-pilose with spreading hairs; ligule ciliate, 3-4 mm. long; blades 4-7 cm.
long, 5-8 mm. wide, the uppermost reduced, stiffly ascending or spreading, rather
densely softly pubescent on the lower surface, pubescent or villous on the upper,
the margins scabrous; panicles 3-7 cm. long, the axis pilose; spikelets 1.9-2 mm.
long, pubescent, the first glume subacute, one-fourth to one-third as long as the
spikelet; fruit 1.6 mm. long. Autumnal phase decumbent-spreading, freely
branching from the upper and middle nodes, the reduced branches appressed,
the blades 1-2 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide.
Panicum paludivagum Hitchc. & Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat.
Herb. 15:32./. 13. 1910.
Edges of swamps and. lake shores; Alta Verapaz (Panzos);
Sacatepe"quez (Laguna Amatitlan); Izabal (Lago Izabal). Florida;
Texas; Mexico (Jalisco and Michoacan) ; Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul) ;
Uruguay; Paraguay; Argentina.
Succulent, aquatic perennial; culms creeping at the base, rooting at the nodes,
branching, as much as 2 meters long; sheaths somewhat inflated, papery, glabrous;
blades 15-40 cm. long, acuminate, conduplicate at the base, scabrous above;
panicles 15-35 cm. long, the racemes erect, the lower ones distant, as much as
3 cm. long; spikelets 2.8-3 mm. long, appressed, ovate, acute, glabrous; first
glume about one-fourth as long as the spikelet, truncate, nerveless, papery;
second glume obtuse, one-half to two-thirds as long as the spikelet; sterile lemma
acute, about as long as the fruit; fruit acute, more or less rugose.
Panicum pampinosum Hitchc. & Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat.
Herb. 15:66./. 48. 1910.
Brushy or rocky slopes, up to about 900 meters; Zacapa; Chi-
quimula; Jutiapa. New Mexico and Arizona; Mexico (Sonora;
Chihuahua; Durango; Guanajuato; Puebla).
Annual; similar in habit to P. hirticaule Presl; culms as much as 40 cm. tall,
usually shorter; panicles long-exserted, 6-15 cm. long, the branches solitary,
relatively stout, very stiffly ascending; spikelets 4-4.5 mm. long, glabrous; first
glume usually more than three-fourths as long as the spikelet, acute or acuminate;
second glume and sterile lemma acuminate, much exceeding the fruit; fruit
2.2 mm. long.
Panicum parcum Hitchc. & Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
15: 68. 1910.
Damp thickets; region of El Tablon, Jutiapa, 850-900 meters.
Central Mexico; Nicaragua.
Annual; culms usually erect, 20-100 cm. tall, simple or sparingly branching,
glabrous; sheaths papillose-hispid to nearly glabrous; blades linear, 10-30 cm.
long, 2-8 mm. wide, flat, papillose-hispid, the margins ciliate; panicles as much
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 257
as 40 cm. long, rather fragile, the long, more or less flexuous branches solitary
or sometimes in pairs, ascending, the secondary branchlets bearing one or two
spikelets; spikelets 5-6 mm. long, glabrous; first glume acuminate, about half
as long as the spikelet; second glume longer than sterile lemma, acuminate, both
exceeding the fruit.
Panicum parvifolium Lam. Tabl. Encycl. 1: 173. 1791.
River banks, margins of ponds, and wet open places; British
Honduras (El Cayo District). Not known from Guatemala. Costa
Rica; West Indies; Venezuela to Surinam, Brazil, and Argentina
(Misiones). Africa.
Perennial; culms very slender, freely branching, decumbent at the base and
rooting at the lower nodes; sheaths much shorter than the internodes, pilose with
stiffly ascending or spreading hairs; blades glaucous, mostly 1.5-2.5 cm. long,
2-4 mm. wide, often pilose; panicles 2-4 cm. long, nearly as broad, the branches
spreading, rather few-flowered; spikelets long-pedicellate, 1.5 mm. long, the first
glume broad, subacute, two-thirds as long as the spikelet.
Panicum parviglume Hack. Oesterr. Bot. Zeitschr. 51: 429.
1901.
Damp forests, openings in forest, occasionally in open places,
mostly 1,400-2,000 meters; Chiquimula; Guatemala; Quezaltenango.
British Honduras; southern Mexico; Costa Rica.
Perennial; culms erect or ascending, as much as 1 meter tall, papillose-pilose;
sheaths usually longer than the internodes, papillose-pilose or papillose-hispid,
densely so on the collar; blades lanceolate, acuminate, usually pubescent or pilose,
strongly scabrous on the upper surface and on the margins; panicles 12-25 cm.
long, the branches rather stiffly ascending, scabrous, the lower ones naked in the
lower half, the branchlets appressed; spikelets 2 mm. long, glabrous; first glume
one-fifth to one-fourth as long as the spikelet; second glume and sterile lemma
equal, somewhat pointed beyond the fruit.
Panicum patulum (Scribn. & Merr.) Hitchc. Rhodora 8: 209.
1906. P. nashianum patulum Scribn. & Merr. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div.
Agrost. Circ. 27: 9. 1900. P. lancearium var. patulum Fernald,
Rhodora 36: 80. 1934.
Tropical pineland, near Boomtown, Belize District, British
Honduras (O'Neill 8430). Not known from Guatemala. South-
eastern United States; Hispaniola.
Perennial; similar to P. lancearium; culms more slender, usually geniculate-
decumbent, 10-50 cm. long; blades lax and rather thin, pubescent on both sur-
faces or obscurely pubescent above; spikelets thicker, the second glume and sterile
lemma densely papillose-pubescent. Autumnal phase freely branching from all
the nodes, the blades and panicles much reduced.
258 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Panicum pilosum Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 22. 1788. P.
distichum Lam. Encycl. 4: 731. 1798. P. trichophorum Schrad. ex
Schult. Mant. 2: 247. 1824. P. densiflorum Willd. ex Spreng. Syst.
Veg. 1:320. 1825.
Swamps, lake shores, wet open ground and open woods, some-
times a weed in gardens and along roadsides, at low altitudes up to
350 meters; Pete"n; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Suchitepe"quez; probably
also occurs in other departments. Mexico and the West Indies
to Argentina.
Perennial; culms erect or decumbent at the base and rooting at the lower
nodes, 25-60 cm. or sometimes as much as 1 meter long, branching, the nodes
bearded or sometimes nearly glabrous; sheaths longer than the internodes, the
margins papillose-ciliate at least toward the summit; ligule wanting; blades
lanceolate, 5-20 cm. long, 6-10 mm. wide (rarely as much as 15 mm.), widest
at the cordate base, glabrous on the lower surface, sparsely hispid on the upper,
the margins scabrous; panicles erect, 8-15 cm. long, the branches simple, 1-4
cm. long, usually stiffly and abruptly spreading, the rachis papillose-hispid, the
hairs sometimes sparse; spikelets 1.3-1.5 mm. long, crowded.
Panicum polycaulon Nash, Bull. Torrey Club 24: 200. 1897.
In tropical pineland, three miles west of Boomtown, Belize
District, British Honduras (O'Neill 8480). Not known from
Guatemala. Florida; Alabama; Mississippi; Cuba; Puerto Rico.
Very similar to Panicum strigosum and easily confused with it; panicle axis
and branches less conspicuously hairy; spikelets larger, 1.5-1.6 mm. long, more
obovate.
Panicum polygonatum Schrad. in Schult. Mant. 2: 256. 1824.
Setaria polygonata Kunth, ReV. Gram. 1: 47. 1829. P. pilosum
polygonatum Doell in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2(2): 211. 1877. P. bourgaei
Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 25. 1886.
Moist river banks, lake shores, and openings in forests; some-
times a weed in cultivated places; Alta Verapaz; Izabal. British
Honduras (Toledo and El Cayo districts); southern Mexico to
Paraguay.
Perennial; culms slender, widely decumbent-spreading, branching, the nodes
pubescent, rooting at the lower nodes, the internodes usually rather short; sheaths
shorter than the internodes, glabrous, the margins ciliate; ligule about 0.3 mm.
long, membranaceous, erose; blades rather thin, cordate, mostly 5-8 cm. long,
5-10 mm. (rarely 15 mm.) wide, glabrous or sparsely pilose; panicles 6-15 cm.
long, the usually numerous branches ascending, the branchlets appressed or
spreading, mostly on the lower side of the branches; spikelets 1.5 mm. long,
glabrous.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 259
Panicum pseudopubescens Nash, Bull. Torrey Club 26: 577.
1899. P. villosissimum var. pseudopubescens Fernald, Rhodora 36:
79. 1934.
Dry oak woods, about Laguna de Ocubila, east of Huehueten-
ango, Dept. Huehuetenango, about 1,900 meters (Standley 82670).
Eastern United States.
Similar to P. villosissimum; culms stiffer; hairs on the culms and sheaths
shorter, ascending or appressed; blades firmer, less densely hairy on the upper
surface; spikelets 2.2-2.4 mm. long. Autumnal phase stiffly spreading, branching
from the lower and middle nodes.
Panicum pulchellum Raddi, Agrost. Bras. 42. 1823. P.
leptostachyum Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 311. 1830. Hymenachne lepto-
stachya Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 36. 1886. Almari (Izabal).
Moist or wet thickets, brushy slopes and forests, rarely in open
ground, up to about 1,400 meters; Pete"n; Alta Verapaz; Izabal;
Santa Rosa; Quezaltenango. British Honduras; Martinique;
southern Mexico to Bolivia and Brazil.
Perennial, though often appearing like an annual; culms 15-75 cm. long,
slender, rather delicate, decumbent at the base and rooting at the lower nodes,
the branches ascending or erect, the nodes pubescent; sheaths much shorter than
the internodes, more or less pilose, the margins ciliate; blades thin, ovate-lance-
olate, asymmetrical, subcordate, 1.5-5 cm. long, 8-18 mm. wide, pilose or nearly
glabrous; panicles 3-14 cm. long, the racemes 5-15 mm. long, rather stiffly spread-
ing or reflexed, rather distant or approximate; spikelets 2 mm. long, turgid, pilose,
the hairs longer near the margins; first glume acute, about one- third the length
of the spikelets, the sterile lemma with two conspicuous crateriform glands;
fruit 1.3 mm. long.
Panicum purpurascens Raddi, Agrost. Bras. 47. 1823. P.
barbinode Trin. Mem. Acad. St. Pe"tersb. VI. Sci. Nat. 1: 256. 1834.
Figure 77.
Moist or wet ground, sometimes growing in water, usually at low
altitudes; Jutiapa; Escuintla; San Marcos. British Honduras;
throughout tropical and subtropical America.
Stoloniferous perennial; culms as much as 6 meters long, coarse, decumbent
at the base and rooting at the lower nodes, often geniculate, the nodes densely
villous; sheaths mostly longer than the internodes, papillose or papillose-pilose,
densely pubescent on the collar; ligule ciliate, 0.5-1 mm. long; blades 10-25 cm.
long, 8-15 mm. wide, acuminate, the margins strongly scabrous; panicles 10-20
cm. long with several solitary or fascicled spreading racemes; spikelets 3 mm. long,
glabrous, pointed, the first glume 1 mm. long, acute, the pedicels bearing a few
long stiff hairs below the spikelets; fruit about 2.5 mm. long, obtuse, minutely
transversely rugose.
260 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
This species, commonly known as Para grass, is widely cultivated
for forage. In tropical America it is the most important grass used
for this purpose. A native of Africa, it was introduced in Brazil and
other American countries. It probably occurs in other departments,
although there are definite records only from three, Jutiapa, San
Marcos, and Escuintla.
Panicum ramiparum Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29:
423. 1950.
Moist brushy slopes, 1,530 meters, Quezaltenango (Santa Maria
de Jesus, Standley 66829); Santa Maria, south of Quezaltenango
(Weatherwax 160, type).
Perennial; culms erect, or decumbent at the base, 55-60 cm. tall, sparsely
to rather densely pilose or papillose-pilose, the nodes bearded; sheaths mostly
shorter than the internodes, densely pilose with spreading hairs, the margins
rather conspicuously ciliate; ligule ciliate, 0.5 mm. long; blades mostly 5-9 cm.
long, 7-13 mm. wide, lanceolate-acuminate, sparsely pubescent on both surfaces
with long hairs on the upper surface at the base; panicles 7-9 cm. long, 3-6 cm.
wide, the branches stiffly ascending, or the upper spreading, glabrous, very
sparsely and obscurely glandular-spotted; spikelets 2.2-2.4 mm. long, glabrous;
first glume about 0.8 mm. long; second glume and sterile lemma obtuse, the glume
as long as the fruit, the sterile lemma a little shorter; fruit 1.8 mm. long, 1 mm.
wide, elliptic, acutish, white, minutely striate.
Panicum reptans L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 2: 870. 1759.
Open moist ground, cultivated fields, and waste places; Pete"n
(El Paso); Santa Rosa (Guazacapan) . Florida to Texas; eastern
Mexico; Nicaragua; West Indies; northern South America; tropics
of the Eastern Hemisphere.
Annual; culms decumbent-spreading, freely branching, the ascending branches
10-30 cm. tall; blades flat, cordate, acuminate, 1.5-6 cm. long, 4-12 mm. wide,
the undulate white margins ciliate toward the base; panicles 2-6 cm. long, the
branches stiffly ascending or spreading, 1-3 cm. long; spikelets 2 mm. long, the
first glume short, rounded or truncate.
This species has been considered native in America. Because
of its weedy character, however, it may have been introduced from
the tropics of the Old World, where it is common.
Panicum rudgei Roem. & Schult. Syst. Veg. 2: 444. 1817.
P. scoparium Rudge, PI. Guian. 1: 21. 1805. Not P. scoparium
Lam., 1798. P. rudgei brasiliense Raddi, Agrost. Bras. 48. 1823.
P. dasytrichum Spreng. Syst. Veg. 1: 317. 1825. P. rhigiophyllum
Steud. Syn. PL Glum. 1: 76. 1854. P. cayennense divaricatum Doell
in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2 (2): 220. 1877.
FIG. 77. Panicum purpurascens. Plant, X
floret, X 10.
; two views of spikelet and
261
262 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Dry ridge north of Quirigua, Izabal. British Honduras (Toledo
District). Dry fields, brushy slopes, and savannas, southern
Mexico (Tabasco), Jamaica and Trinidad to Bolivia and Brazil.
Perennial; culms 40-110 cm. high, erect, rather coarse, appressed papillose-
hispid especially below the nodes; sheaths longer or shorter than the internodes,
densely papillose-hispid with appressed or spreading hairs; ligule ciliate, about
1 mm. long; blades 15-40 cm. long, 5-10 mm. wide, thick and firm, ascending,
gradually acuminate, densely hirsute or nearly glabrous; panicles terminal and
axillary from the upper sheaths, included at the base, overlapping, the branches
spreading, implicate, pilose in the axils; spikelets 3.5 mm. long, pointed, somewhat
attenuate at the base, sparsely hirsute, the first glume acuminate, two-thirds
as long as the spikelet; fruit 2.1 mm. long, smooth and shining.
Panicum schiffneri Hack. Ergeb. Bot. Exped. Akad. Wiss.
Sudbras. 11. 1906.
Damp rocky thickets, forests, and banks, often clambering in
brush, about 1,350 meters; Pete"n; Alta Verapaz; Jalapa; San Marcos.
Southern Mexico and the West Indies to Brazil.
Perennial; culms mostly 1-2 meters, sometimes as much as 3 meters long,
straggling or clambering, rather woody, freely branching, rooting at the nodes,
retrorsely ..pilose, especially below the nodes, or sometimes nearly glabrous;
sheaths much shorter than the internodes, pilose or papillose-pilose; blades 5-15
cm. long, 1-2.5 cm. wide, lanceolate, acuminate, somewhat asymmetrical, sparsely
pilose, the margins scabrous; panicles pyramidal, 10-15 cm. long, nearly as wide,
the branches ascending to spreading, at least some of the branches naked at the
base; spikelets 1.5 mm. long, elliptic, densely clustered on the short branchlets,
glabrous; first glume minute, nerveless; fruit 1.5 mm. long, sparsely pilose with
long silky hairs.
Panicum schmitzii Hack. Ann. Naturhist. Hofmus. Wien 17:
254. 1902.
Dry upper banks, Volcan Tajumulco, San Marcos, 2,300-2,800
meters. Southern Mexico.
Perennial; culms wiry, ascending from a creeping base, rather freely branching,
glabrous, the nodes pubescent; sheaths usually shorter than the internodes,
pubescent toward the summit; blades 6-11 cm. long, 7-19 mm. wide, lanceolate,
somewhat falcate, acuminate, rounded at the base, sparsely papillose-hispid;
panicles 3-8 cm. long, the few solitary branches stiffly ascending, naked at the
base; spikelets 1.8 mm. long, glabrous, crowded on the short appressed branchlets;
first glume about one-fifth as long as the spikelet, triangular, subacute; fruit
1.5 mm. long, sparsely covered with rather long appressed hairs.
Panicum sellowii Nees, Agrost. Bras. 153. 1829. P. lasianthum
Trin. Gram. Icon. 3: pi. 245. 1830. P. puberulum Trin. Me"m. Acad.
St. P<tersb. VI. Sci. Nat. 1: 277. 1834.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 263
Brushy slopes, open forests, moist banks, and shady ravines,
from near sea level to about 1,000 meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal;
Quezaltenango; Huehuetenango; San Marcos. British Honduras;
southern Mexico (Veracruz) and the West Indies to Paraguay and
Argentina (Misiones).
Perennial; culms 60 cm. to more than 1 meter long, branching, straggling,
rooting at the lower nodes; sheaths glabrous or papillose-pilose, the margins
ciliate at least toward the summit, the collar densely pubescent; blades 4-15 cm.
long, 10-30 cm. wide, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, usually asymmetrical, sparsely
pilose or more or less softly pubescent, the margins very scabrous; panicles 10-20
cm. long, the branches ascending or spreading, naked in the lower half or two-
thirds, densely pilose in the axils; spikelets appressed to the branchlets, appear-
ing more or less clustered on the branches, 2 mm. long, obovate, obtuse, glabrous
or sparsely papillose-hispid; first glume rather narrow, acute or subobtuse, a
little more than one-half to three-fourths as long as the spikelet.
Panicum sphaerocarpon Ell. Bot. S. C. & Ga. 1: 125. 1816.
P. dichotomum sphaerocarpum Wood, Class-book ed. 3. 786. 1861.
P. microcarpon sphaerocarpon Vasey, Grasses U. S. 12. 1883.
Open woods, slopes, ravines, and fields, up to 2,500 meters; Alta
Verapaz; Izabal; Zacapa; Jalapa; Guatemala; Chimaltenango;
Suchitepe"quez; Quezaltenango. British Honduras (El Cayo Dis-
trict) ; eastern United States; Cuba and eastern Mexico to Venezuela.
Perennial; culms 20-55 cm. high, in small tufts, erect or spreading, the nodes
appressed-pubescent; sheaths usually longer than the internodes, the margins
ciliate, otherwise glabrous, often viscid between the nerves, especially toward
the summit; ligule very short or obsolete; blades 4-10 cm. long, 5-15 mm. wide,
cordate, the white cartilaginous margins papillose-ciliate toward the base;
panicles 5-10 cm. long, long-exserted, loosely flowered, the axis, branches, and
pedicels viscid; spikelets subspherical, 1.6-1.8 mm. long, pubescent, or some-
times nearly glabrous; fruit 1.4-1.5 mm. long. Autumnal phase sparingly
branched, spreading, the blades and panicles not much reduced.
Panicum stagnatile Hitchc. & Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
17: 528. /. 141. 1915. P. bernoullianum Mez, Bot. Jahrb. Engler
56:Beibl. 125:3. 1921.
Swamps in vicinity of Puerto Barrios, Izabal (Hitchcock 9153).
Southern Mexico; Honduras; Panama (Canal Zone, Hitchcock 8388,
type).
Perennial; culms erect from a decumbent base, rooting at the lower nodes,
simple or sparingly branched, 1-2 meters long, the nodes glabrous or sparsely
pubescent; lower sheaths usually much shorter than the internodes, the upper
ones sometimes overlapping, the margins ciliate, more or less hispid at the throat;
ligule membranaceous, less than 1 mm. long; blades 20-25 cm. long, 1.5-3 cm. wide,
acuminate, gradually narrowed from below the middle, rounded at the base,
264 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
glabrous on both surfaces, the margins scabrous; panicles 20-40 cm. long, finally
exserted, the branches approximate, stiffly ascending, the lower ones 8-12 cm.
long, the branchlets stiffly divergent; spikelets 1.8 mm. long, short-pediceled,
acute, glabrous; first glume acute, one-third to one-half as long as the spikelet,
the second shorter than the fruit; fruit 1.6 mm. long, acute, the margins inrolled
only at the base.
Panicum stenodes Griseb. Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 547. 1864.
Borders of lakes and swamps and clearings in forests; Izabal
(Los Amates to Izabal, Blake 7749). Costa Rica; West Indies;
Colombia; Venezuela; British Guiana; Surinam; northern Brazil.
Similar in habit to P. tenerum; panicles solitary or fascicled from the upper
nodes, 1-2 cm. long, narrow, few-flowered,the short branches appressed; spikelets
1.4-1.6 mm. long, glabrous, the first glume half as long as the spikelet, blunt;
second glume and sterile lemma equal, scarcely longer than the fruit.
Panicum stenodoides Hubb. Amer. Acad. Proc. 49: 497. 1913.
Low pine ridge, Ycacos Lagoon, Toledo District, British Hon-
duras (Peck 681, type). Not known from Guatemala. Costa Rica;
Panama; Trinidad; Venezuela; Brazil.
Perennial; culms 20-40 cm. high, densely tufted, slender, erect, with slender
leafless panicle-bearing branches from the upper nodes; sheaths papillose-pilose
or nearly glabrous, the lowermost bladeless, becoming fibrous; ligule scarcely
0.5 mm. long, membranaceous, minutely ciliate; blades 3-8 cm. long, 1-2 mm.
wide, involute at least toward the tip, papillose-pilose or sometimes glabrous;
panicles about 1 cm. long, narrow, short-exserted, bearing 3-7 appressed spikelets;
spikelets 2-2.1 mm. long, attenuate at the base; first glume acute, about half as
long as the spikelet; fruit 1.7 mm. long.
Panicum stoloniferum Poir. in Lam. Encycl. Suppl. 4: 274.
1816.
Known in Guatemala only in the vicinity of Puerto Barrios,
Izabal (Pittier 364). IVJoist or wet forests, swamps, or low ground;
southern Mexico; Honduras; Martinique; Trinidad; Panama to
northern Argentina.
Perennial; culms very slender, decumbent-spreading, branching, rooting at
the lower nodes, 10-50 cm. long, the nodes pubescent or glabrous; sheaths usually
much shorter than the internodes, ciliate; blades 1-5 cm. long (rarely to 7 cm.),
3-15 mm. wide, glabrous or minutely pubescent; panicles 1-5 cm. long, with few
to several abruptly spreading racemes 5-10 mm. long; spikelets 2.5 mm. long,
the first glume acute, one-third to one-half as long as the spikelet; fruit 1.3 mm.
long.
Panicum strigosum Muhl. in Ell. Bot. S. C. & Ga. 1: 126. 1816.
P. laxiflorum pubescens Vasey, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 3: 30. 1892.
P. longipedunculatum Scribn. Bull. Tenn. Exp. Sta. 7: 53. 1894.
J SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 265
Sandy pine woods, ravines, and dry or moist open ground, up to
900 meters; Alta Verapaz. British Honduras (Toledo and El Cayo
districts); southern Mexico; Costa Rica; Panama; West Indies;
Colombia.
Perennial; culms in dense soft spreading tufts, mostly 10-20 cm. high; sheaths
glabrous, the margins ciliate; blades 2-5 cm. long, 3-6 mm. wide, thin, bright
green, sparsely pilose on the upper surface, conspicuously papillose-ciliate on
the margins; panicles 2-5 cm. long, the axis pilose, the branches stiffly ascending
or spreading; spikelets 1.3-1.5 mm. long, glabrous; first glume one-third to one-
half as long as the spikelet; fruit 1.3 mm. long.
Panicum tenerum Beyr. ex Trin. Me"m. Acad. St. Pe"tersb. VI.
Sci. Nat. 1: 341. 1834. P. anceps strictum Chapm. Fl. South. U. S.
573. 1860.
Margins of swamps and wet sandy land; Huehuetenango (Steyer-
mark 51536). British Honduras (Belize District); southeastern
United States; West Indies.
Perennial; culms in small tufts, erect, wiry, 40-90 cm. tall, simple or with
small panicles from the upper nodes; sheaths much shorter than the internodes,
glabrous, or the lower ones papillose-pilose; blades 4-15 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide,
erect, pilose on the upper surface toward the base; panicles 3-8 cm. long, bearing
short, appressed, densely flowered branches, the pedicels with a few hairs toward
the summit; spikelets 2.2-2.8 mm. long, pointed, glabrous; first glume clasping,
about half as long as the spikelet; second glume and sterile lemma equal, pointed
beyond the fruit.
Panicum transiens Swallen, Jour. Washington Acad. Sci. 21:
436. 1931.
Pine woods, 2,400-2,700 meters; El Progreso; Chimaltenango
(Chichavac). Mexico (Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas), the type from
Sierra de San Carlos, Tamaulipas (Bartlett 10454).
Perennial, culms erect, 40-70 cm. long, freely branching, pubescent or pilose;
sheaths papillose-pilose, densely pubescent on the collar, those of the main culm
shorter than the internodes, those of the branches much longer than the internodes;
blades 5-12 cm. long, 6-14 mm. wide, lanceolate, flat, pubescent on both surfaces,
the white scabrous margins papillose-ciliate toward the rounded base; ligule
densely ciliate, about 0.5 mm. long; panicles 8-15 cm. long, the branches rather
stiffly ascending or spreading; spikelets (except the terminal ones) short-pediceled,
appressed to the branches, 3.5-4 mm. long, pointed at the apex, attenuate at the
base, papillose-pubescent; first glume 2 mm. long, subacute, the margins somewhat
hyaline; second glume a little shorter than the spikelet exposing the fruit; sterile
lemma equaling the spikelet; fruit 3 mm. long, subacute, smooth and shining.
The two specimens from Guatemala (Skutch 524 and Steyermark
43443) are somewhat doubtfully referred to this species. In vegeta-
266 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
tive characters they are similar, but the spikelets are nearly glabrous,
with thinner second glume and sterile lemma, and broader, subobtuse
first glume. More material may prove this form to be a distinct
species.
Panicum trichanthum Nees, Agrost. Bras. 210. 1829. P. mi-
crospermum Fourn. ex Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Amer. Bot. 3: 492. 1885.
Damp thickets, swamps, river banks, and along trails in forests
from sea level to about 500 meters; Pete'n; Alta Verapaz; Izabal;
Escuintla. British Honduras; Mexico and the West Indies to
Paraguay.
Perennial; culms straggling or clambering, geniculate, branching, rooting
at the nodes, mostly 1-2 meters long; sheaths shorter than the internodes, glabrous,
often ciliate on the margins; blades 8-15 cm. long, 1-2 cm. wide, lanceolate,
acuminate, often asymmetrical, rounded or subcordate at the base, sparsely
pilose, more or less ciliate, at least near the base; panicles mostly 20-30 cm. long,
diffuse, the branches rather stiffly spreading or even reflexed at maturity, the
branchlets becoming implicate; spikelets 1.2-1.5 mm. long on long slender spread-
ing pedicels, glabrous; first glume about one-fifth as long as the spikelets.
Panicum trichoides Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 24. 1788.
P. capillaceum Lam. Tabl. Encycl. 1: 173. 1791. P. capillaceum
strictius Doell in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2 (2) : 249. 1877.
Stream bank, moist thickets and forests, common along trails,
sometimes a weed in cultivated ground, from sea level to about
1,000 meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Zacapa; Santa Rosa; Escuintla;
Quezaltenango; San Marcos. British Honduras; Mexico and the
West Indies to Peru and Brazil.
Annual; culms slender, freely branching, decumbent-spreading or creeping,
15-60 cm. long, the branches ascending; sheaths shorter than the internodes
or the upper ones overlapping, papillose-hispid with spreading hairs; blades 4-7
cm. long, 8-15 mm. wide, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, thin, more or less pilose,
the margins ciliate toward the base; panicles 5-20 cm. long, more or less included
in the upper sheath, the slender branches ascending or spreading, the branchlets
and pedicels of the spikelets capillary, divergent; spikelets 1.5 mm. long, sparsely
pilose or nearly glabrous, the fruit exposed at the summit; first glume about half
as long as the spikelet.
Panicum tuerckheimii Hack. Allg. Bot. Zeitschr. 12: 60. 1906.
Known in Guatemala only from the type locality, Cubilgiiitz,
Alta Verapaz (Tuerckheim 820, type). British Honduras (Toledo
District, Smart 41) ; Mexico (Veracruz, Santos 2467) .
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 267
Perennial; culms erect, as much as 1 meter tall, the nodes appressed-hispid ;
sheaths as long as or longer than the internodes; blades 10-30 cm. long, 1.5-2.5
cm. wide, acuminate, narrowed toward the base, the margins ciliate at the base;
panicles 15-30 cm. long, the branches rather distant, ascending, the lower ones
as much as 15 cm. long; spikelets 3 mm. long, acuminate, glabrous or sparsely
pilose, usually in pairs, the first subsessile, the second with a pedicel 2-3 mm. long;
first glume a minute nerveless scale; second glume and sterile lemma pointed
beyond the fruit; fruit 2.4 mm. long, with a minute tuft of hairs at the pointed
apex.
Panicum umbonulatum Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
29: 420. 1950.
Upper slopes of Sierra de Las Minas, along Rio Repollal, 2,100-
2,400 meters, Zacapa (Steyermark 42469, type). Honduras.
Perennial; culms decumbent-spreading, probably about 1 meter long, branch-
ing and rebranching, rooting at the lower nodes, papillose or papillose-pilose
to nearly glabrous; sheaths usually longer than the internodes, papillose or papil-
lose-pilose, rather densely pubescent across the back on the collar; ligule a very
short ciliate membrane about 0.5 mm. long; blades 5-10 cm. long, 3-8 mm. wide,
nearly glabrous, with a few long hairs on the upper surface at the base, the mar-
gins papillose-ciliate toward the base; panicles about 11 cm. long, 5-6 cm. wide,
purple, the branches rather stiffly ascending, more or less viscid-spotted, glabrous;
spikelets 2.4-2.5 mm. long, glabrous; first glume acute or subobtuse, about half
as long as the spikelet; second glume and sterile lemma equal, slightly pointed
beyond the fruit; fruit 2.1 mm. long, elliptic, acute, shining.
Panicum venezuelae Hack. Oesterr. Bot. Zeitschr. 51: 368.
1901.
Dry, rocky, brushy hillsides and thickets, about 1,100 meters;
Guatemala. Venezuela; Brazil.
Perennial; culms erect, or usually widely spreading, prostrate, or clambering
in brush, slender, 15 cm. to more than 1 meter long, the nodes rather densely
retrorsely bearded; sheaths shorter than the internodes, pilose at least on the
margins; blades 2-8 cm. long, 2-8 mm. wide, rarely wider, subacuminate, pubescent
or pilose on both surfaces, usually ciliate at the rounded base; inflorescence com-
monly 2-15 cm. long, the solitary, distant, raceme-like branches spreading or
reflexed, very short to as much as 4 cm. or even 6 cm. long; spikelets usually in
pairs, short-pedicellate, crowded on the branches or branchlets, 2.5-3 mm. long;
first glume half as long as the spikelet, acute, clasping; second glume and sterile
lemma subequal, much longer than the fruit, sparsely to rather densely pilose
or papillose-pilose, at least on the margins.
Panicum villosissimum Nash, Bull. Torrey Club 23: 149.
1896. P. dichotomum var. villosum Vasey, U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Bot.
Bull. 8: 31. 1889. P. atlanticum Nash, Bull. Torrey Club 24:
346. 1897.
268 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Pine oak forest; Baja Verapaz; Zacapa; Guatemala; Chimal-
tenango; Huehuetenango. Eastern United States; eastern Mexico
(Tamaulipas, Puebla); Honduras.
Perennial; culms erect or ascending, 20-45 cm. long, pilose with long, spread-
ing hairs; sheaths conspicuously pilose with long, spreading or reflexed hairs;
ligule 4-5 mm. long; blades 6-10 cm. long, 5-10 mm. wide, pilose or papillose-
pilose, the hairs rather stiff, longer and sparser on the upper surface; panicles 4-8
cm. long, the axis pilose, the branches ascending or spreading, few-flowered;
spikelets 2.2-2.3 mm. long, papillose-pubescent; first glume one-third to one-half
as long as the spikelet. Autumnal phase decumbent, becoming prostrate, the
fascicled branches usually appressed, the blades somewhat reduced.
Panicum viscidellum Scribn. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost.
Circ. 19: 2. 1900. P. reflexopilum Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 84. 1854.
Pine forests, damp thickets, and rocky hillsides up to about
1,350 meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Chiquimula; Jalapa; Solola;
Suchitepe"quez; Quezaltenango; San Marcos. British Honduras (El
Cayo District) ; southern Mexico to Colombia.
Perennial; culms 30-100 cm. long, ascending from a decumbent, spreading
or creeping base, simple at first but finally rather freely branching, softly villous
or nearly glabrous, the nodes usually bearded; sheaths mostly shorter than the
internodes, pilose or papillose-pilose, sometimes nearly glabrous; ligule densely
ciliate, 2-4 mm. long; blades 5-13 cm. long, 9-13 mm. wide, lanceolate, subcordate,
softly pubescent or villous on both surfaces; panicles 4-11 cm. long, rather densely
flowered, the branches ascending, spreading, or even reflexed, the branchlets
and pedicels spreading, implicate; spikelets 1.8-1.9 mm. long, sparsely pubescent
or nearly glabrous; first glume about one-third as long as the spikelet, subacute;
second glume and sterile lemma rather strongly nerved, slightly exceeding the
fruit; fruit 1.5 mm. long, abruptly pointed.
Panicum wrightianum Scribn. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost.
Bull. 11:44./. 4. 1898.
Pine ridges, British Honduras (Belize District). Not known
from Guatemala. Southeastern United States; Cuba.
Perennial; culms densely tufted, slender, spreading, becoming decumbent,
about 20 cm. tall or sometimes taller; ligule 2-3 mm. long; blades flat, 2-4 cm.
long, 2-4 mm. wide, minutely pubescent below, short-pilose to nearly glabrous
above, the margins scabrous; panicles 2-3 cm. long (or as much as 6 cm.), the
branches ascending; spikelets long-pedicellate, 1 mm. long, pubescent. Autumnal
phase bushy-branched with scarcely reduced blades and panicles.
Panicum xalapense H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 103. 1815.
P. ruprechtii Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 21. 1886.
Moist or wet forests, thickets, pine woods, open banks and dry
rocky hills, 900-2,300 meters or possibly higher; Alta Verapaz; Baja
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 269
Verapaz; Zacapa; Chiquimula; Suchitepe"quez; Quezaltenango; San
Marcos. Southeastern United States; eastern Mexico; Costa Rica;
Honduras; Cuba; Hispaniola.
Perennial; culms in small dense tufts, erect or spreading, mostly 10-30 cm.
tall; sheaths conspicuously retrorsely pilose; blades usually 4-12 cm. long, 3-8
mm. wide, pilose on both surfaces, the margins ciliate; panicles 2-6 cm. long,
the branches spreading or reflexed, relatively few-flowered; spikelets 1.9-2 mm.
long, obtuse; first glume about one-third the length of the spikelet; second glume
and sterile lemma papillose-pilose. Autumnal phase branching from the lower
nodes, the blades not much reduced.
Panicum zizanioides H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 100. 1815.
P. oryzoides Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 23. 1788. Not P. oryzoides
Ard. 1764. P. pseudoryzoides Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 75. 1854.
Acroceras oryzoides Stapf in Prain. Fl. Trop. Afr. 9: 622. 1920.
Moist woods, swamps, and open ground at low altitudes, Alta
Verapaz (Cubilgiiitz). Common, southern Mexico and the West
Indies to northern Argentina.
Perennial; culms 50 cm. to as much as 2 meters long, decumbent-spreading,
rooting at the nodes, the lower internodes short; sheaths mostly shorter than
the internodes, glabrous or papillose-hispid toward the summit, hispid in the
throat, the margins ciliate; ligule about 0.5 mm. long, membranaceous; blades
4-15 cm. long, 8-30 mm. wide, acuminate, cordate, the margins very scabrous;
panicles 10-25 cm. long, the few rather distant branches stiffly ascending or spread-
ing, nearly simple; spikelets paired, rather short-pedicellate, appressed, 5.5-6 mm.
long, glabrous; first glume broad, clasping, about two-thirds as long as the spikelet;
second glume and sterile lemma equal, laterally compressed and keeled at the
summit; fruit 4.7-5 mm. long, smooth and shining, laterally compressed at the
summit, forming a small crest.
PASPALUM L. 1
Spikelets plano-convex, solitary or in pairs, arranged in two rows on one side
of a narrow wingless to broadly winged rachis, the back of the fruit turned toward
the rachis; first glume wanting or present on some, occasionally on all of the
spikelets; second glume and sterile lemma equal, covering the fruit, or the glume
a little shorter, rarely wanting; fruit indurate, usually pale, sometimes dark
brown, smooth and shining or minutely striate, the margins of the lemma inrolled,
enclosing the palea.
Annuals or perennials with one to many racemes, these solitary, paired,
or racemose at the summit of the main culm and branches.
Species more than 400 in the tropics and warm temperature
regions of both hemispheres; especially abundant in Brazil.
1 Key adapted from Agnes Chase, The North American Species of Paspalum,
Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 28 (1). 1929.
270 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Rachis membranaceous or foliaceous, mostly broad and winged.
Spikelets clothed with long silky hairs or conspicuously fringed with long
hairs.
Second glume broadly winged; sterile lemma fringed with long hairs; glume
cordate at base P. pectinatum.
Second glume not winged; sterile lemma inconspicuously fringed.
Rachis brightly colored, the margins golden to rufous; spikelets solitary.
P. stellatum.
Rachis dull, greenish, purplish, or brown; spikelets paired or solitary.
Rachis 4-5 mm. wide; culms robust, clambering; racemes usually more
than 8 P. trachycoleon.
Rachis not more than 3 mm. wide; plants not robust and clambering;
racemes mostly 2-5.
Blades papillose-ciliate, those of the primary culm mostly 8-12 mm.
wide; fringing hairs of spikelet stiff, about equal.
P. humboldtianum.
Blades not ciliate, those of the primary culm not more than 7 mm.
wide; fringing hairs of spikelet very unequal P. cymbiforme.
Spikelets glabrous or minutely pubescent; rachis foliaceous, green.
Plants perennial, aquatic or semiaquatic.
Rachis with a spikelet at the apex; racemes persistent; second glume
developed P. acuminatum.
Rachis extending beyond the uppermost spikelet; racemes falling from
the axis P. repens.
Plants annual; not aquatic.
Plants smooth or slightly scabrous; spikelets 2.3-2.5 mm. long.
P. candidum.
Plants very scabrous throughout; spikelets 1.8-1.9 mm. long. .P. scabrum.
Rachis not membranaceous, foliaceous, or winged.
Inflorescence a large flabellate panicle of numerous racemes. Spikelets solitary,
glabrous or minutely ciliate P. fasciculatum.
Inflorescence not flabellate.
Racemes 2, conjugate or nearly so at the summit of the culm, rarely a third
below.
Spikelets elliptic to narrowly ovate; plants with creeping rhizomes or
stolons.
Second glume pubescent; spikelets relatively turgid P. distichum.
Second glume and sterile lemma glabrous; spikelets flattened.
P. vaginatum.
Spikelets suborbicular, ovate, or obovate.
Spikelets long-silky around the margins; plants stoloniferous.
P. conjugatum.
Spikelets not silky on the margins; plants not stoloniferous.
Plants annual, small, slender; spikelets not more than 1.5 mm. long.
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 271
Spikelets orbicular, some of them beaded with globular hairs.
P. multicaule.
Spikelets obovate, glabrous or minutely pubescent . . P. clavuliferum.
Plants perennial; spikelets 1.8-3 mm. long.
Spikelets golden-brown, transversely marked with dark lines.
P. serpentinum.
Spikelets green, not marked; plants with stout horizontal rhizomes.
Spikelets 2.5-3 mm. long P. notatum.
Spikelets less than 2.5 mm. long P. minus.
Racemes 1-many, racemose or fascicled on the axis, not conjugate.
Second glume wanting P. pulchellum.
Second glume developed.
First glume developed on at least one of the pair of spikelets.
Spikelets not more than 2 mm. long; plants decumbent, creeping.
First glume small, about equally developed on all spikelets.
P. decumbens.
First glume obsolete or only occasionally developed P. nutans.
Spikelets more than 2 mm. long; plants not decumbent.
Spikelets glabrous.
Nodes, at least the lower, pubescent; sterile lemma minutely
papillose; first glume commonly well developed.
Racemes 2 or 3 P. peckii.
Racemes solitary P. pilosum.
Nodes glabrous; sterile lemma not papillose; first glume commonly
rudimentary or obsolete P. adoperiens.
Spikelets pubescent, at least on the second glume.
First glume developed in both spikelets, rarely wanting in the
primary spikelet P. langei.
First glume obsolete or nearly so on the primary spikelet, often or
commonly obsolete on the secondary P. botterii.
First glume normally wanting.
Racemes terminal and axillary. Plants rooting at the lower nodes.
P. nutans.
Racemes terminal on the primary culm or leafy branches, no truly
axillary racemes.
Plants annual.
Spikelets not more than 1.5 mm. long, elliptic; fruit pale.
P. microstachyum.
Spikelets 2-3 mm. long; fruit dark brown.
Spikelets 2.4-3 mm. long, commonly appressed-pubescent.
P. convexum.
Spikelets not more than 2.2 mm. long, glabrous; rachis 2-2.5
mm. wide P. boscianum.
Plants perennial.
272 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Plants creeping, rooting at the nodes.
Plants not stoloniferous; fruit pale P. squamulatum.
Plants stoloniferous; fruit reddish.
Spikelets 1-1.2 mm. long; blades 1-6 cm. long.
P. orbiculatum.
Spikelets 1.7-1.8 mm. long; blades 5-13 cm. long; glume and
sterile lemma irregularly wrinkled P. hitchcockii.
Plants not creeping, sometimes rooting at one or two nodes
of a decumbent base.
Spikelets conspicuously villous around the margin, the hairs
as long as the spikelet or longer.
Racemes commonly 3-5; spikelets 2.8-3.8 mm. long, about
2 mm. wide P. dilatatum.
Racemes commonly 12-18; spikelets 2.2-2.7 mm. long,
1.2-1.5 mm. wide P. urvillei.
Spikelets not conspicuously ciliate.
Fruit dark brown, smooth and shining P. plicatulum.
Fruit pale, or, if brown, not smooth and shining.
Plants robust; culms commonly more than 1 meter high;
spikelets normally in pairs.
Culms freely branching; racemes 10-45; spikelets
elliptic, glandular-pubescent P. coryphaeum.
Culms simple or with a few simple branches; blades
firm, with sharp-cutting edges.
Sheaths, at least the lower, harshly hispid. . .P. affine.
Sheaths not hispid.
Spikelets pubescent, at least toward the summit;
blades flat, more or less arcuate-spreading.
Fruit brown at maturity.
Spikelets obovate, obtuse P. virgatum.
Spikelets elliptic, subacute P. conspersum.
Fruit pale; spikelets abruptly acute or subacute.
P. plenum.
Spikelets glabrous; blades V-shaped in cross section,
ascending.
Spikelets suborbicular, crowded, 2-2.4 mm. long;
rachis sparsely ciliate with stiff hairs.
P. millegrana.
Spikelets obovate-elliptic; rachis not ciliate.
P. arundinaceum.
Plants not robust; if more than 1 meter high, culms
relatively slender.
Spikelets hemispheric, not more than 1.9 mm. long.
Spikelets not more than 1.5 mm. long, crowded.
P. paniculatum.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 273
Spikelets 1.7-1.9 mm. long, not densely crowded.
P. lentiginosum.
Spikelets elliptic to oval or obovate.
Culms decumbent at base, branching, rooting at
the lower nodes.
Sheaths, at least the lower, harshly hispid.
P. bolter ii.
Sheaths glabrous or softly pubescent.
Panicle axis very slender, flexuous; spikelets
2-2.5 mm. long, usually minutely apiculate.
P. lividum.
Panicle axis slender but straight: spikelets 2.5-3
mm. long, not apiculate P. tinctum.
Culms erect to spreading, not rooting at the nodes.
Spikelets not more than 1.8 mm. long, in pairs.
Spikelets about 1.3 mm. long, glandular-pubes-
cent P. blodgettii.
Spikelets 1.5 mm. long or longer; nodes appressed-
pilose P. caespitosum.
Spikelets 2 mm. long or longer.
Blades mostly 1-2.5 cm. wide.
Spikelets elliptic, subacute.
Culms 1-4 meters high; racemes 10-45.
P. coryphaeum.
Culms mostly less than 1 meter high;
racemes not more than 10.
Second glume equaling the fruit, minutely
pubescent P. cosiaricense.
Second glume shorter than the fruit,
obtuse, sparsely pilose.
P. corcovadense.
Spikelets elliptic-obovate.
Second glume shorter than the spikelet;
racemes usually fewer than 10.
P. botterti.
Second glume covering the fruit; racemes
10-30.
Culms 1-2 meters high; spikelets 1.5 mm.
wide P. affine.
Culms 45-55 cm. high; spikelets about
1 mm. wide P. hispidum.
Blades not more than 1 cm. wide.
Foliage velvety-pubescent throughout.
P. tenellum.
Foliage not velvety-pubescent.
274 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Second glume papillose-pubescent.
P. jaliscanum.
Second glume glabrous P. ligulare.
Paspalum acuminatum Raddi, Agrost. Bras. 25. 1823.
Edge of water, La Laguna, at base of Volcan Jumay, Jalapa
(Steyermark 32250), 1,400-1,600 meters. Louisiana; Texas; Mexico
(Michoacan) ; Colombia to Brazil and Argentina.
Decumbent or creeping, branching, aquatic or semiaquatic, glabrous perennial ;
culms 30-100 cm. long, compressed; sheaths loose, keeled, mostly longer than
the internodes; blades 4-12 cm. long, 5-12 mm. wide, rounded at the base; racemes
2-5, 3.5-7 cm. long, the rachis 2.5-4 mm. wide, terminating with a spikelet;
spikelets 3.5 mm. long, elliptic, the second glume and sterile lemma thin, rather
abruptly pointed beyond the fruit; fruit 2.9 mm. long.
Paspalum adoperiens (Fourn.) Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
28: 102. /. 55. 1929. Dimorphostachys adoperiens Fourn. Mex. PI.
2: 15. 1886. Paspalum guatemalense Bartlett, Proc. Amer. Acad.
43:49. 1907.
Thickets, damp meadows, and open banks, sometimes a weed
in cultivated ground; Alta Verapaz; Zacapa; Guatemala; Solola;
Suchitepe"quez; Retalhuleu; Quezaltenango. Southern Mexico;
El Salvador.
Perennial; culms 35-95 cm. high, sparingly branching, compressed, glabrous;
sheaths mostly shorter than the internodes, sparsely papillose-pilose toward
the summit, the margins densely ciliate; blades 5-22 cm. long, 8-16 mm. wide,
papillose-pilose or papillose-hispid to nearly glabrous; racemes 2-4, sometimes
solitary, 3-7.5 cm. long, on slender axillary peduncles; spikelets 2.1-2.5 mm. long,
obovate or suborbicular, glabrous or sparsely pilose; first glume short and obtuse
to about half as long as the spikelet, acute; sterile lemma as long as the fruit,
the glume a little shorter.
Paspalum affine Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 24. 1854.
Swamps and wet places, up to 400 meters; Izabal; Zacapa.
Southern Mexico.
Perennial; culms coarse, 1-2 meters high, ascending, often geniculate, simple
or sparingly branching, glabrous; sheaths elongate, usually much longer than
the internodes, tuberculate-hispid or sometimes nearly glabrous; blades 15-50
cm. long, 1.2-2.3 cm. wide, acuminate, rounded at the base, the margins very
scabrous; inflorescence rather dense, composed of 10-31 ascending to drooping
racemes, the lower ones 7-11 cm. long; spikelets 2-2.3 mm. long, paired, crowded,
obovate-elliptic; second glume and sterile lemma equal, covering the fruit, the
glume silky on the margins, otherwise nearly glabrous.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 275
Paspalum arundinaceum Poir. in Lam. Encycl. Suppl. 4: 310.
1816. P. elatum Rich, ex Doell in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2 (2): 78. 1877.
Swamps and wet places at low altitudes; Izabal; Huehuetenango.
West Indies; French Guiana; Brazil (Rio Branco).
Robust, glabrous, perennial; culms simple, as much as 2 meters high; sheaths
as long as or longer than the internodes; blades 0.5-1 meter long or longer, 5-10
mm. wide, narrowed toward the base, attenuate, scabrous on the margins; racemes
9-25, ascending, somewhat crowded, 8-20 cm. long; spikelets 2.5-2.7 mm. long,
obovate or elliptic, glabrous; second glume and sterile lemma equal, slightly
pointed beyond the fruit.
Paspalum blodgettii Chapm. Fl. South. U. S. 571. 1860.
P. simpsoni Nash, Bull. Torrey Club 24: 39. 1897. P. gracillimum
Nash in Small, Fl. Southeast U. S. 73. 1903. P. yucatanum Chase,
Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 28: 121. /. 17. 1929.
Sandy pine-oak woods and open rocky places at low altitudes;
Huehuetenango. British Honduras (El Cayo District); Florida;
Yucatan Peninsula; Honduras; West Indies.
Perennial; culms slender, erect, 40-100 cm. high, the base hard, somewhat
swollen, with densely villous scales; sheaths keeled, pubescent, or the upper ones
nearly glabrous, the lower ones crowded, the upper elongate, distant; blades
5-25 cm. long, 3-14 mm. wide, usually rounded at the base, papillose-hispid-ciliate
toward the base, glabrous or obscurely pubescent; racemes 2-12, rather distant,
ascending or spreading, 2-8 cm. long; spikelets 1.3-1.4 mm. long, obovate, blunt,
crowded; second glume and sterile lemma equal, covering the fruit, at least
the glume covered with gland-tipped hairs.
Paspalum boscianum Flugge, Monogr. Pasp. 170. 1810. P.
virgatum Walt. Fl. Carol. 75. 1788. Not P. virgatum L., 1759.
P. purpurascens Ell. Bot. S. C. & Ga. 1: 108. pi. 6, f. 3. 1816. P.
confertum LeConte, Jour, de Phys. Chym. 91 : 285. 1820. P. virgatum
var. purpurascens Wood, Class-book ed. 3. 781. 1861.
Moist or wet ground ; Alta Verapaz. Southeastern United States ;
Panama; Puerto Rico; northern Brazil.
Annual; culms 20-100 cm. high, ascending or spreading, branching, sometimes
rooting at the lower nodes, glabrous; sheaths compressed, keeled, longer than
the internodes, glabrous or the lowermost rarely pilose; ligule 2-3.5 mm. long,
brown; blades 10-40 cm. long (mostly 15-30 cm.), 6-18 mm. wide, glabrous or
papillose-pilose on the upper surface toward the base, the margins very scabrous;
racemes 2-15, rarely solitary in depauperate plants, 2.5-9 cm. long, ascending or
finally spreading, somewhat arcuate, the rachis 2-2.5 mm. wide, scabrous on the
margins, usually with a tuft of long hairs at the base; spikelets 2-2.2 mm. long,
paired, crowded, obovate to suborbicular, glabrous, rusty brown at maturity;
glume and sterile lemma equal, barely covering the fruit, fragile, not wrinkled;
fruit dark brown, shining, minutely papillose-striate.
276 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Paspalum botterii (Fourn.) Chase, Jour. Washington Acad.
Sci. 13: 436. 1923. P. macrophyllum var. piliferum Fourn. Mex. PI.
2: 11. 1886. Dimorphostachys botterii Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 14. 1886.
D. paspaloides Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 14. 1886.
Open wooded slopes, along streams and ditches, sometimes
a weed in cultivated ground; Pete"n; Guatemala. Southern Mexico;
Nicaragua; Costa Rica.
Perennial; culms 60-130 cm. high, ascending, compressed, glabrous; sheaths
longer than the internodes, keeled toward the summit, glabrous to papillose-
hispid; blades 14-40 cm. long, 1-2.4 cm. wide, sparsely papillose-hispid, the
margins scabrous, more or less hispid-ciliate; racemes 4-15 cm. long, rarely more,
distant, or the upper approximate, arcuate-spreading; spikelets 2.3-2.6 mm. long,
elliptic or somewhat obovate; first glume of the primary spikelet obsolete, usually
developed on the secondary; second glume a little shorter than the fruit, obtuse,
pilose, the sterile lemma as long as the fruit, sparsely pilose or nearly glabrous.
Paspalum caespitosum Flugge, Monogr. Pasp. 161. 1810.
P. gracile Poir. in Lam. Encycl. Suppl. 4: 313. 1816. P. hetero-
phyllum Desv. ex Poir. in Lam. Encycl. Suppl. 4: 315. 1816. P.
lineare Fourn. Mex. PL 2: 12. 1886. P. caespitosum var. longifolium
Vasey, Bull. Torrey Club 13: 164. 1886.
Shady places in limestone soil and sandy pinelands; Alta Verapaz;
Izabal; Huehuetenango. British Honduras; Florida; Yucatan
Peninsula; West Indies.
Perennial; culms in dense, erect or spreading clumps, mostly 30-60 cm. high,
the leaves usually crowded toward the base; blades 5-20 cm. long, 4-10 mm. wide,
narrowed to the base, more or less pilose or nearly glabrous, the margins often
ciliate; racemes 2-6, 1.5-6 cm. long, remote, ascending or spreading; spikelets
1.5-1.8 mm. long, pilose or nearly glabrous; second glume and sterile lemma
subequal, the glume slightly shorter than the fruit.
Paspalum candidum (Humb. & Bonpl.) Kunth, Mem. Mus.
Hist. Nat. 2: 68. 1815. Reimaria Candida Humb. & Bonpl. ex
Flugge, Monogr. Pasp. 214. 1810.
Wet thickets, moist banks, shady places, and pastures, some-
times a weed in coffee plantations, up to about 2,000 meters; Alta
Verapaz; Jalapa; Santa Rosa; Guatemala; Sacatepe'quez; Chimal-
tenango; Solold; Quezaltenango. Southern Mexico to Chile.
Annual; culms 15 cm. to 1 meter or more long, erect or ascending from a de-
cumbent base, straggling or even clambering, rooting at the lower nodes, freely
branching, flattened, smooth and shining or rarely retrorsely scabrous below
the nodes; sheaths usually shorter than the internodes, thin and rather loose,
the margins ciliate toward the summit; ligule about 1.5 mm. long, erose; blades
5-10 cm. long, 6-20 mm. wide, thin, flat, pilose or papillose-pilose on both surfaces
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 277
or nearly glabrous, the margins scabrous; panicles 5-12 cm. long, scarcely exserted;
racemes 8-20, ascending or spreading, 2-4 cm. long, falling entire, the rachis
2-2.5 mm. wide, scabrous, densely pubescent at the base, extending beyond
the spikelets; spikelets 2.3-2.5 mm. long, solitary, rather distant, oblong, glabrous,
the second glume wanting; fruit as long as the sterile lemma, white, smooth
and shining.
Paspalum clavuliferum Wright, Anal. Acad. Cienc. Habana
8: 203. 1871. P. pittierii Hack, ex Beal, Grasses N. Amer. 2: 88.
1896.
Brushy or rocky slopes, about 850 meters; Jutiapa. British
Honduras; southern Mexico; West Indies; Honduras; Costa Rica;
Panama; Colombia; British Guiana; Brazil.
Annual; culms 5-45 cm. high, slender, tufted, erect to spreading, branching
at the lower nodes; sheaths mostly overlapping, or shorter than the interned es
in taller plants, papillose-hispid, sometimes with only a few hairs near the margins
toward the summit; ligule 0.5-1 mm. long; blades 3-16 cm. long, 1.5-4 mm. wide,
ascending, sparsely to rather densely papillose-hispid, especially along the mid-
nerve and on the margins; racemes solitary or paired, 1-5.5 cm. long, arcuate,
long-exserted, the rachis slender, straight or somewhat flexuous; spikelets 1.1-1.5
mm. long, paired, obovate, usually sparsely to densely pubescent with slender
capitate hairs, rarely glabrous; second glume and sterile lemma equal or the glume
a little shorter; fruit a little smaller than the spikelet, elliptic rather than obovate,
striate.
Paspalum conjugatum Bergius, Act. Helv. Phys. Math. 7:
129. pi. 8. 1762. P. tenue Gaertn. f. Fruct. & Sem. 2: 2. pi. 80. 1791.
P. ciliatum Lam. Tabl. Encycl. 1: 175. 1791. P. renggeri Steud.
Syn. PL Glum. 1: 17. 1854. P. longissimum Hochst. ex Steud. Syn.
PI. Glum. 1: 19. 1854. Figure 78.
Pine ridges, grassy banks, fields and waste places, usually in
moist ground, up to about 1,000 meters; Pete"n; Alta Verapaz;
Izabal; Santa Rosa; Escuintla. Florida to Texas; Mexico and the
West Indies to Argentina. Common throughout the tropics.
Stoloniferous perennial; culms as much as 2 meters long, but usually less than
1 meter, often decumbent at the base and rooting at the lower nodes, simple or
sparingly branched; stolons long, leafy with erect or ascending flowering branches,
the nodes usually conspicuously pilose; culm sheaths loose, compressed, pubescent
on the collar, the margins ciliate, those of the stolons short and broad; blades
mostly 8-12 cm. long, 5-15 mm. wide, thin, glabrous or sometimes pubescent,
the margins scabrous or short-ciliate; racemes 2, conjugate, widely spreading,
4-15 cm. long; spikelets 1.4-1.8 mm. long, ovate, minutely pointed, the margins
of the glume papillose-ciliate with long fine hairs.
Paspalum conjugatum var. pubescens Doell in Mart. Fl.
Bras. 2 (2): 55. 1877.
FIG. 78. Paspalum conjugatum. Plant, X 3i; two views of spikelet and
floret, X 10.
278
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 279
Alta Verapaz; Izabal. British Honduras; Lesser Antilles;
southern Mexico to Brazil. Less frequent than the species.
Plants coarser, the blades as much as 25 cm. long, papillose-pilose or nearly
glabrous; racemes as much as 20 cm. long; spikelets 1.7-2.2 mm. long, more
conspicuously fringed.
Paspalum conspersum Schrad. ex Schult. Mant. 2: 174. 1817.
Moist open ground, Manatee Lagoon, Belize District, British
Honduras. Not known from Guatemala. Southern Mexico; Brazil;
Bolivia; Paraguay; Argentina.
Perennial; culms erect in dense clumps, resembling P. virgatum; panicles
erect, 15-25 cm. long, of 6-20 ascending to spreading or drooping racemes, 7-15
cm. long; margin of rachis scaberulous but with no long hairs; spikelets 2.7-3
mm. long, elliptic, deep purple to rusty brown, usually softly pubescent; fruit
chestnut-brown, papillose-striate.
Paspalum convexum Humb. & Bonpl. in Flugge, Monogr. Pasp.
175. 1810. P. vittifolium Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 20. 1854. P.
encylocarpum Nees ex Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 27. 1854. P. hemi-
cryptum Wright, Anal. Acad. Cienc. Habana 8: 204. 1871; Wright
& Sauv. Fl. Cubana 196. 1873. P. inops Vasey, Contr. U. S. Nat.
Herb. 1:281. 1893.
Damp thickets, oak forests, brushy or rocky slopes, along streams
and roadsides, sometimes a weed in cultivated ground, up to about
1,800 meters; Pete"n; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Zacapa; Jalapa; Jutiapa;
Santa Rosa; Guatemala; Sacatepe*quez; Huehuetenango; Chimal-
tenango. Mexico to Panama; Cuba; Trinidad; Colombia; Ven-
ezuela; Ecuador; Brazil.
Annual; culms 10-75 cm. usually 20-40 cm. high, erect or ascending, some-
times widely spreading, branching from the lower and middle nodes; sheaths
compressed, keeled, longer than the internodes in small plants, shorter than the
internodes on taller plants, from glabrous to conspicuously papillose-pilose;
ligule about 2 mm. long, brown, fragile; blades 5-23 cm. long, 3-11 mm. wide,
the uppermost sometimes reduced, somewhat clasping at the base, conspicuously
papillose-pilose throughout or only toward the base; racemes 1-4, erect to spread-
ing at maturity, 1.5-7 cm. long, the rachis 1-2 mm. wide, long-pilose at the base;
spikelets 2.2-3 mm. long, paired, broadly obovate, glabrous or appressed-pubes-
cent; fruit dark brown, shining, minutely striate.
Paspalum corcovadense Raddi, Agrost. Bras. 27. 1823.
Along banks of Rio Frio, Mountain Pine Ridge, El Cayo Dis-
trict, British Honduras (Lundell 6640) . Not known from Guatemala.
Southern Mexico (Oaxaca) ; Brazil.
280 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Perennial; culms tufted, erect, 50 cm. to more than 1 meter high, the base
hard, somewhat swollen, with densely villous cataphylls; sheaths narrow, keeled,
papillose-pilose on the margins, the lower ones crowded, the upper ones distant,
elongate; blades mostly 10-18 cm. long, 7-15 mm. wide, the uppermost greatly
reduced, narrowed to the base, with long stiff hairs on the upper surface at the
base; inflorescence usually long-exserted, the peduncle slender; racemes 2-11,
ascending or arcuate spreading, the lower ones as much as 10 cm. long, with long
hairs in the axils; spikelets 2 mm. long, 1 mm. wide, elliptic; second glume obtuse,
a little shorter than the fruit, sparsely pilose, the lemma equaling the fruit;
nearly glabrous.
Paspalum coryphaeum Trin. Gram. Pan. 114. 1826. P.
pruinosum Trin. Gram. Icon. 3: pi. 272. 1836. P. familiare Steud.
Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 24. 1854. P. molascens Mez, Repert. Sp. Nov.
Feddel5:73. 1917.
Wet sand, Rio On, Mountain Pine Ridge, El Cayo District,
British Honduras. Not known from Guatemala. Panama; Trin-
idad; Colombia; Venezuela; British Guiana; Brazil.
Perennial; culms in tough clumps from short hard rhizomes, 1-4 meters high,
slender or robust, glabrous to densely papillose-hispid at least below the glabrous
to conspicuously bearded nodes, finally branching, the branches slender, leaning
or drooping; sheaths mostly longer than the internodes, the lower ones usually
papillose-hispid, the upper ones glabrous or only sparsely papillose-hispid, the
margins sometimes ciliate toward the summit; ligule firm, 1-3 mm. long; blades
12-32 cm. long, 8-23 mm. wide, rounded at the base, glabrous or scaberulous,
sometimes sparsely pubescent or pilose with a dense line of long hairs just above
the ligule, the margins scabrous; panicles nodding or drooping, composed of
10-45 racemes spreading or recurved at maturity, the lower 6-14 cm. long, the
axis 10-25 cm. long, glabrous or sparsely pilose; rachis about 0.5 mm. wide,
scabrous, densely hairy in the axils, sometimes naked at the base; spikelets 2-2.5
mm. long, elliptic, paired, usually loosely arranged toward the base of the racemes,
denser above; glume and sterile lemma equal, scarcely covering the fruit, finely
pubescent or, especially the lemma, nearly glabrous.
Paspalum costaricense Mez, Repert. Sp. Nov. Fedde 15: 72.
1917.
Pine-oak forests and moist open ground, often a weed in cul-
tivated ground, mostly 1,100-2,500 meters; Alta Verapaz; Jalapa;
Guatemala; Chimaltenango; Huehuetenango; Suchitepe"quez; Que-
zaltenango; San Marcos. El Salvador; Costa Rica.
Perennial; culms erect or ascending, 25-85 cm. high, compressed, glabrous;
sheaths keeled, rather loose, mostly about as long as the internodes, the margins
ciliate; blades 6-22 cm. long, 1-2.5 cm. wide, narrowed to the base, the margins
usually ciliate at least at the base; racemes 3-10, ascending to spreading, densely
hairy in the axils, the lower ones distant; spikelets 2.1-2.5 mm. long, elliptic,
subacute; second glume and sterile lemma equal, covering the fruit, sparsely
pilose.
V SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 281
Paspalum cymbiforme Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 5. 1886.
Thickets and brushy or rocky slopes, 600-1,500 meters; Jutiapa;
Santa Rosa; Guatemala. Southern Mexico.
Perennial; culms in small dense clumps, erect, 50-100 cm. high, with a few
branches from the middle nodes, the lower nodes bearded with erect hairs; sheaths
usually longer than the internodes, glabrous, or pubescent toward the summit
and sometimes on the margins; blades 7-15 cm. long, 3-7 mm. wide, attenuate,
narrowed from the base, glabrous, or sometimes pubescent on the upper surface;
racemes 2 or 3, 5-7 cm. long, ascending or spreading, the rachis 2-2.5 mm. wide,
with a dense tuft of hairs at the base; spikelets 3 mm. long, elliptic, acute, obscured
by the hairs; second glume and sterile lemma equal, the glume pilose below,
stiffly ciliate on the margins, the hairs as much as 3.5 mm. long, the lemma gla-
brous, sparsely pubescent at the summit.
Paspalum decumbens Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 22. 1788.
P. pedunculatum Poir. in Lam. Encycl. Suppl. 4: 315. 1816. Panicum
decumbens Roem. & Schult. Syst. Veg. 2: 429. 1817. Paspalum
vaginiflorum Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 19. 1854. Dimorphostachys
pedunculata Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 15. 1886.
Pine ridges, open or brushy banks, margins of lakes and swamps,
and wet thickets, up to 400 meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Solola;
Suchitepe"quez. West Indies; British Honduras to Bolivia and
Brazil.
Perennial, sometimes appearing almost like an annual; culms 10-70 cm. long,
freely branching, erect or usually decumbent-spreading, the ends ascending,
often rooting at the lower nodes; sheaths about as long as or a little shorter than
the internodes, compressed, keeled, papillose-pilose to nearly glabrous, the margins
densely ciliate; ligule membranaceous, about 0.5 mm. long; blades 2-15 cm. long
(usually 5-10 cm.), 6-12 mm. wide, rounded at the base, acuminate, softly pubes-
cent on both surfaces or glabrous with a few scattered stiff hairs, the margins
papillose-ciliate; peduncles 2-8 from the upper sheaths, slender, usually elongate;
racemes solitary, 1-3.5 cm. long, arcuate, the rachis very narrow, pubescent
at the base; spikelets paired, 1.7 mm. long, obovate, glabrous; first glume de-
veloped ; second glume obtuse, about half as long as the spikelet, the sterile lemma
equaling the fruit.
Paspalum dilatatum Poir. in Lam. Encycl. 5: 35. 1804. P.
ovatum Nees ex Trin. Gram. Pan. 113. 1826. P. lanatum Spreng.
Syst. Veg. 4: Cur. Post 30. 1827. P. pedunculare Presl, Rel. Haenk.
1: 217. 1830. P. dilatatum var. decumbens Vasey, Bull. Torrey Club
13: 166. 1886. Digitaria dilatata Coste, Fl. France 3: 533. 1906.
Commonly known as Dallis grass.
Adventive in the vicinity of Puerto Barrios, Izabal; probably
also occurs in other departments. Native of South America from
282 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Brazil to Argentina; introduced in United States, Central America,
West Indies, and sparingly in the Eastern Hemisphere.
Perennial; culms ascending or suberect, 40-175 cm. high, simple or sparingly
branched; sheaths loose, compressed, longer than the internodes, the lower ones
pilose or nearly glabrous; blades as much as 45 cm. long, 3-12 mm. wide, sparsely
ciliate at the base, the margins scabrous; racemes 2-11, ascending to drooping,
the lower 4-11 cm. long; spikelets 2.8-3.8 mm. long, ovate, pointed; second glume
and sterile lemma subequal, pointed beyond the fruit, the glume fringed with
long white hairs.
Paspalum distichum L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 2: 855. 1759.
Digitaria paspaloides Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer. 1: 46. 1803. Paspalum
paspaloides Scribn. Mem. Torrey Club 5: 29. 1894.
Around ponds and along streams and ditches, up to 2,000 meters;
Chiquimula; San Marcos. United States and the West Indies to
Argentina; Eastern Hemisphere.
Perennial with extensively creeping stolons and slender rhizomes, the nodes
of the stolons bearded, the branches erect or ascending, 6-50 cm. high; sheaths
keeled, pilose on the margins toward the summit; blades 3-12 cm. long, 2-6 mm.
wide, flat, acuminate, ciliate at the base, sometimes pubescent on the upper
surface; racemes usually two, 1.5-7 cm. long, erect to reflexed, the rachis 1-1.5
mm. wide, scabrous on the margins; spikelets 2.5-3 mm. long, usually solitary,
elliptic, abruptly acute; first glume often developed; second glume and sterile
lemma equal, the glume pubescent, the lemma glabrous.
Paspalum fasciculatum Willd. ex Flugge, Monogr. Pasp. 69:
1810. P. vaginatum var. pleostachyum Doell in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2
(2): 75. 1877. P. fasciculatum var. glabratum Doell in Mart. Fl.
Bras. 2 (2): 91. 1877.
Swamps and river banks, at low altitudes; Alta Verapaz; Izabal.
British Honduras (Temash River); Windward Islands; Trinidad
and Tobago; southern Mexico to Ecuador and Argentina.
Coarse stoloniferous perennial; culms as much as several meters long and
1 cm. thick, long decumbent-spreading, rooting at the lower nodes, usually
forming tangled masses; stolons as much as 5 meters long with erect sparingly
branching flowering culms 0.7-2 meters tall; nodes glabrous to densely bearded;
sheaths rather loose, about as long as the relatively short internodes, nearly
glabrous, the margins densely ciliate; ligule firm, about 0.7 mm. long; blades
20-60 cm. long, 1.2-3 cm. wide, acuminate, glabrous to sparsely papillose-pilose,
the margins very scabrous; inflorescence flabellate, composed of 7-30 ascending
to arcuate-spreading racemes, 7-17 cm. long, aggregate on a rather short stout
axis; spikelets 4-5 mm. long, solitary, imbricate, elliptic, abruptly acuminate;
first glume often developed; second glume and sterile lemma equal, pointed
beyond the fruit, glabrous, or the margins silky-ciliate; fruit 3.7-3.8 mm. long,
light brown, smooth and shining.
} SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 283
Paspalum hispidum Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29:
414. 1950.
Sandy ground along rivers, 400-1,800 meters; Huehuetenango
(the type from Rio Amelco, Steyermark 49670).
Perennial; culms erect or geniculate-ascending, 45-55 cm. or more long,
branching, glabrous, the nodes bearded with ascending hairs; sheaths longer
than the internodes, keeled but not compressed, sparsely to densely papillose-
hispid, especially toward the summit, the hairs ascending or spreading; ligule
membranaceous, brown, 2 mm. long; blades mostly 10-15 cm. long, 1-1.8 cm.
wide, acuminate, somewhat narrowed to the rounded base, sparsely to densely
papillose-hispid; inflorescence composed of 9 ascending or spreading racemes,
the axis 8 cm. long; racemes 6-9 cm. long, pilose and hispid at the base, the rachis
narrowly winged, 1 mm. wide, scabrous; spikelets 2.3-2.4 mm. long, 1.1 mm.
wide, acute; second glume 3-nerved, pilose on the back, the margins rather densely
ciliate-f ringed ; sterile lemma glabrous or sparsely pilose; fruit ovate-elliptic,
2 mm. long, 1 mm. wide, subacute, pale, minutely striate.
Paspalum hitchcockii Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 28:
160. /. 102. 1929.
Swampy ground, 950-990 meters; Jutiapa (Steyermark 30410).
El Salvador; Panama; Colombia (type, Hitchcock 9914); Venezuela.
Perennial; culms 5-30 cm. or even 50 cm. long, creeping, rooting at the lower
nodes, with ascending branches, the nodes glabrous or appressed-pubescent;
sheaths compressed, glabrous or with a few hairs at the throat, usually longer
than the internodes; blades 5-13 cm. long, 4-9 mm. wide, flat, somewhat rounded
at the base, glabrous; racemes 2 or 3, exserted or partly included, erect or ascend-
ing, 1.5-4 cm. long, the rachis narrowly winged, 1-1.5 mm. wide, glabrous; spikelets
1.7-1.8 mm. long, obovate or suborbicular, the pedicels short, flattened; second
glume and sterile lemma equal, thin, loose, irregularly wrinkled, glabrous; fruit
1.6 mm. long, reddish brown, smooth and shining.
Paspalum humboldtianum Flugge, Monogr. Pasp. 67. 1810.
P. distichophyllum H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 86. 1815. P. blephar-
ophorum Roem. & Schult. Syst. Veg. 2: 292. 1817. Panicum ob-
tectum Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 301. 1830. Tricholaena obtecta Fourn.
Mex. PL 2: 35. 1886. Panicum humboldtianum Kuntze, Rev. Gen.
PL 3 (3): 361. 1898.
Pine forests and rocky hills, up to 1,500 meters; Alta Verapaz;
Zacapa; Chiquimula; Santa Rosa; Guatemala; Solola. Mexico to
Panama; western South America to Argentina.
Perennial; culms 40-105 cm. high, erect from a decumbent almost woody
base, commonly branching, the nodes bearded with ascending hairs; sheaths
mostly longer than the internodes, sometimes crowded, papillose-hispid at least
toward the summit; ligule 1-2 mm. long, dark brown; blades 8-18 cm. long, 6-15
mm. wide, acuminate, firm, stiffly spreading, the upper surface glabrous or nearly
284 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
so, the lower surface usually pubescent, also with a few scattered long hairs, the
margins prominently papillose-hispid at least toward the base; racemes mostly
2-5, rarely more, 5-10 cm. long, ascending or drooping, the rachis 2-3 mm. wide
with a tuft of long hairs at the base; spikelets 3.2 mm. long, solitary or paired,
elliptic, acute, the glume and sterile lemma equal, fringed with long spreading
glistening white hairs; fruit about 2.8 mm. long, smooth and shining.
Paspalum jaliscanum Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 17:
240. 1913.
Open places in pine-oak woods, 2,000-2,500 meters; Jalapa
(Steyermark 32756). Mexico (Jalisco, Hitchcock 7153, type; Vera-
cruz).
Perennial; culms 80-100 cm. high, erect from short, rather stout rhizomes,
the scales rather densely pilose; sheaths papillose-pilose or nearly glabrous; blades
10-20 cm. long, 7-15 mm. wide, nearly glabrous beneath, papillose-hispid above,
with long stiff hairs at the base; panicle long-exserted, bearing 5-12 ascending
or spreading racemes, the lower ones 4-7 cm. long; spikelets 2.2-2.3 mm. long,
elliptic, paired, the slender pedicels glabrous; second glume and sterile lemma
subequal, scarcely covering the fruit, the glume papillose-pubescent, the lemma
nearly glabrous.
Paspalum langei (Fourn.) Nash, N. Amer. Fl. 17: 179. 1912.
Dimorphostachys langei Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 14. 1886. Paspalum
drummondii Vasey, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 3 : 18. 1892. P. oricola
Millsp. & Chase, Field Mus. Bot. 3: 28. /. 28, 29. 1903. P. ciliiferum
Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 201. 1909.
Damp thickets, moist woods, and roadsides, sometimes a weed
in cultivated ground, up to 1,500 meters; Pete"n; Jutiapa; Guatemala.
British Honduras (El Cayo District); Florida, Louisiana, and Texas;
eastern Mexico to Nicaragua; Cuba; Haiti; Venezuela.
Perennial; culms slender, tufted, 30-60 cm. or frequently as much as 1 meter
high, compressed; blades flat, 10-40 cm. long, 6-15 mm. wide, often tapering
to a narrow base, glabrous or papillose-hispid, sparsely ciliate; racemes 2-5
(sometimes more), slender, spreading, rather distant, the rachis with a few long
hairs at the base; spikelets in pairs, 2.2-2.6 mm. long; first glume usually well
developed; second glume and sterile lemma finely pubescent, glandular-spotted,
the glume a little shorter than the lemma; fruit exposed at the summit at maturity.
Paspalum lentiginosum Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 218. 1830.
Moist open ground, in swamps, and along ditches 1,350-1,500
meters; Alta Verapaz; Guatemala. Western Mexico (Sonora,
Sinaloa, Morelos, Colima).
Perennial; culms in small tufts, erect or ascending, 75-140 cm. tall, glabrous,
compressed; sheaths loose, keeled, mostly overlapping, glabrous or sparsely
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 285
papillose or papillose-hispid, more or less hairy on the collar; blades 12-25 cm.
long, 8-14 mm. wide, flat, with a few long hairs at the base, the margins scabrous;
racemes mostly 5-13, ascending or spreading, the lower 5-7 cm. long, the rachis
slender with a few long hairs at the base; spikelets 1.7-1.9 mm. long, in pairs
on slender pedicels, subhemispheric or broadly elliptic; second glume and sterile
lemma equal, just covering the fruit, the glume finely papillose-pubescent, the
lemma nearly glabrous.
Paspalum ligulare Nees, Agrost. Bras. 60. 1829.
In water of swampy places, Cie"naga de Lagartero, below Mir-
amar, Huehuetenango, 300 meters, Steyermark 51517. Brazil.
Perennial; culms densely tufted, erect or nearly so, as much as 120 cm. high;
sheaths compressed, glabrous or more or less hispid on the margins toward the
summit; ligule 2-5 mm. long; blades as much as 25 cm. long, 2-6 mm. wide,
attenuate, sometimes flexuous, sparsely hispid toward the base, the margins
scabrous; racemes 2-6, rather stiffly ascending, 8-15 cm. long; spikelets paired,
elliptic or obovate-elliptic, about 2.5 mm. long; glume and sterile lemma glabrous,
covering the fruit.
Paspalum lividum Trin. in Schlecht. Linnaea 26: 383. 1854.
Moist or wet savannas and along ditches up to 1,500 meters;
Alta Verapaz; Guatemala. Alabama, Louisiana, Texas; Mexico;
Cuba; Venezuela; Ecuador to Peru and Argentina.
Perennial; culms creeping or ascending from a decumbent base, 30-100 cm.
long, rooting at the lower nodes, compressed, glabrous; sheaths usually as long as
or longer than the internodes, loose, keeled, glabrous, or pilose toward the summit;
blades commonly 15-25 cm. long, 3-6 mm. wide, conduplicate at the base, some-
times obscurely pubescent above; racemes 3-10, 1.5-5 cm. long, arranged on
a slender flexuous axis, ascending, densely flowered; spikelets 2-2.5 mm. long,
obovate; second glume and sterile lemma equal, minutely pointed beyond the
fruit, usually deep purple, glabrous.
Paspalum microstachyum Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 215. 1830.
P. effusum Nees, Jour. Bot. Kew Misc. 2: 104. 1850. Not P. effusum
Rasp. 1825. P. cognatissimum Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 18. 1854.
Moist thickets, roadsides, and waste places, at low altitudes;
Alta Verapaz (Goll 78). Honduras to Peru; Brazil.
Annual; culms slender, 20-135 cm. high, erect from a usually geniculate base,
sometimes rooting at the lower nodes, branching at the lower and middle nodes;
sheaths mostly much shorter than the internodes, keeled, glabrous to papillose-
pilose; ligule about 0.3 mm. long; blades 3-30 cm. long, 6-20 mm. wide, thin,
the lower tapering to a narrow base, the upper ones rounded to cordate, glabrous
to papillose-pilose on both surfaces, the margins scabrous, papillose-ciliate toward
the base; panicles terminal and axillary, composed of 6-35 slender solitary or
fascicled, ascending or arcuate-spreading racemes, the lower ones 3-8 cm. long,
286 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
rather distant, the upper ones gradually approximate and shorter; rachis narrowly
winged, 0.5-0.6 mm. wide, with scattered long white hairs on the margins; spikelets
1.5-1.6 mm. long, paired, on long slender pedicels, elliptic, subacute; second
glume and sterile lemma equal, thin, softly and rather densely pubescent; fruit
1.5 mm. long, smooth and shining.
Paspalum millegrana Schrad. in Schult. Mant. 2: 175. 1824.
P. karwinskyi Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 8. 1886. P. underwoodii Nash,
Bull. Torrey Club 30: 375. 1903.
Swamps and moist open ground, British Honduras. Not known
from Guatemala. Eastern Mexico; Honduras; El Salvador; West
Indies; Venezuela to French Guiana and Brazil.
Perennial; culms erect or ascending in large tough clumps, 1-2 meters high,
glabrous; lower leaves crowded toward the base, the sheaths loose, spongy,
reticulate- veined; blades firm, flat, folded at the base, loosely rolled in drying,
mostly 30-75 cm. long, 7-15 mm. wide, pubescent or glabrous above, scabrous
beneath, the margins sharply serrulate; racemes several to many, approximate
or somewhat distant, ascending or spreading, mostly 8-12 cm. long; spikelets
in pairs, obovate, 2-2.4 mm. long; second glume and sterile lemma equal, scarcely
covering the fruit, firm, glabrous.
Paspalum minus Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 6. 1886.
Damp meadows and clearings in forests, up to 1,500 meters;
Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Jalapa. Texas; central Mexico and the
West Indies to Peru and Paraguay.
Perennial, similar in aspect to P. notatum; culms 10-40 cm. high, more slender
than P. notatum; sheaths keeled, glabrous, the margins papillose-ciliate at least
toward the summit; blades 3-15 cm. long, 2-6 mm. wide, abruptly acute, the
margins sparsely papillose-ciliate; racemes 2, conjugate, rarely 3, 3-7 cm. long,
slender, narrowly ascending to spreading; spikelets 2-2.5 mm. long, ovate, less
shining than those of P. notatum.
Paspalum multicaule Poir. in Lam. Encycl. Suppl. 4: 309.
1816. P. papillosum Spreng. Nov. Prov. Hal. 47. 1819. P. horticola
maritimum Salzm. ex Doell in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2 (2) : 54. 1877.
Sandy pinelands and savannas, at low altitudes. Toledo and
El Cayo districts, British Honduras. Not known from Guatemala.
Southern Mexico; Nicaragua to Panama; West Indies; northern
South America.
Annual ; culms slender, densely tufted, freely branching from the lower nodes,
ascending or spreading, mostly 10-30 cm. high, sometimes depauperate or rarely
as much as 60 cm. high; sheaths usually longer than the internodes, keeled, gla-
brous or more or less pilose, the margins often ciliate, especially toward the summit;
blades 2-15 cm. long, 1.5-2.5 mm. wide, from nearly glabrous to densely short
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 287
pubescent, usually papillose-pilose as well; racemes 2, rarely 1 or 3, conjugate,
divergent, 1.5-6 cm. long; spikelets 1.2-1.5 mm. long, subhemispheric, solitary,
from glabrous to rather densely bearded with subglobular hairs; second glume
and sterile lemma equal, covering the fruit, or the glume rarely reduced or wanting;
fruit about the size of the spikelet, minutely striate.
Paspalum notatum Flugge, Monogr. Pasp. 106. 1810. P.
taphrophyllum Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 19. 1854. P. saltense Arech.
Anal. Mus. Nac. Montevideo 1: 53. 1894.
Open ground and savannas, up to 1,500 meters; Alta Verapaz;
Santa Rosa; Guatemala. Southern United States (introduced);
Mexico and the West Indies to Argentina.
Rhizomatous perennial forming dense sods; culms 15-50 cm. high, flattened,
glabrous; leaves crowded toward the base, the lower sheaths short, overlapping,
those of the culm few, elongate; sheaths keeled, compressed, glabrous or sometimes
pubescent, the margins often ciliate toward the summit; ligule very short, mem-
branaceous; blades 2-30 cm. long, 3-10 mm. wide, glabrous, the margins ciliate
at least toward the base; racemes 2 or rarely 3, 2.5-12 cm. long, subconjugate,
ascending, more or less arcuate, the rachis about 1 mm. wide; spikelets 2.5-3.8
mm. long, solitary, ovate or obovate; glume and sterile lemma equal, firm, smooth
and shining; fruit 2.5-3.5 mm. long, oval.
Paspalum nutans Lam. Tabl. Encycl. 1: 175. 1791. P. cur-
vistachyus Raddi, Agrost. Bras. 26. 1823. Paspalus singularis Link,
Hort. Berol. 1 : 48. 1827. P. lloydii Nash, N. Amer. Fl. 17: 178. 1912.
Damp thickets, forests, and sandy seashores, up to 1,000 meters;
Izabal; Chimaltenango; Retalhuleu. British Honduras (El Cayo
District); Leeward Islands; Honduras to Colombia, French Guiana,
and Brazil.
Perennial; culms 25-90 cm. long, erect from a decumbent base, spreading
or creeping, freely branching, rooting at the lower nodes; sheaths shorter than
the internodes or the lower ones overlapping, compressed, keeled, glabrous, the
margins usually ciliate; blades 4-16 cm. long, 5-15 mm. wide, lanceolate, acu-
minate, rounded at the base, glabrous or pubescent, with a few coarse hairs on
the upper surface at the base, the margins scabrous and often more or less papil-
lose-ciliate; peduncles 1-4 from the terminal sheaths, finally elongate; racemes
1-5, 2-6 cm. long, arcuate, the rachis narrow, glabrous, slightly flexuous, with
a few long hairs at the base; spikelets paired, 1.8-2 mm. long, obovate, glabrous;
first glume usually obsolete; second glume obtuse, about three-fourths as long as
the spikelet; fruit as long as the sterile lemma, pale, striate.
Paspalum orbiculatum Poir. in Lam. Encycl. 5: 32. 1804.
P. pusillum Vent, ex Flugge, Monogr. Pasp. 100. 1810. P. serpens
Presl ex Trin. Gram. Pan. 102. 1826. P. lenormandi Husn. Enum.
Glum. 12. 1871.
288 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Moist places on sandy or clay banks, stream margins, and along
trails in forests, at low altitudes; Pete*n; Alta Verapaz; Izabal.
British Honduras; southern Mexico and the West Indies to Ecuador,
Brazil, and Paraguay.
Stoloniferous perennial; culms 10-60 cm. long, slender, creeping, rooting
at the nodes, the ascending branches 10-25 cm. long, the internodes usually short,
the nodes glabrous or appressed-pubescent; sheaths usually shorter than the inter-
nodes, compressed, glabrous, the margins ciliate toward the summit; blades 1-6
cm. long, 1.5-7 mm. wide, spreading, glabrous or minutely pubescent; racemes
2-7, approximate, ascending or spreading, 1-2 cm. or rarely 3 cm. long, the rachis
narrowly winged, 0.5-0.8 mm. wide, the peduncle included or short-exserted ;
spikelets 1-1.2 mm. long, ovoid, minutely pointed, glabrous or rarely pubescent,
greenish-golden, the margins of the sterile lemma somewhat raised; fruit 0.9-1
mm. long, smooth and shining.
Paspalum paniculatum L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 2: 855. 1759.
P. hemisphericum Poir. Encycl. 5: 31. 1804. P. strictum Pers. Syn.
PI. 1: 86. 1805. Paspalum compressicaulis Raddi, Agrost. Bras.
29. 1823. Paspalum paniculatum /3 rigidum Schlecht. ex Fourn.
Mex. PI. 2: 9. 1886. P. cordovense Fourn. Mex. PL 2: 9. 1886.
Zacate.
Open slopes, swamps, openings in forests, along ditches, often
in cultivated places, usually at low altitudes, rarely up to 1,500
meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Santa Rosa; Huehuetenango; Suchi-
tepe"quez; Quezaltenango; San Marcos. British Honduras; Mexico
and the West Indies to Argentina; also in West Africa, the Society
Islands, and Queensland, Australia, probably introduced.
Perennial; culms densely tufted, 0.3 to more than 2 meters high, coarse, leafy,
erect or ascending, sometimes decumbent at the base and rooting at the lower
nodes, finally branching, the nodes glabrous to conspicuously bearded with stiff
ascending hairs; sheaths mostly longer than the internodes, keeled, papillose-
hispid, sometimes only on the collar and along the margins, colored orange-brown
on the inner surface; ligule 1-3 mm. long; blades 9-50 cm. long, 6-25 mm. wide,
usually rounded at the base, densely hispid on both surfaces to nearly glabrous,
with a tuft of long hairs on each side at the base, the margins scabrous, more or
less hispid-ciliate; inflorescence 5-30 cm. long, composed of 7-60 approximate,
solitary or somewhat fascicled racemes, the lower ones 4-12 cm. long, ascending
or arcuate-spreading; spikelets paired, 1.3-1.5 mm. long, densely crowded; second
glume and sterile lemma equal, barely covering the fruit, softly pubescent, the
sterile lemma wooly pubescent only on the margins.
Paspalum peckii Hubb. Proc. Amer. Acad. 49: 495. 1913.
Known only from the type collected on pine ridges at Manatee
Lagoon, Belize District, British Honduras (Peck 71).
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 289
Perennial; culms tufted, erect, about 75 cm. high, the nodes sparsely pubes-
cent; sheaths keeled, overlapping, glabrous except the pilose margins; blades
long-acuminate, 14-30 cm. long, 5-8 mm. wide, sparsely puberulent on both
surfaces; racemes 2 or 3, falcate, 6-13 cm. long, the rachis about 2 mm. wide;
spikelets paired, 2.7 mm. long, glabrous; first glume of the primary spikelet
obsolete or nearly so, that of the secondary as much as half the length of the
spikelet; second glume shorter than the fruit, the sterile lemma slightly exceeding it.
Paspalum pectinatum Nees in Trin. Gram. Icon. 1: pi. 117.
1828. Anastrophus pectinatus Schlecht. ex Jacks. Ind. Kew. 1:
118. 1893.
Sandy pinelands, Toledo and El Cayo districts, British Honduras.
Not known from Guatemala. Southern Mexico (Oaxaca); Hon-
duras; Costa Rica; Panama; Colombia to Surinam and southern
Brazil.
Perennial; culms in coarse tufts 30-100 cm. high, simple, erect, glabrous;
lower sheaths crowded, firm, reddish, harshly villous toward the summit, smooth
and shining toward the base; ligule firm, about 1 mm. long; blades 12-60 cm. long,
3-5 mm. wide, the uppermost reduced, erect or nearly so, densely harshly villous;
racemes usually 2, sometimes 1 or 3, erect or ascending, 4-8 cm. long, the rachis
1.8-2.3 mm. wide, the margins irregular, densely villous with rather coarse hairs
at the base; spikelets 4.5-6 mm. long, solitary, imbricate; glume and sterile
lemma flat, cordate-lanceolate, the sterile lemma narrower and shorter than the
glume, sparsely tuberculate-hispid on the back, the thickened margins tuberculate-
ciliate with stiff spreading hairs 2-3 mm. long; fruit 4.2-4.5 mm. long, lanceolate,
obtuse, the lemma and palea rather thin, the lemma shortly ciliate toward the
summit.
Paspalum pilosum Lam. Tabl. Encycl. 1: 175. 1791. Panicum
monostachyum H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 96. 1815. Dimorpho-
stachys monostachya Fourn. Mex. PL 2: 14. 1896. D. pilosa Fourn.
Mex. PI. 2: 14. 1886.
Sandy pine uplands, Mountain Pine Ridge, El Cayo District,
British Honduras, locally abundant. Not known from Guatemala.
Costa Rica; Panama; Colombia to Bolivia and Brazil.
Perennial; culms 40-115 cm. high, erect or ascending, simple or sparingly
branched from the middle nodes, the nodes densely short pubescent or nearly
glabrous; sheaths shorter than the internodes, keeled, from glabrous to papillose-
pilose, hairy on the collar, the margins rather densely ciliate; ligule membra-
naceous, 1-1.5 mm. long; blades 10-40 cm. long, 3-10 mm. wide, stiff, somewhat
spreading, densely pilose on both surfaces, the hairs rather stiff, the margins
scabrous; peduncles 1-4, from the upper and middle sheaths, elongate or almost
included; racemes solitary, 6-17 cm. long, arcuate, the rachis narrowly winged,
the margins scabrous, more or less ciliate; spikelets paired, crowded, 2.6-3 mm.
long, elliptic, glabrous; first glume small or as much as half as long as the spikelet,
rarely obsolete; second glume and sterile lemma firm, subequal, or the second
290 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
glume a little shorter, exposing the fruit, the lemma enclosing a palea and some-
times a staminate flower.
Paspalum plenum Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 28: 202. /.
122. 1929.
Wet ground and grassy places around lakes, 1,350-1,600 meters;
Alta Verapaz; Jalapa. Southern Mexico; Honduras; Costa Rica;
Colombia; Venezuela; Peru.
Robust perennial; culms in large clumps, simple, erect, 1-2.5 meters high;
sheaths much longer than the internodes, glabrous, or hairy on the margins
and on the collar, the lower ones loose, spongy, strongly reticulate, at least in
drying; blades 30-90 cm. long, or the uppermost shorter, 1.5-2.5 cm. wide, acumi-
nate or attenuate, strongly hispid-serrate on the margins; panicle erect or nodding,
18-40 cm. long, with numerous, rather crowded, ascending to finally drooping
racemes, the lower ones 8-18 cm. long, gradually shorter upward; rachis 1.2-1.5
mm. wide, ciliate with long stiff hairs; spikelets 2.5-3 mm. long, obovate-elliptic,
usually dark purple; second glume and sterile lemma equal, thin, acutish, the
glume pubescent on the margins and toward the summit, the lemma glabrous
or nearly so.
Paspalum plicatulum Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer. 1: 45. 1803.
P. undulatum Poir. in Lam. Encycl. 5: 29. 1804. P. lenticular e
H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 92. 1815. P. montevidense Spreng. Syst.
Veg. 1: 246. 1825. P. antillense Husnot, Bull. Soc. Linn. Norman.
II. 5: 260. 1871. P. pauperculum Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 10. 1886. P.
pauperculum var. altius Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 10. 1886.
Open banks, wet thickets, pine and oak woods, pastures, and
waste places, up to 1,600 meters; Pete'n; Alta Verapaz; Izabal;
Zacapa; Chiquimula; Jalapa; Santa Rosa; Guatemala; Solola;
Huehuetenango; Retalhuleu. Southeastern United States and the
West Indies to Argentina.
Perennial; culms in small tufts, mostly 0.5-1 meter high, erect or ascending,
simple or sparingly branched, glabrous; sheaths longer than the internodes,
keeled, glabrous or sparsely papillose-pilose; ligule 2-3 mm. long, brown, truncate;
blades as much as 50 cm. long, 3-10 mm. wide, firm, flat, or folded, glabrous
or sparsely papillose-pilose on the upper surface, especially along the margins;
racemes few to several, usually arcuate-spreading, 2-10 cm. long with a tuft
of long hairs at the base, these sometimes nearly wanting; spikelets 2.5-2.8 mm.
long, paired, glabrous or appressed-pubescent, the sterile lemma cross-wrinkled
near the margins; fruit dark brown, smooth and shining.
Paspalum pulchellum Kunth, Mem. Mus. Hist. Nat. 2: 68.
1815. Reimaria elegans Humb. & Bonpl. ex Flugge, Monogr. Pasp.
216: 1810. Not Paspalum elegans Flugge. P. arenicolum C. Muell.
Bot. Zeit. 19: 325. 1861.
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 291
Savannas and open pine ridges; Pete"n; Izabal. British Hon-
duras (Belize and Toledo districts); West Indies; Venezuela to
French Guiana and northern Brazil.
Perennial; culms in small dense clumps, very slender, erect, 25-70 cm. high;
lower sheaths crowded, overlapping, the upper ones much shorter than the elon-
gate internodes; blades flat, becoming involute, attenuate, as much as 20 cm. long,
1-4 mm. wide, pilose, the uppermost much reduced; racemes 2-4, 2-9 cm. long,
erect or ascending, the rachis with a dense tuft of hairs at the base; spikelets
1.7-2 mm. long, solitary, the glumes wanting, the sterile lemma equaling the
fruit, glabrous, usually purple-tinged.
Paspalum repens Bergius, Act. Helv. Phys. Math. 7: 129.
pi. 7. 1762. P. gracile Rudge, PI. Guian. 20. pi. 26. 1805. P. pyram-
idale Nees, Agrost. Bras. 77. 1829. Cymatochloa repens Schlecht. Bot.
Zeit. 12: 822. 1854. C. pyramidalis Schlecht. ex Doell in Mart.
Fl. Bras. 2 (2): 98. 1877.
In water around Lago Guija, Jutiapa (Steyermark 31826).
British Honduras; southern Mexico (Tabasco); Jamaica, and Trin-
idad to Peru, Brazil, and northern Argentina.
Aquatic perennial; culms submerged, spongy, with long roots at the nodes
and numerous floating branches, the nodes glabrous or sometimes hispid; sheaths
longer than the internodes, inflated except the uppermost on the branches, soft,
papery, glabrous or sparsely papillose-hispid, auriculate; ligule 1-2 mm. long,
brown; blades 10-27 cm. long, 1.2-2.5 cm. wide, thin, flat, scabrous; panicles
10-20 cm. long, shortly exserted; racemes numerous, mostly 3-5 cm. long, spread-
ing or even reflexed, the rachis about 1.5 mm. wide, scabrous, acuminate, extending
beyond the spikelets, naked for a short distance at the base; spikelets 1.7-2 mm.
long, solitary, somewhat crowded, whitish, glabrous; glume and sterile lemma
thin, pointed beyond the fruit.
Paspalum scabrum Scribn. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Bull.
4:36. pi. 3. 1897.
Known in Guatemala only from the type, from Chupadero, Santa
Rosa (Heyde & Lux 1892). Colombia; Venezuela; Ecuador; Bolivia.
Annual; culms elongate, ascending or spreading, branching, strongly retro rsely
scabrous, the nodes densely retro rsely bearded with short hairs; sheaths loose,
scabrous, those of the branches longer than the internodes; blades 5-10 cm. long,
1-2.4 cm. wide, lanceolate-elliptic, papillose-hispid; panicles 11-20 cm. long, com-
posed of numerous subfascicled racemes, these 1.5-5 cm. long, spreading, falling
entire, the rachis about 2 mm. wide, scabrous; spikelets 1.8-1.9 mm. long, solitary,
somewhat distant, oblong-elliptic; second glume wanting; sterile lemma as long
as the fruit, thin, whitish, glabrous.
Paspalum serpentinum Hochst. ex Steud. Syn. PL Glum. 1:
22. 1854. P. argyrocondylon Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 22. 1854.
292 FIELD IANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
P. maculosum var. rotundiflorum Doell in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2 (2):
72. 1877.
Pinelands, Baker's Pine Ridge, Belize District, British Honduras,
the only record from North America. Trinidad; Venezuela; British
Guiana; Surinam; Brazil (Para and Maranhao).
Perennial; culms tufted, erect, 55-65 cm. tall; sheaths pilose, the lowermost
densely appressed-villous; blades erect, flat, becoming involute, 10-20 cm. long,
1-3 mm. wide, papillose-pilose, the upper ones greatly reduced; racemes 2 (rarely
1), approximate, 4-6 cm. long, narrowly ascending; spikelets solitary, 2.5 mm. long,
subcircular, variously spotted or lined with reddish brown; second glume and
sterile lemma equal, slightly exceeding the fruit, glabrous.
Paspalum squamulatum Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 11. 1886. P.
sumichrasti Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 11. 1886.
Oak woods, wet thickets, shady ravines, meadows and open
banks, 500-1,600 meters; Alta Verapaz; Jalapa; Guatemala; Solola;
Chimaltenango; Suchitepe"quez. Mexico; Nicaragua; Costa Rica;
Panama.
Perennial; culms at first erect, straggling, branching, rooting at the lower
nodes, 15-90 cm. long; sheaths shorter than the internodes, loose, ciliate on the
margins, usually pubescent on the collar; blades 5-15 cm. long, 3-15 mm. wide,
narrowed toward the rounded base, pilose or papillose-pilose to nearly glabrous;
racemes 2-13, usually 5-6, 1.5-6 cm. long, ascending or spreading, the lower
somewhat distant, the upper approximate; spikelets 1.6-1.9 mm. long, elliptic-
obovate, obtuse, glabrous; second glume and sterile lemma obtuse, 3-nerved,
the glume shorter than the fruit, the lemma equaling the fruit.
Paspalum stellatum Humb. & Bonpl. in Flugge, Monogr.
Pasp. 62. 1810. Paspalum stellatus var. monostach/yus Nees, Agrost.
Bras. 78. 1829. Paspalum splendens var. sphacelatum Hack. Oesterr.
Bot. Zeitschr. 51: 239. 1901.
Dry, rocky, grassy or pine-clad slopes, 250-1,000 meters; Zacapa;
Jalapa. Hispaniola; southern Mexico to Argentina.
Perennial; culms 40-80 cm. high, erect, simple, glabrous or appressed-pubes-
cent toward the summit; sheaths mostly longer than the internodes, the lower
papillose-hirsute, the upper nearly glabrous; ligule membranaceous, ciliate, about
0.5 mm. long; blades 8-25 cm. long, 2-3 mm. wide, the uppermost reduced,
involute-setaceous or flat toward the base, papillose-pilose or the lower surface
glabrous; racemes 2.5-10 cm. long, solitary or paired, ascending, the rachis 5-7 mm.
wide, golden brown or purplish, the short peduncle pubescent; spikelets about
3 mm. long, solitary, closely imbricate on short radiately pilose pedicels; glume
and sterile lemma subequal, the margins fringed with white hairs, those on the
upper half much exceeding the spikelet; fruit 2 mm. long, minutely stipitate,
smooth and shining.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 293
Paspalum tenellum Willd. Enum. PI. 89. 1809. P. elegans
Flugge, Monogr. Pasp. 183. 1810. P. pubescens Lag. Gen. & Sp.
Nov. 2. 1816. P. lagascae Roem. & Schult. Syst. Veg. 2: 317. 1817.
P. liebmanni Fourn. Mex. PL 2: 11. 1886.
Moist thickets, grassy plains, rocky slopes, and along ditches
and roadsides, 1,300-2,100 meters; Alta Verapaz; Guatemala;
Chimaltenango. Mexico; El Salvador; Colombia; Ecuador; Brazil.
Perennial; culms erect or ascending from a rather hard knotty base, mostly
30-100 cm. high, simple or finally sparingly branched from the lower nodes;
sheaths usually shorter than the elongate internodes, sparsely to densely papillose-
pilose; blades 8-25 cm. long, 8-21 mm. wide, rounded at the base, sparsely to
densely papillose-pilose, the uppermost greatly reduced; inflorescence long-
exserted, of 3-17 ascending to spreading, rather thick racemes, the lower 2-8 cm.
long; spikelets 1.9-2.1 mm. long, obovate-elliptic, paired, crowded; second glume
and sterile lemma equal, covering the fruit, densely papillose-pubescent, becom-
ing tinged with purple.
Paspalum tinctum Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 28: 62.
1929.
Along pool in meadow along creek, "Los Pinitos," just southeast
of Huehuetenango, Dept. Huehuetenango, 2,000 meters, Steyermark
48144. Central and southern Mexico.
Perennial; culms rather coarse, erect or somewhat decumbent at the base,
1-1.5 meters high, glabrous; sheaths compressed, longer than the internodes,
pubescent on the margins toward the summit or glabrous; blades 15-40 cm. long,
4-7 mm. wide, conduplicate at the base, sparsely pilose on the upper surface
or glabrous; panicles 15-25 cm. long, composed of 9-20 ascending or spreading,
somewhat flexuous racemes, the lower ones 5-7 cm. long, the others gradually
shorter; rachis 1.5-2 mm. wide, dark green or purple; spikelets 2.8-3 mm. long,
densely imbricate, elliptic-obovate; glume and sterile lemma equal, green tinged
with purple, sparsely pubescent to nearly glabrous; fruit 2.6 mm. long, elliptic,
pale, smooth.
Paspalum trachycoleon Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 28. 1854.
Open or brushy slopes, 700 meters; Alta Verapaz (Piedra Blanca
de Qualan, Pittier 1788). Type from Venezuela (Funck 742). Hon-
duras; El Salvador; Colombia; Venezuela; Brazil.
Perennial; culms clambering or trailing, 1-2 meters long, somewhat woody,
branching, the nodes bearded; sheaths shorter tha the internodes, papillose-
hirsute or the upper nearly glabrous; blades 10-18 cm. long, 8-15 mm. wide,
acuminate, softly pubescent on both surfaces; racemes 5-14, approximate, 3-6
cm. long, ascending, the rachis 4-5 mm. wide, thin, reticulate-veined; spikelets
2.2-2.5 mm. long, imbricate, abruptly pointed; second glume and sterile lemma
equal, about as long as the fruit, the glume pilose on the back, the margins densely
294 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
ciliate, some of the hairs toward the summit much longer and coarser than the
others, the lemma glabrous; fruit acuminate, pilose at the tip.
Paspalum urvillei Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 24. 1854. P.
larranagai Arech. Anal. Mus. Nac. Montevideo 1: 60. pi. 2. 1894.
P. vaseyanum Scribn. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Bull. 17: 32.
/. 328. 1899. Vasey grass. Figure 79.
Along ditches around Puerto Barrios, Izabal, undoubtedly in-
troduced. Brazil to Argentina; introduced in southeastern United
States, southern California, Cuba, Hawaiian Islands, and various
South American countries.
Perennial; culms in small to large clumps, as much as 2.5 meters high; sheaths
keeled toward the summit, the lower ones hirsute or nearly glabrous; blades
mostly 15-30 cm. long, 3-15 mm. wide, densely long-pilose at the base, the margins
scabrous; racemes 6-25, ascending to drooping, the lower 7-14 cm. long, the upper
gradually shorter; spikelets 2-3 mm. long, ovate, abruptly acute; second glume
and sterile lemma equal, pointed beyond the fruit, both conspicuously fringed
with long white hairs, otherwise pilose or the lemma nearly glabrous.
Paspalum vaginatum Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 21. 1788.
Digitaria foliosa Lag. Gen. & Sp. Nov. 4. 1816. Paspalum tri-
stachyum LeConte, Jour, de Phys. Chym. 91: 285. 1820. P. foliosum
Kunth, ReV. Gram. 1 : 25. 1829. P. kleineanum Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1 :
209. 1830. P. inflatum A. Rich, in Sagra, Hist. Cuba 11: 298. 1850.
P. distichum var. vaginatum Swartz ex Griseb. Fl. Brit. W. Ind.
541. 1864. P. vaginatum var. nanum Doell in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2
(2): 75. 1877. P. reimarioides Chapm. Fl. South. U. S. 665. 1883.
Moist, sandy lake shores and seacoasts, near sea level; Izabal;
Chiquimula; San Marcos. Southeastern United States and Baja
California to Argentina and Chile; West Indies; tropics and sub-
tropics of the Eastern Hemisphere.
Rhizomatous stoloniferous perennial; culms 10-60 cm. high, erect or ascending,
strongly compressed, simple or branching, glabrous; stolons as much as 1 meter
long, slender to rather stout with short internodes, the sheaths bladeless or with
short reflexed blades; sheaths of the culms longer than the internodes, loose,
keeled, pilose in the throat; ligule membranaceous, about 0.5 mm. long; blades
2.5-15 cm. commonly about 10 cm. long, 3-8 mm. wide, narrower than the mouth
of the sheath, gradually naKrowed to a more or less involute tip, conspicuously
distichous; racemes usually 2, sometimes 3-5, 1.5-7.5 cm. long, conjugate or
approximate, erect to spreading or reflexed, somewhat falcate; spikelets 3-4.5 mm.
long, solitary, imbricate, acute, glabrous; first glume rarely developed; second
glume and sterile lemma equal, thin, the lemma transversely undulate; fruit
2.5-3 mm. long, obovate, acute.
FIG. 79. Paspalum urvillei. Plant, X l& two views of spikelet, and floret, X 10.
295
296 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Paspalum virgatum L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 2: 855. 1759. P.
leucocheilum Wright, Anal. Acad. Cienc. Habana 8: 203. 1871; Fl.
Cub. 194. 1873. P. lagascae var. virgatum Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI.
3 (3): 362. 1898.
Swamps, brackish marshes, and moist banks, up to 900 meters;
Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Chiquimula; Jutiapa; Santa Rosa; Escuintla.
British Honduras; Texas, Mexico, and the West Indies to Argentina.
Coarse leafy perennial; culms in large clumps, 1-2 meters high, erect, simple;
sheaths longer than the internodes, glabrous or sparsely hirsute on the collar
and along the margins, the upper keeled, the lower ones spongy reticulate, pur-
plish; ligule 1.5-2 mm. long; blades 30-75 cm. long, 1-2 cm. wide, firm, flat,
the margins serrulate; inflorescence 12-40 cm. long, composed of few to many
thick ascending to drooping racemes, the lower ones mostly 10-15 cm. rarely
20 cm. long; rachis 1-1.5 mm. wide with a tuft of long hairs at the base, the
margins very scabrous; spikelets 2.2-3 mm. long, paired, crowded, obovate,
abruptly pointed, glabrous or pubescent, with silky hairs on the margins especially
toward the summit; fruit 2-2.2 mm. long, chestnut-brown, striate.
PENNISETUM L. Rich.
Spikelets solitary or in groups of 2 or 3, the groups enclosed in a fascicle
of bristles, these united only at the base, often plumose, falling attached to the
spikelets; first glume much shorter than the spikelet, sometimes minute or wanting,
thin, 1-nerved; second glume and sterile lemma subequal, or the glume a little
shorter, 5-nerved; fruit subindurate, smooth and shining, the margins of the
lemma thin and flat.
Annuals or perennials, sometimes rather woody, with flat blades and dense
spikelet panicles.
Species about 80, in the tropics and subtropics of both hemi-
spheres.
Spikelets 2 or more in each fascicle.
Innermost bristle of the fascicle much stouter and longer than the others,
2-5 cm. long P. vulcanicum.
Innermost bristle not conspicuously stouter and longer than the others, not
more than 2 cm. long. Introduced species P. purpureum.
Spikelets solitary in each fascicle.
Culms sparingly branching; panicles terminal on the main culm and branches
only.
Bristles conspicuously plumose P. setosum.
Bristles not plumose.
Sterile lemma enclosing a palea and sometimes a staminate flower; inner-
most bristle stouter and longer than the others P. complanatum.
Sterile lemma empty; innermost bristle not stouter and longer than the
others . .P. nervosum.
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 297
Culms freely branching; panicles terminal and axillary, usually numerous.
Bristles numerous, about twice as long as the spikelets; sterile lemma enclosing
a well-developed palea and usually a staminate flower ... P. bambusiforme.
Bristles few, most of them not exceeding the spikelet; sterile lemma empty.
P. distachyum.
Pennisetum bambusiforme (Fourn.) Hemsl. ex Jacks. Ind.
Kew. 2: 458. 1894. Gymnothrix bambusiformis Fourn. Mex. PI. 2:
48. 1886. Pennisetum tristachyum var. bambusiforme Leeke, Zeitschr.
Naturw. 79: 33. 1907.
Wet thickets, damp forests, moist banks, and rocky slopes,
1,200-2,800 meters; Alta Verapaz; Zacapa; Chimaltenango; Solola;
Quezaltenango; San Marcos. Southern Mexico; El Salvador;
Honduras; Costa Rica; Colombia and Venezuela to Peru.
Perennial; culms commonly 1-2 meters or sometimes as much as 6 meters
high, freely branching from the upper nodes, the branches in small fascicles,
repeatedly branching; blades of the main culm 20-35 cm. long, 2-3.5 cm. wide,
narrowed toward the base, pilose or sometimes scabrous or nearly glabrous, those
of the ultimate branches much smaller; panicles 5-12 cm. long, about 1 cm. wide,
pale tinged with purple, the peduncles slender, flexuous; fascicles ascending,
scarcely crowded, the bristles slender, very unequal, mostly about twice the
length of the spikelet; spikelets 5-6 mm. long, scabrous; first glume minute, obtuse,
the second about one-third the length of the spikelet; sterile lemma longer than
the fruit, attenuate, enclosing a well-developed palea and usually a staminate
flower; fruit 4.5-5 mm. long, acuminate, scabrous.
Pennisetum ciliare (L.) Link, Hort. Berol. 1: 213. 1827.
Cenchrus ciliaris L. Mant. PI. 302. 1771.
This species has been reported from Guatemala, based on a speci-
men collected on rocky slopes at El Obraje, Zacapa, Pittier 1751.
It is not the African species, but seems to be related to P. karwinskyi
Schrad. It may represent a distinct species.
Pennisetum complanatum (Nees) Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Amer.
Bot. 3: 507. 1885. Gymnothrix complanata Nees, Bonplandia 3: 83.
1855. G. mexicana Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 48. 1886. G. grisebachiana
Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 48. 1886. Pennisetum mexicanum Hemsl. ex
Jacks. Ind. Kew. 2: 458. 1894.
Pine and pine-oak forests, damp thickets, wooded or brushy
slopes, dry hills and open places, 1,000-2,500 meters; Alta Verapaz;
Izabal; Jalapa; Guatemala; Sacatepe"quez; Chimaltenango; Quiche";
Suchitepe"quez; Quezaltenango. Common. Southern Mexico (Vera-
cruz) to Panama.
298 FIELDI ANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Coarse, somewhat woody perennial; culms erect or ascending from strong
rhizomes, sometimes geniculate at the lower nodes, simple, or sparingly branching,
mostly 1-2 meters high, sometimes dwarf; sheaths usually as long as or longer
than the internodes, loose, keeled toward the summit, glabrous, or the margins
pilose above; ligule densely ciliate, about 2 mm. long; blades elongate, attenuate,
5-8 mm. or even 10 mm. wide, very scabrous; panicles 7-16 cm. long, nodding
or flexuous, the spikelets pale, the bristles tawny or purple; fascicles ascending,
containing 1 spikelet, the bristles usually numerous, slender, 12-15 mm. long,
the innermost stouter, 15-25 mm. long; spikelets 6-7 mm. long, acuminate,
minutely scabrous; first glume thin, 1-nerved, acute or obtuse, about one-third
as long as the spikelet; second glume 5-nerved, three-fourths as long as the spikelet;
sterile lemma 5-nerved, acuminate, a little shorter than the fruit, enclosing a palea
and sometimes a staminate flower; fruit acuminate, the lemma scabrous above,
the palea pubescent, the tip not enclosed.
Pennisetum distachyum (Fourn.) Rupr. Bull. Acad. Sci. Brux.
9(2): 242. 1842, nomen nudum; Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 22:
229. 1921. Gymnothrix distachya Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 48. 1886.
Moist thickets and pastures, 1,000-1,500 meters; Alta Verapaz.
Southern Mexico; Costa Rica.
Robust perennial very similar in habit to P. bambusiforme; bristles scant,
inconspicuous, mostly shorter than the spikelet, the innermost about twice as long
as the spikelet; spikelets crowded, 4.5-5.5 mm. long; sterile palea wanting.
Pennisetum nervosum (Nees) Trin. Me"m. Acad. St. Pe"tersb.
VI. Sci. Nat. 1: 177. 1834. Gymnothrix nervosa Nees, Agrost. Bras.
277. 1829.
Little Cocquericot, Belize River, El Cayo District, British Hon-
duras, Lundell 3867. Mexico (San Luiz Potosi, Veracruz) ; Ecuador
and Brazil to Argentina.
Perennial; culms coarse, decumbent at the base, rather hard and woody,
commonly 1-3 meters long; sheaths loose, glabrous, usually much shorter than
the internodes; blades elongate, 8-15 mm. wide, scabrous; panicles 12-20 cm. long,
12-15 mm. wide, dense, flexuous at maturity, the numerous closely arranged
fascicles ascending to finally reflexed, the slender scabrous bristles as much as
15 mm. long; spikelets solitary, sessile, 6-7 mm. long; sterile lemma empty; fruit
subindurate, attenuate, minutely roughened.
Pennisetum purpureum Schumach. Beskr. Guin. PI. 64. 1827.
Napier grass.
Probably cultivated for forage, sometimes escaped; Jalapa;
Escuintla. Introduced from Africa.
Perennial; culms erect, robust, branching, 2-4 meters high; blades elongate,
2-4 cm. wide, or smaller on the branches, scabrous; panicles 10-25 cm. long,
dense, tawny, the axis densely pilose; fascicles numerous, sessile, finally spreading,
FIG. 80. Pennisetum seiosum. Plant, X Yi\ two views of spikelet, and
fertile floret, X 10.
299
300 FIELDI ANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
bearing 2 or 3 spikelets, the slender bristles sparsely plumose, unequal, exceeding
the spikelets, the longer ones as much as 2 cm. long.
Pennisetum setosum (Swartz) L. Rich, in Pers. Syn. PL 1:
72. 1805. Cenchrus setosus Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 26. 1788.
Pennisetum purpurascens H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 113. 1815.
P. nicaraguense Fourn. Bull. Soc. Bot. France II. 27: 293. 1880.
Figure 80.
Pine forests, along streams and lake shores, and marshy prairies,
up to about 1,600 meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Zacapa; Jalapa;
Jutiapa; Guatemala. Southern Florida; West Indies; southern
Mexico to Bolivia and Brazil.
Coarse perennial in large loose clumps; culms erect or ascending, sometimes
geniculate at the lower nodes, bearing 1 to several branches from the lower and
middle nodes, glabrous; sheaths much shorter than the internodes, usually glabrous
or occasionally papillose-hirsute, sometimes ciliate on the margins near the summit;
blades 10-40 cm. long, 4-18 mm. wide, long-acuminate, scabrous to densely
papillose-hirsute, papillose-hispid on the margins near the base; panicles 10-25
cm. long, dense, usually somewhat nodding, pale yellow to purple or brown,
the axis slender, obscurely scabrous; fascicles ascending to reflexed at maturity,
containing 1 spikelet; bristles appressed to the spikelet, unequal, the outer ones
slender, shorter than the spikelet, the inner ones stouter, as much as 12 mm. long,
densely plumose below, scabrous above; spikelets 3.2-4 mm. long, sessile; first
glume minute or obsolete; second glume longer than the sterile lemma, acuminate
or obscurely lobed; sterile lemma truncate at the apex, the palea well developed
and sometimes containing a staminate flower; fruit indurate, 2-3 mm. long,
smooth and shining, the lemma and palea ciliate at the apex.
Pennisetum vulcanicum Chase, Jour. Washington Acad. Sci.
13: 363. 1923. Torsdn (Zacapa); Gusanillo (Jutiapa).
Damp thickets and rocky slopes, up to 1,200 meters; Jutiapa;
Zacapa. El Salvador; Costa Rica.
Perennial; culms erect, 1-1.5 meters high, sparingly branching, somewhat
compressed, glabrous; sheaths keeled, papillose-pilose or nearly glabrous, usually
much longer than the internodes; blades 20-45 cm. long, 5-8 mm. wide, attenuate,
papillose-pilose on the upper surface; panicles 10-17 cm. long, dense, interrupted
toward the base, the fascicles finally spreading or reflexed; bristles numerous,
the outer ones slender, scabrous, the inner ones flattened, plumose, 1-1.5 cm. long,
the innermost much stouter, 2-5 cm. long; spikelets 3-5 in each fascicle, only one
or two well developed; spikelets 6-9 mm. long, scabrous; sterile lemma enclosing
a well-developed palea and staminate flower; fertile lemma subindurate, attenuate.
PENTARRHAPHIS H.B.K.
Spikes densely hairy, composed of two perfect 2-flowered spikelets, the lower
one sometimes reduced to two slender bristles, the rachis bifid, prolonged beyond
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA
301
the spikelets as two hairy bristles; glumes villous, the first bristle-like, the second
lanceolate, awned; lemmas deeply 3-lobed, the lobes awned; palea about as long
as the lemma, bifid, the teeth aristate.
Slender, densely tufted perennial grasses with mostly basal leaves and few
to several short, obovate, spreading spikes, evenly arranged, alternate on opposite
sides of a flattened rachis, falling entire.
Species 2, in Mexico and Central America, one of them also
in Colombia.
FIG. 81. Pentarrhaphis scabra, X
302 FIELD IANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Pentarrhaphis scabra H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 178. pi. 60.
1816. Polyschistis paupercula Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 294. pi. 41, f- 12.
1830. Pentarrhaphis paupercula Hack. & Scribn. Bull. Torrey Club
17: 233. 1890. Figure 81.
Shallow soil on rock outcrops, to about 1,500 meters; Pete"n;
Santa Rosa; Quiche"; Huehuetenango. Southern Mexico; Honduras;
Colombia.
Culms erect, or sometimes geniculate at the lower nodes, 10-30 cm. high,
glabrous, the upper internodes elongate; sheaths rounded, glabrous, sometimes
sparsely villous at the throat; ligule very short, minutely erose; blades flat or
loosely involute, 3-5 cm. long, those of the culm about 1 cm. long, not more than
1 mm. wide, glabrous or scaberulous; spikes mostly 8-12, 6-8 mm. long, usually
ascending, composed of one fertile spikelet and a group of five bristles, two of these
being the bifid prolongation of the rachis, two a rudimentary spikelet, and one
the first glume of the fertile spikelet; second glume of the fertile spikelet 3 mm.
long, the scabrous awn from between the teeth, about 2 mm. long; lemma about
4 mm. long, deeply 3-lobed, sparsely hairy, the awns stout, scabrous, 3 mm. long;
palea equaling the lemma, the teeth aristate.
PEREILEMA Presl
Spikelets 1-flowered, in dense fascicles along the axis of a panicle, surrounded
by numerous sterile spikelets in the form of bristles; rachilla disarticulating above
the glumes, not produced beyond the floret; glumes equal, 1-nerved, thin, minutely
lobed, awned from between the lobes, the awn slender, straight; lemma terete,
pilose below, minutely bifid, the midnerve extending into a slender, flexuous,
thread-like awn longer than the bristles; palea as long as the lemma, the keels
approximate.
Annuals with narrow flat blades and dense interrupted panicles of small,
awned spikelets.
Species 3, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America.
Lemma 1.5 mm. long P. crinitum.
Lemma 2-3 mm. long P. beyrichianum.
Pereilema beyrichianum (Kunth) Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Nat.
Herb. 24: 385. 1927. Muhlenbergia beyrichiana Kunth, Enum. PL
1: 200. 1833. Pereilema brasilianum Trin. Me"m. Acad. St. Pe"tersb.
VI. Sci. Nat. 4: 136. 1841; 382. 1845.
Damp shaded bank, lower slopes of Volcan de Tecuamburro,
Santa Rosa, Standley 78575. Costa Rica; Venezuela; Ecuador;
Brazil.
Resembling P. crinitum; panicles less dense, interrupted, the lower branches
distant, spreading to reflexed, 1-2 cm. long; lemma 2-3 mm. long.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA
303
Pereilema crinitum Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 233. pi. 37, f. a. 1830.
Figure 82.
Meadows, pine-oak forests, and brushy slopes, 1,250-1,900
meters; Alta Verapaz; Chiquimula; Jalapa; Jutiapa; Santa Rosa;
Guatemala; Chimaltenango. Mexico to Ecuador.
Annual; culms 10-40 cm. high, erect or decumbent at the base, branching,
especially at the lower nodes; sheaths much longer than the internodes, scabrous,
auriculate, the auricles pubescent; ligule very short, truncate; blades 5-20 cm.
FIG. 82. Pereilema crinitum, X
304 FIELDI ANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
long, 2-4 mm. wide, gradually tapering to a usually long, petiole-like base, sca-
berulous; panicles 3-12 cm. rarely 15 cm. long, narrow, dense, interrupted, the
short branches usually appressed; lemma 1.5 mm. long, scabrous, the very fine
flexuous awn 1-2 cm. long.
PHARUS L.
Spikelets unisexual, 1-flowered, in pairs, one pistillate, sessile, the other
staminate, long-pedicellate, appressed along the panicle branches; staminate
spikelets small; glumes unequal, the first shorter, 1-nerved, the second about as
long as the floret, 3-nerved; lemma acute or subacute; stamens 6; pistillate spikelet
large, terete; glumes short and acuminate to nearly as long as the floret, 3-several-
nerved; lemma becoming indurate with a minute beak, straight or curved, partly
to almost completely covered on the back with uncinate hairs, the margins inrolled,
tightly enclosing the palea; stigmas 3.
Erect or decumbent perennials with broad, thin, petiolate, obliquely nerved,
transversely veined blades and open panicles, the pairs of spikelets appressed
along the branches; main axis short or elongate, terminating in a long slender
bristle, the branch from the base of this bristle continuing the panicle and making
it appear unsymmetrical, this branch articulate at the base and readily decid-
uous.
Species 8, tropical America.
Fruit pubescent only near the tip, slender, 15 mm. long, curved near the summit.
P. latifolius.
Fruit pubescent nearly to the base, plump, straight.
Glumes of pistillate spikelet green, more than half as long as the fruit.
P. virescens.
Glumes of pistillate spikelet reddish brown, not more than half as long as
the fruit.
Culms erect; blades 3.5-4 cm. wide; staminate spikelets 3-4 mm. long.
P. glaber.
Culms decumbent, rooting at the lower nodes; blades 1.5-3 cm. wide; stam-
inate spikelets 2 mm. long P. parvifolius.
Pharus glaber H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 196. 1816.
This species is credited to Guatemala by A. S. Hitchcock (Contr.
U. S. Nat. Herb. 24: 617. 1930), but the record is probably based
on a misidentification. Southern Mexico; El Salvador; Costa Rica;
Panama; West Indies; Colombia to Bolivia, Brazil, and northern
Argentina.
Perennial; culms erect, 50-75 cm. high, glabrous; sheaths glabrous, smooth
and shining; blades broadly lanceolate, mostly 15-18 cm. long, 3.5-4 cm. wide,
gradually tapering toward both ends, acute, glabrous, shining; panicles 15-30 cm.
long, the branches distant, stiffly ascending; staminate spikelets 3-4 mm. long,
glabrous; glumes obtuse, the first one-third, the second about two-thirds as long
as the floret; pistillate spikelets 9-12 mm. long; glumes equal, about half as long
FIG. 83. Pharus latifolius, X
305
306 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
as the fruit, brown, glabrous; fruit plump, straight, densely pubescent to the base,
the pointed glabrous tip about 1 mm. long.
Pharus latifolius L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 2: 1269. 1759. Figure 83.
Moist forests at low altitudes; Alta Verapaz. British Honduras;
West Indies; southern Mexico to Peru and Brazil.
Erect perennial; culms 40-80 cm. high, glabrous; sheaths glabrous, keeled,
all longer than the internodes, the lower ones elongate; blades oblanceolate, 10-30
cm. long, mostly 3.5-8.5 cm. wide, narrowed to a petiolate base, the petiole some-
times as much as 10 cm. long, the tip abruptly acuminate; panicles 10-30 cm. long,
the branches stiffly ascending or spreading, rarely reflexed, sometimes reduced
to a single branch; staminate spikelet 4 mm. long, glabrous or minutely scabrous;
glumes obtuse, the first about 1 mm. long, the second 2.5-3.5 mm. long; pistillate
spikelets 15 mm. long, subsessile or short-pedicellate, appressed; glumes 5-12 mm.
long, acute or subobtuse, the second a little longer than the first; fruit slender,
slightly curved at the tip, densely pubescent near the summit for a short distance,
otherwise glabrous.
Pharus parvifolius Nash, Bull. Torrey Club 35: 301. 1908.
Figure 84.
Moist forests at low altitudes; Pete"n; Izabal. British Honduras;
southern Mexico (Veracruz); Costa Rica; Honduras; Panama; West
Indies; Ecuador; Peru; Paraguay; Brazil.
Perennial; culms decumbent at the base, rooting at the lower nodes, mostly
60-100 cm. long; sheaths much overlapping, keeled, glabrous; blades lanceolate,
acuminate, glabrous, mostly 15-20 cm. long, 15-30 mm. wide; panicles mostly
15-20 cm. long, the pubescent branches and branchlets stiffly and abruptly
ascending to spreading; staminate spikelets 2 mm. long; pistillate spikelets 11-14
mm. long; glumes subequal, acute, about half as long as the fruit; fruit plump,
densely pubescent all over except near the base and on the short, pointed tip.
Pharus virescens Doell in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2 (2): 1, 21. 1871.
Moist or wet forests at low altitudes; Alta Verapaz (Cubilgiiitz).
Dominican Republic; Costa Rica; Panama; Colombia; Venezuela;
Ecuador; Peru; Brazil. Rare.
Perennial; culms erect from a usually decumbent base, often rooting at the
lower nodes, 50 cm. to more than 1 meter long; sheaths all overlapping, flattened
but scarcely keeled, glabrous; blades oblanceolate, gradually narrowed to the base,
somewhat abruptly narrowed toward the end to an acuminate apex, scaberulous,
12-35 cm. long, 3-6.5 cm. wide at the widest place; panicles 15-30 cm. long, the
branches as much as 23 cm. long, relatively few-flowered; staminate spikelets
3-4 mm. long, the first glume subobtuse, one-third to one-half, the second acu-
minate, as long as the spikelet; fertile spikelet 12-15 mm. long, the glumes equal,
8-11 mm. long, lanceolate, 3-5-nerved, acute or subacute, green; fruit straight
or slightly curved, pubescent across the back at the summit, extending down the
sides nearly to the base, the lower part of the back and narrow margins glabrous.
FIG. 84. Pharus parvifolius, X >
307
308 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
PHRAGMITES Adans.
Spikelets several-flowered, the rachilla densely covered with long fine silky
hairs, disarticulating above the glumes and at the base of each segment between
the florets, the first floret staminate or neuter, the others perfect; glumes unequal,
narrow, acute, the first 1-nerved, the second 3-nerved; lemmas narrow, long-
acuminate, each one successively smaller, the summits of all of them thus about
equal; palea of staminate or neuter floret one-fourth as long as the lemma, that
of the first fertile floret one-half as long as the lemma.
Coarse, rhizomatous, stoloniferous, reed-like perennials with firm, flat blades
and large, silky, plume-like panicles.
Species 2, one in Asia, the other in temperate regions around
the world.
Phragmites communis Trin. Fund. Agrost. 134. 1820. Arundo
phragmites L. Sp. PL 81. 1753. Figure 85.
Marshes, river banks, and lake shores; Pete*n; Izabal. British
Honduras. Temperate regions around the world, extending into
the tropics.
Coarse, rhizomatous, stoloniferous perennial, usually growing in large colonies;
culms erect, reed-like, 2-5 meters high; sheaths glabrous, much longer than the
internodes; blades as much as 50 cm. long, 1-2.5 cm. wide, flat, firm, attenuate-
pointed, with very scabrous margins; panicles 25-50 cm. long, plume-like, drooping,
the branches naked below, densely villous in the lower axils; spikelets 12-20 mm.
long; glumes unequal, the first 4-5 mm. long, the second 6-8 mm. long; lemma
10-13 mm. long, narrowly acuminate; rachilla hairs more than half as long as
the lemma.
PHYLLOSTACHYS Sieb. & Zucc.
Unarmed dumetose bamboos, growing in more or less open clumps; actively
spreading by means of slender, indeterminate rhizomes; culms erect or suberect
and arched, never climbing; culm internodes typically hollow, cylindrical or nearly
so above budless nodes, more or less strongly sulcate on one side from one node
to the next above the point of insertion of branches or branch buds; culm nodes
all gemmiferous in small plants, typically budless and branchless in the lower half
or so of culms from plants of mature stature, the branch- or bud-bearing nodes
typically double, i. e., with a distinct ridge encircling the culm just above the more
or less prominent sheath scar; culm sheaths promptly deciduous. Branches
typically two at each node, the two more or less strongly unequal, with a third,
usually very much smaller, sometimes developing between the larger two (atypical-
ly and rarely, in exceptional culms, the branches clearly ternate, with the middle
one the strongest of the three, a condition most commonly encountered in P. nigra
and its varieties); leaf blades with clearly tessellate venation.
Inflorescences open to more or less congested, sometimes capitate, lateral to
leafy or leafless branches; spikelets 2-several-flowered, the uppermost one rudi-
mentary, the palea strongly to very weakly 2-keeled and usually bi cuspidate;
lodicules 3; stamens 3, with filiform, free filaments; ovary oblong, the style thick-
FIG. 85. Phragmites communis. Plant, X 1 A', spikelet and floret, X 3.
309
310 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
ened and indurate at the base, long, slender above, stigmas typically 3. Mature
fruit a starchy, sulcate caryopsis.
About 40 species have been described, most of which are in-
digenous to central and southern China, with a few in areas
immediately to the south. Most of the known species thrive best in
a moist, warm-temperate climate. Six species are known to have
been introduced in Guatemala.
FIELD KEY
Occasional culms producing short, inflated internodes (2-12 or so together)
usually in the lower one-third or two-thirds of the culm, very often at or near
the base of the culm P. aurea.
All culms producing normal internodes.
Culm nodes (sheath scar) and base of culm sheaths conspicuously fringed with
brown hairs; blade of culm sheath broadly triangular, decurrent at the base
into large auricles P. nidularia.
Culm nodes (sheath scar) and base of culm sheaths glabrous or soon glabrescent;
blade of culm sheath narrow, not decurrent into the auricles where these
are present.
Culm sheaths in mature plants with a long, falcate auricle on one or both
sides, somewhat removed from the base of the sheath blade.
Culm sheaths smooth and waxy to the touch, entirely glabrous or rarely
with a few scattered, soft bristles on the back P. bambusoides.
Culm sheaths perceptibly scabrous to the touch, with fine, antrorse and
retrorse points between the somewhat salient veins, especially near
the margins P. viridi-glaucescens.
Culms sheaths in mature plants without auricles.
Fresh culm sheaths with red margins, and leaf sheaths with red-fringed
ligules; culm internodes somewhat elongate, obscurely and sparsely
puberulent or setulose at first, the culm nodes only slightly inflated.
P. rubromarginata.
Fresh culm sheaths and leaf sheaths with olive-green margins and pale
ligule fringe; culm internodes shorter, and entirely glabrous, the culm
nodes rather strongly inflated P nuda.
Phyllostachys aurea A. & C. Riviere, Bull. Soc. Acclim. Ser.
3. 5:716./. 86. 1878.
A Chinese species of early introduction in the Western Hemi-
sphere, now widely distributed, chiefly as a garden ornamental,
in the warm temperate and subtropical regions of the world; fre-
quently seen as a hedge plant in Guatemala City. The date and
agency of the introduction of this bamboo into Guatemala are not
known.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 311
The plant is cultivated extensively in Japan for its culms which,
in normal times, are exported in large quantities. The mature culms
make excellent fishing poles. The young shoots are edible. Gua-
temala; Suchitepe"quez; Alta Verapaz. China; Japan.
Culms erect, straight, commonly reaching a height of 7 meters, rarely 10
meters or more, with corresponding diameters of 2 to 3 cm., rarely more, the
internodes glabrous (occasional culms develop short, more or less inflated inter-
nodes, 2-12 or so together, usually in the lower one-half or two-thirds of the culm,
very often at or near the base of the culm), the nodes rather prominent, the sheath
scar at first bordered by a fringe of minute hairs, these gradually falling off.
Culm sheaths sparsely maculate with small, dark spots, striate with salient veins,
fringed with a narrow border of minute white hairs along the lower edge, otherwise
entirely glabrous; auricles and oral setae lacking; ligule very short, truncate,
ciliolate on the margin, longer and fimbriate on the margin in sheaths higher on
the culm; sheath blade linear, very elongate and recurved in the upper sheaths,
one-fourth to one-third as wide at the base as the apex of the sheath proper,
obscurely scabrous on the inner surface, glabrous on the outer surface, serrulate
on the margins. Leaf sheaths usually glabrous except the uppermost one on
each twig, which is puberulent with small, retro rse, uncinate hairs; auricles
usually lacking, sometimes well developed, ovate; oral setae usually lacking
except when auricles are present, then few to several, up to 5 mm. long, radiating
from the borders of the auricles; ligule 1-1.5 mm. long, hispidulous on the back,
concave or truncate at the apex, ciliolate on the slightly irregular margin; petiole
usually hispidulous at the base on the upper surface, otherwise usually glabrous
or nearly so throughout; leaf blade up to 12 cm. long and 18 mm. wide, usually
much smaller, oblong-lanceolate, glabrous on the upper surface, often slightly
pilose at the base, otherwise glabrous or nearly so on the lower surface, strongly
serrate on one margin, weakly so on the other.
Phyllostachys bambusoides Sieb. & Zucc., Abh. Akad.
Muench. 3(3) : 746. pi. 5, fig. 3. 1843. Figure 86.
A Chinese species, early introduced in Japan and now fairly
familiar in cultivation in warm temperate parts of the United States
and Europe, commonly referred to as the Giant Timber Bamboo.
Introduced into Guatemala through the agency of the United States
Department of Agriculture and established at Dr. Pedro Cofino's
finca, El Pintado, near Antigua.
This bamboo is much cultivated in China and Japan for its
culms, which run the gamut of usefulness from general construction
to basketry and lashings, with an infinitude of applications between.
The young culms are much used for papermaking in China, and they
rank high among the hardy bamboos that have been tested in the
Western Hemisphere for this purpose. The young shoots are much
esteemed as a vegetable in the Orient. Sacatepe"quez; Suchitepe"quez.
China; Japan (whence the type).
312 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Culms erect or ascending, straight below, often broadly nodding above,
commonly reaching a height of 20 meters and a diameter of 10 or 12 cm., con-
siderably larger in favorable situations; internodes glabrous and entirely free from
white powder from the first; nodes only slightly prominent, the sheath scar gla-
brous from the first. Culm sheaths prominently maculate with small to large
dark spots, smooth and waxy to the touch, glabrous or sometimes (in large culms)
with a few soft cilia scattered on the back; auricles lacking in small plants, but in
mature plants well developed, narrow, falcate, spreading, delicate, bordered by
well-developed scabrous oral setae; ligule 2-3 mm. long, hispidulous on the back,
fimbriate on the convex margin; sheath blade lanceolate-linear, often somewhat
crisped, ultimately more or less strongly reflexed, obscurely antrorse-scabrous
on the inner surface, glabrous on the outside, serrulate on the margins. Leaf
sheaths glabrous or glabrescent where exposed, more or less puberulent where
covered by adjacent ones; auricles none to several, well developed, scabrous,
bordered by slender, slightly scabrous oral setae up to 1 cm. in length; ligule
up to 3 mm. long, puberulent at the base on the back, ciliolate on the irregularly
denticulate convex margin; petiole puberulent at the base on the lower surface,
otherwise glabrous; leaf blade up to 17 or 18 cm. long and 25 or 30 mm. wide,
oblong-lanceolate, glabrous on the upper surface, subglabrous to scattered pilose,
especially along the midrib toward the base on the lower surface, antrorse-
spinulose on one margin and glabrous or nearly so on the other.
Phyllostachys nidularia Munro, Gard. Chron. n. ser. 6: 773-
774. 1876. Includes notes by E. 0. Fenzi.
A species of wide natural distribution and common in cultivation
in China. Fenzi (op. cit.) records its introduction into Italy, in
1868, from Japan, by the Italian corvette, Magenta, on its scien-
tific voyage around the world. However, since the species has not
been reported from Japan, or elsewhere outside of China, it must
be assumed that it was picked up in Hong Kong or somewhere
on the China coast. The species was introduced into the Western
Hemisphere more recently, directly from China, through the agency
of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, from which plants were
secured for introduction into Guatemala and established at Dr.
Pedro Cofino's finca, El Pintado, near Antigua, Sacatepe"quez. It
was later established at Chocola, Suchitepe"quez, for trial. The
plant is valued principally for its edible shoots, which are among
the earliest, but its culms, although sometimes rather flexuous,
are very durable and are suitable for picket fences and other uses
around the garden, while the tough, resilient branches make useful
and durable brooms. It is a robust, rapidly spreading, not very
exacting species. Sacatepe"quez; Suchitepe'quez. China.
Culms ascending and broadly arched, up to 4 or 5, even 6 meters in height
and 2 to 4 cm. in diameter; internodes lightly to heavily farinose, especially just
below the nodes, obscurely scabrous at first then glabrescent, often more or less
FIG. 86. Phyllostachys bambusoides S. & Z. A, flowering branch, X 1;
B, Bl, bract from peduncle, X 1, and X 3; C, branch of inflorescence, with
bracts spread to show spikelets, X 1.5; D, spikelet, X 1; E, El, empty glumes,
X 3; F, Fl, lemma, X 3; G, Gl, palea, X 3; H, pistil, with lodicules, X 3. From
Nakai, Flora Sylvatica Koreana, Part xx, pi. xii. 1933.
313
314 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
prominently striate with salient ridges, often solid in the lower part of the culm;
nodes very much inflated, the sheath scar marked by a prominent callus and
densely fringed with dark brown hairs which may persist for one or two years.
Culm sheaths irregularly striped with white and wine on a green background,
fringed at the base with a dense band of shaggy brown retrorse hairs, and fim-
briate on the margins, otherwise glabrous, the sheath blade broadly triangular,
appressed to the culm, decurrent on each side at the base into a prominent, some-
what ventricose, usually wine-colored, more or less scabrous auricle bordered by
rather delicate, scabrous oral setae; ligule well developed, strongly convex, fim-
briate on the margin. Leaf sheath striate with salient veins, ciliate on the margins,
the lower ones on each twig usually glabrous on the back, the upper ones usually
puberulent to more or less prominently scabrous with coarse, appressed hairs;
auricles usually lacking; oral setae usually present, several, straight, stiff, ap-
pressed, scabrous; ligule scarcely exserted; petiole usually hirsute on the lower
surface, glabrous or hispidulous on the upper surface; leaf blades up to 12 cm. long
and up to 15 mm. wide, usually shorter, few, usually 2 or 3 on each twig, rather
stiff and spreading, oblong-lanceolate, glabrous on the upper surface, paler and
hirsute at the base, elsewhere glabrous to more or less densely puberulent, on the
lower surface, cartilaginous and serrate on both margins.
Phyllostachys nuda McClure, Jour. Washington Acad. Sci.
35: 288. fig. 2. 1945.
A Chinese species introduced into the United States through
the agency of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, which supplied
to the Institute Agropecuario Nacional material for trial in Gua-
temala at Chocola. Its precise origin in China and its position in the
Chinese economy are unknown, but from experience derived from
its culture and trial in the United States, its culms are known to be
useful for temporary garden structures such as arbors, trellises, and
fences, as well as for garden stakes, while the young shoots are very
palatable as a vegetable. Sacatepe*quez; Suchitepe*quez. China.
Culms erect or ascending, nodding, up to 6 or 7 meters tall and 3 cm. in
diameter; internodes entirely glabrous, more or less copiously farinose at first,
especially immediately below the nodes, the surface perceptibly ribbed; nodes
rather prominent, glabrous; culm sheaths striate with more or less prominently
salient veins, usually more or less maculate with diffuse purplish splotches of
variable size and intensity of color, often copiously and loosely farinose at first,
sometimes entirely smooth to the touch or, more commonly, perceptibly scabrous
with antrorse prickles disposed in variable density between the veins, especially
in the upper part of the back; auricles and oral setae not at all developed; ligule
prominently exserted, scabrous on the back, truncate at the apex, ciliate on the
somewhat irregular margin; sheath blade usually erect or strongly ascending,
rarely more or less strongly reflexed in the lower sheaths, to linear, lanceolate and
flat or nearly so in the upper ones, obscurely antrorse-scabrous on both surfaces
and both margins. Leaf sheaths glabrous, or the uppermost sometimes setulose
with retrorse hairs on the back; auricles and oral setae not developed; ligule in the
lower sheaths rather prominently exserted, scarcely so in the upper ones, scabrous
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 315
on the back, convex at the apex, minutely ciliolate on the margin, fragile and
fugacious; petiole glabrous on the lower surface, hispidulous basally on the upper
surface; leaf blades up to 15 cm. long and 22 mm. wide, glabrous and shining
on the upper surface, paler and antrorsely scabrous throughout and sparsely
hirsute basally with pale, antrorse hairs on the lower surface, glabrous from base
to tip on one margin, serrate on the other.
Phyllostachys rubromarginata McClure, Lingnan Univ. Sci.
Bui. 9: 44. 1940.
A subtropical Chinese bamboo of apparently limited local
distribution in Kwangsi Province. It was introduced into the
United States through the agency of the U. S. Department of
Agriculture, which supplied plants now established on Dr. Pedro
Cofino's finca, El Pintado, near Antigua. From this source, plants
were secured recently for trial at the field station of the Institute
Agropecuario Nacional, at Chocola. The culms are suitable for
garden needs such as stakes and picket fences, and the rather
elongated, somewhat thin-walled internodes are good material for
flutes and shepherds' pipes. The young shoots are edible. Saca-
tepe"quez; Suchitep&juez. China, whence the type.
Culms erect or suberect, nodding, reaching a height of about 8 meters and
a diameter of 27 mm. under average conditions; internodes rather elongated,
glabrous or sometimes sparsely strewn with spreading setae at first in large culms,
at length glabrescent, not at all farinose at first, but developing a white, farinose
zone under the nodes in time; nodes only slightly inflated, the sheath scar glabrous
or sometimes with an obscure fringe of microscopic hairs at first and soon gla-
brescent. Culm sheaths not maculate, but often more or less conspicuously
streaked on the back and bordered on the upper margins with red (hence the
specific name), the lowest ones sometimes retro rse-hirsute, the rest glabrous on
the back and margins; auricles and oral setae lacking in all but the uppermost
sheaths, which may have a few oral setae; ligule short, the apex slightly concave
and often more or less asymmetrical, the margin pectinate with red bristles, these
longer in the middle; sheath blade narrowly triangular to linear, erect in lower
sheaths to reflexed in the upper ones, not at all crinkled. Leaf sheaths densely
pilose, gradually glabrescent; auricles small and narrow, sometimes reflexed,
the margin fringed with delicate, erect or radiate, scabrous, red oral setae; ligule
short, truncate or slightly convex at the apex, pectinate with red bristles on the
margin; petiole densely hirsute on both surfaces, the blades up to 13 cm. long and
up to 24 mm. wide, oblong-lanceolate, with a subulate tip, hispid along the midrib
and elsewhere sparsely pilose or glabrous on the upper surface, densely pilose at the
base and hirsute along the midrib towards the base on the lower surface. The red
color fades from the various structures as they become dry.
Phyllostachys viridi-glaucescens A. & C. Riv., Bull. Soc.
Acclim. Ser. 3. 5: 700. fig. 28. 1878 (sensu lato).
316 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
A bamboo found wild and cultivated from north-central to
southern China. This species was introduced into the United States
through the agency of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, which
supplied plants now established on Dr. Pedro Cofifio's finca, El
Pintado, near Antigua. From this source, plants were secured
recently for trial at the Chocola field station of the Institute Agro-
pecuario Nacional. The culms are suited for garden needs; the
young shoots are edible. The living plant is one of unusual deco-
rative effect as an ornamental. Sacatepe'quez; Suchitepe'quez.
China.
Culms erect or suberect, only slightly flexuose, broadly nodding, up to 5 or 6
meters in height and 3 cm. in diameter; internodes glabrous from the first and
somewhat farinose (more thickly so just below the nodes), the surface smooth
or striate with narrow, close-set ridges; nodes moderately prominent, the ridge
narrow, the sheath scar glabrous. Culm sheaths striate with fine, close-set, salient
veins, rather copiously farinose at first, pale green, maculate with brownish
lavender in large culms, usually scabrous to the touch, with minute antrorse and
retrorse prickles between the veins principally near the margins, sometimes villous
on the back in large culms, minutely ciliolate on the margins; auricles lacking
in small plants, sometimes one only on mid-culm sheaths in plants of medium
stature, usually two on higher sheaths, slender, flagelliform or falcate; oral setae
0-few in the absence of auricles (occurring on one border only of the auricles
when the latter are present), slender, scabrous; ligule short, weakly scabrous
on the back, truncate or lightly concave at the apex, sparsely fimbriate on the
margin with scabrous bristles; sheath blade persistent, more or less reflexed, flat
in the lower sheaths, commonly more or less crinkled in the upper ones, linear to
linear-lanceolate, about one-half to one-third as wide as the apex of the sheath,
weakly scabrous on the inner surface, glabrous on the outer surface, scabrous
on the margins. Leaf sheaths commonly tinted with wine, mostly pilose, the
vesture weaker and deciduous in the lower sheaths on each twig, denser and more
persistent on the upper ones; auricles strongly developed, oblong, more or less
falcate, bordered on the margins by numerous, well-developed, scabrous oral setae;
ligule short, weakly scabrous on the back, broadly convex and somewhat undulate
at the apex, minutely ciliolate on the margin; petiole in young culms puberulent
or hirsute on both surfaces, in older culms often glabrescent on the upper surface;
leaf blades varying widely in size and shape, up to 18 cm. long and up to 18 mm.
wide, ovate-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, glabrous and
glossy on the upper surface, densely pilose throughout on the lower surface,
strongly serrate on one margin, more weakly so on the other.
PIPTOCHAETIUM Presl
Spikelets 1-flowered, the rachilla disarticulating above the glumes; glumes
equal, broad, abruptly acuminate; fruit obovate, coriaceous, shorter than the
glumes, appressed-pubescent (in our species), the callus short, acute, usually
bearded, the awn deciduous or persistent, flexuous or weakly geniculate; palea
FIG. 87. Piptochaetium fimbriatum. Plant, X \-i\ glume, floret, and palea, X 5.
317
318 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
narrow, sulcate, the nerves approximate, the apex projecting above the summit
of the lemma as a minute point.
Tufted perennials with narrow or involute blades and small open panicles.
Species about 25, mostly in temperate South America.
Piptochaetium fimbriatum (H.B.K.) Hitchc. Jour. Washing-
ton Acad. Sci. 23: 453. 1933. Stipa fimbriata H.B.K. Nov. Gen. &
Sp. 1: 126. 1815. Oryzopsis fimbriata Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Amer. Bot.
3: 538. 1885. 0. seleri Pilger, Verh. Bot. Ver. Brand. 51: 192. 1909.
Figure 87.
Wet meadows and open places, 2,500-3,700 meters; Huehue-
tenango. Western Texas to Colorado and Arizona; Mexico.
Perennial; culms densely tufted, erect, 25-90 cm. high; leaves mostly crowded
toward the base, the blades involute, filiform, flexuous, glabrous; panicles long-
exserted, 5-15 cm. long, the slender branches usually in pairs, ascending to spread-
ing, bearing a few long-pedicellate spikelets above the middle; spikelets about
5 mm. long, the glumes abruptly acuminate, 7-nerved, pale or purple; fruit
a little shorter than the glumes, dark brown at maturity, appressed-pubescent,
the awn 1-2 cm. long, obscurely twice-geniculate.
POAL.
Spikelets 2-several-flowered, the rachilla disarticulating above the glumes
and between the florets, the uppermost floret reduced or rudimentary; glumes
acute, the first 1-nerved, the second usually 3-nerved; lemmas acute or subobtuse,
5-nerved, glabrous or pubescent on the nerves, sometimes webbed at the base,
the tip and margins often scarious.
Annuals or perennials with flat or folded blades, boat-shaped at the tip, and
open or contracted panicles.
Species about 250, in cool and temperate regions of both hemi-
spheres and in the tropics at higher altitudes.
Plants annual; lemmas densely pubescent on the nerves P. annua.
Plants perennial; lemmas glabrous, or pubescent on the internerves below.
Cobweb present; lemmas pubescent on the nerves and internerves. .P. venosa.
Cobweb wanting; lemmas glabrous.
First lemma 4 mm. long, acute; ligule not more than 1 mm. long. .P. tacanae.
First lemma 3 mm. long, acute or subobtuse; ligule about 3 mm. long.
P. seleri.
Poa annua L. Sp. PI. 68. 1753. Aira pumila Pursh, Fl. Amer.
Sept. 1: 76. 1814. Poa infirma H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 158. 1816.
P. aestivalis Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 272. 1830. Eragrostis infirma
Steud. Norn. Bot. ed. 2. 1: 563. 1840.
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 319
Moist places, usually a weed in gardens, 1,300-4,400 meters;
Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Guatemala; Sacatepe"quez; Quezaltenango;
Huehuetenango; San Marcos. Cool or temperate regions of both
hemispheres. Introduced in America.
Soft, erect or decumbent-spreading annual; culms flattened, commonly 5-20
cm. high, glabrous; sheaths thin with hyaline margins, mostly longer than the
internodes; ligule hyaline, about 5 mm. long; blades flat, mostly 5-10 cm. long,
1-3 mm. wide, the margins scabrous; panicle 3-10 cm. long, open, with rather
short ascending to spreading branches; spikelets short-pediceled, crowded, 3-6-
flowered; first glume 1.5-2 mm. the second 2-2.5 mm. long; lemmas about 3 mm.
long, subobtuse, distinctly nerved, densely pubescent on the nerves, not webbed
at the base.
Poa seleri Pilger, Verh. Bot. Ver. Brand. 51: 195. 1909. P.
guatemalensis Hitchc. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 40: 81. 1927.
In shade, Volcan de Agua, 2,000-3,500 meters; Sacatep6quez, the
type of Poa guatemalensis Hitchc., Hitchcock 9115; in woods
between Totonicapan and Los Encuentros, Solola, the type of Poa
seleri Pilger, Sder 2360.
Perennial, apparently with rhizomes; culms erect, decumbent at the base,
40-50 cm. high; sheaths scaberulous, shorter than the internodes; ligule 2-3 mm.
long; blades lax, flat, 8-20 cm. long, 1-2 mm. wide, glabrous or somewhat scabrous
above; panicle 8-11 cm. long, the branches flexuous, solitary or in pairs, bearing
a few spikelets above the middle; spikelets 4-5 mm. long, 2-flowered or occasion-
ally 3-flowered, the rachilla glabrous; first glume 1.5 mm. long, narrow, acute,
the second broader, about 2 mm. long; lemmas glabrous, acute or subobtuse,
the lowest 3 mm. long.
Poa tacanae Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29: 399. 1950.
Rocky summits, pine and pine-alder forests, and open slopes,
2,500-4,600 meters; Quezaltenango; San Marcos, the type from
Volcan Tacana, Steyermark 36083.
Perennial with creeping rhizomes; culms erect or decumbent-spreading, 25-60
cm. high; sheaths all longer than the internodes, smooth and shining; ligule
truncate, not more than 1 mm. long; blades flat, lax, mostly 10-15 cm. long, 1-2
mm. wide, scabrous toward the tip, especially on the under side of the midnerve
and on the margins; panicle about 9 cm. long, the slender nearly glabrous branches
flexuous, few-flowered, naked below; spikelets 2-3-flowered; glumes narrow,
acuminate or subacuminate, lunate, the first 1.8-2 mm. long, the second 2.5 mm.
long; first lemma 4 mm. long, gradually narrowed from the base, acute, scabrous
at least on the nerves at the tip, otherwise glabrous.
Poa venosa Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 29: 399. 1950.
Figure 88.
320 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Alpine meadow, vicinity of Ch&nal, summit of Sierra de los
Cuchumatanes, Huehuetenango, 3,700-3,750 meters. Known only
from the type collection, Steyermark 50310.
Perennial; culms erect, 50-70 cm. high; sheaths mostly shorter than the
internodes, glabrous; ligule 1 mm. long; blades 3-8 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide,
glabrous; panicle 10-13 cm. long, the scabrous branches usually in pairs, rather
narrowly ascending or the lower ones spreading, more or less flexuous, naked below,
the lowermost as much as 5 cm. long; spikelets 2-3-flowered, 4-5 mm. long,
greenish-purple; glumes acute, the first 2-3 mm. long, 1-nerved, the second
a little broader, 2.5-3 mm. long, 3-nerved; first lemma 3.5 mm. long, acute, densely
pubescent on the lower half, with a prominent cobweb at the base.
POLYPOGON Desf.
Spikelets 1-flowered, disarticulating below the glumes; glumes equal, similar,
awned from the tip or from between minute lobes, the awns slender, straight;
rachilla not produced beyond the florets; lemma much shorter than the glumes,
hyaline, with a straight slender awn, shorter than the awns of the glumes; palea
present.
Somewhat coarse, erect or decumbent perennial (in our species) grasses with
flat blades and narrow, often elongate, dense panicles.
Species about 10, in temperate regions of both hemispheres.
Polypogon elongatus H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 134. 1815.
Figure 89.
Moist pine slopes, marshes, and moist open ground, sometimes
in gardens, mostly 1,500-3,000 meters; Zacapa; Jalapa; Guatemala;
Sacatepe"quez; Quezaltenango; San Marcos. Mexico to Argentina.
Rather coarse perennial; culms erect or usually decumbent-spreading at the
base, as much as 1 meter long, glabrous; sheaths glabrous, shorter than the inter,
nodes; ligules thin, obtuse, 3-5 mm. long; blades 10-30 cm. long, 5-10 mm. wide-
smooth and shining beneath, scabrous above and on the margins; panicles 10-35
cm. long, nodding, narrow and rather dense, interrupted, the branches in rather
distant verticils, floriferous to the base; glumes about 3 mm. long, aristate, grad-
ually narrowed into the awn, very scabrous; lemma 1.5 mm. long, with a slender
awn about 2 mm. long.
PSEUDECHINOLAENA Stapf
Spikelets solitary, sometimes an abortive spikelet below it, pedicellate, rather
distant, in two rows on one side of a slender raceme; first glume nearly as long
as the spikelet, acute or mucronate, 3-5-nerved; second glume a little longer than
the first, acuminate, saccate, 5-nerved, usually covered with stiff hooked bristles;
sterile lemma about as long as the second glume, somewhat indurate, broad,
obtuse, with thin margins, glabrous; fruit narrow, subacuminate, smooth and
shining, the margins rather broad, not inrolled.
FIG. 88. Poa venosa. Inflorescence, X 1 1 A> spikelet, X 8.
321
FIG. 89. Polypogon elongatus. Inflorescence, X 1; spikelets, X 12.
322
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 323
Slender decumbent-spreading annuals with short, broad, flat blades, and
short slender racemes distant on the common axis. Monotypic.
Pseudechinolaena polystachya (H.B.K.) Stapf in Prain, Fl.
Trop. Afr. 9: 495. 1919. Echinolaena polystachya H.B.K. Nov. Gen.
& Sp. 1: 119. 1815. Panicum uncinatum Raddi, Agrost. Bras.
41. 1823. Figure 90.
Moist brushy slopes and banks, forests, sometimes a weed in
cultivated groves, up to 1,800 meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Chiqui-
mula; Escuintla; Suchitepe'quez; Retalhuleu; Quezaltenango; San
Marcos. Mexico to Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay; tropical Africa.
Delicate decumbent-spreading annual; culms 15 cm. to as much as 1 meter
long, branching, rooting at the lower nodes, more or less pilose; sheaths mostly
much shorter than the internodes, rather densely papillose-pilose or hirsute,
especially toward the summit; ligule brown, about 1 mm. long; blades ovate-
lanceolate, often unsymmetrical, 2-7 cm. long, 5-16 mm. wide, thin, acuminate-
pointed, appressed-pilose on both surfaces; inflorescence 5-20 cm. long, the axis
pilose, the slender distant racemes usually narrowly ascending; spikelets 3-4 mm.
long, appressed or somewhat spreading, the pedicels 1-3 mm. long; first glume
broad, acute, pubescent, a little shorter than the spikelet; second glume longer
than the first, sparsely to densely covered with coarse glandular-tipped hairs;
fruit about 2 mm. long, acute, smooth and shining.
RHYNCHELYTRUM Nees
First glume minute; second glume and sterile lemma equal, raised on a stipe
above the first glume, gibbous, the apex spreading, short-awned, both covered
with long silky hairs; sterile lemma enclosing a well-developed palea and often
a staminate flower; fertile lemma shorter than the spikelet, obtuse, smooth,
the margins thin, not inrolled, enclosing the margins of the palea.
Perennials or annuals with rather open panicles of silky, short-pedicellate
spikelets.
Species about 35, mostly in Africa.
Rhynchelytrum roseurn (Nees) Stapf & Hubb. ex Bews,
World Grasses 223. 1929, in Prain, Fl. Trop. Afr. 9: 880. 1930.
Tricholaena rosea Nees, Fl. Afr. Austr. 17. 1841. Panicum roseum
Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 92. 1854. Figure 91.
Roadsides, fields, and brushy slopes, up to 1,600 meters; Pete*n;
Alta Verapaz; Escuintla; Guatemala; Sacatep^quez; Quezaltenango.
Florida, Mexico, and the West Indies, to Bolivia, Paraguay, and
Brazil. Introduced from Africa.
Perennial; culms rather slender, erect or decumbent at the base, branching,
0.5-1 meter high; sheaths sparsely papillose-hirsute; blades flat, 5-15 cm. long,
FIG. 90. Pseudechinolaena polystachya, about X
324
FIG. 91. Rhynchelytrum roseum. Plant, X M ', spikelet and floret, X 10.
325
326 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
2-5 mm. wide, the margins scabrous; panicles 10-15 cm. long, rosy purple, the
slender branches ascending to almost spreading, rather densely flowered; spikelets
5-7 mm. long, including the hairs, the pedicels short, capillary, flexuous or re-
curved; fruit about 2 mm. long.
SACCHARUM L.
Spikelets all alike, in pairs, one sessile, the other pediceled, surrounded at the
base with long silky hairs, the rachis readily disarticulating below the spikelets;
glumes firm, 1-3-nerved, acute or acuminate; sterile lemma similar to the glumes
but hyaline, the fertile lemma shorter than the glumes, hyaline, awnless, some-
times wanting.
Tall, coarse perennial grasses with large plume-like inflorescences of panicled
racemes.
Species about 10, mostly in the tropics of the Eastern Hemi-
sphere.
Saccharum officinarum L. Sp. PL 54. 1753. Cana de Azucar;
sugarcane. Figure 92.
No specimens have been collected in Guatemala as naturalized
or away from cultivation, but the plant is extensively cultivated,
as it is in tropical regions around the world.
Perennial; culms erect or ascending, as much as 4 meters high, glabrous, the
lower internodes short; sheaths overlapping, rounded, glabrous, or softly pubes-
cent toward the summit, densely villous in the throat, the lower ones readily
falling away from the culm; ligule firm, dark brown, truncate, minutely ciliate,
about 5 mm. long; blades elongate, broad, with prominent midnerve, sharply
serrate, densely pubescent or villous on the upper surface at the base; panicles
very large, dense, plumy, silvery or pinkish, the long branches drooping; spikelets
4-5 mm. long.
SACCIOLEPIS Nash
Spikelets oblong-conic; first glume acute, 3-5-nerved, small to half as long
as the spikelet; second glume broad, inflated-saccate, strongly many-nerved;
sterile lemma narrower, flat, usually 5-nerved, the palea well developed and often
enclosing a staminate flower; fruit much smaller than the spikelet, very short-
stipitate, chartaceous-indurate, the margins inrolled, the palea free at the summit.
Erect or decumbent-spreading annual with linear blades and dense elongate
spikelike panicles.
Species about 30, in the tropics of both hemispheres.
Sacciolepis myuros (Lam.) Chase, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington
21: 7. 1908. Panicum myuros Lam. Tabl. Encycl. 1: 172. 1791.
P. myosurus L. Rich. Act. Soc. Hist. Nat. Paris 1: 106. 1792. Hy-
menachne myuros Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 49: 165. 1812. Panicum
phleiforme Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 302. 1830. Figure 93.
FIG. 92. Saccharum officinarum. Plant, much reduced; spikelet with pedicel
and rachis joint, X 5.
327
328
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Open marshy prairie near Los Amates, Izabal. British Honduras ;
Cuba; southern Mexico; Honduras; Panama; Colombia to British
Guiana and Brazil.
FIG. 93. Sacciolepis myuros. Inflorescence, X 2; spikelet, X 23.
Slender annual; culms usually erect, 10 cm. to as much as 1 meter high;
sheaths glabrous, longer than the internodes; blades mostly 10-25 cm. long, 3-5
mm. wide, or smaller in depauperate specimens, glabrous or rarely sparsely hairy;
panicles spikelike, 5-25 cm. long (commonly 10-15 cm.), about 5 mm. thick;
spikelets 2 mm. long, sparsely pilose.
SCHIZOSTACHYUM Nees
Unarmed, caespitose or dumetose bamboos, growing in crowded or more or
less open clumps, spreading by short, thick, determinate rhizomes (these provided
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 329
with a long neck, and thus more tardily determinate, in the dumetose species,
such as S. hainanensis) , the culms erect or suberect, with slender, nodding, trailing
or clambering tips; culm internodes typically hollow, thin-walled, cylindrical
or nearly so; commonly siliceous and rough to the touch on the surface; culm nodes
usually not at all or scarcely inflated, all gemmiferous in small plants, typically
budless and branchless in the lower half or more of culms from plants of mature
stature; culm sheaths usually persistent, at least at the budless nodes, stiff, brittle,
with a usually narrow, strongly reflexed sheath blade (broad and not at all reflexed
in S. brachycladum and S. zollingeri); branches numerous, slender, subequal; leaf
blades without typically tessellate venation but often with numerous transverse
ridges visible on the lower surface. Inflorescences open or more or less congested
and capitate clusters of pseudospikelets terminal or lateral on usually leafy
branches; spikelets 2-3-flowered, the uppermost one always rudimentary and
borne on a slender, elongated rachilla segment hidden in the tubular sulcus at the
back of the palea of the uppermost perfect floret; lemma and palea more or less
strongly and tightly involute in spikelets with one perfect floret and in the upper-
most perfect floret where there are two (loosely convolute in the lower perfect
floret where there are two), the palea sulcate but not strongly keeled, the sulcus
tubular in the tightly involute spikelets, broad and not closed in the loosely in-
volute spikelets; lodicules 0-3; stamens 6, the filaments flattened and sometimes
more or less connate at the edges; ovary oblong, the style long, slender, indurate,
persistent, tipped by usually 3 short, plumose stigmas. Mature fruit a dry,
starchy caryopsis enclosed in a crustaceous, fusiform to subcylindrical, beaked
pericarp.
Over 40 species have been described; the geographical range of
the genus is confined to tropical or subtropical regions from southern
China through southeastern and southern Asia and adjacent islands
to Madagascar. One species has been introduced in Guatemala.
Schizostachyum pseudolima McClure, Lingnan Sci. Jour.
19: 537. pis. 39, 40. 1940. Figure 94.
A subtropical species cultivated in southern Kwangtung Pro-
vince, and wild in Hainan Island, China. The whole culms, and
matting woven from the flattened-out culms, are used for covering
the walls of houses; thin withes split from the culms are used in
basketry, while the long internodes are ideal for making flute-like
musical instruments. The species was introduced into the Western
Hemisphere at Lancetilla in 1925, and from that source material
was supplied to the Institute Agropecuario Nacional for trial at
Chocola. Suchitepe"quez. China, whence the type.
Clumps dense; culms up to 10 meters long and 4 cm. in diameter, erect or
suberect, with pendulous or scandent tips; internodes very long, thin-walled,
the surface strongly siliceous, glabrous to appressed-aciculate and papillose; nodes
not inflated, the sheath scar rather prominent. Culm sheaths tardily deciduous,
siliceous, asperous, and more or less densely strewn with random-appressed white
or transparent, sharp bristles, at length at least partially glabrescent; auricles
FIG. 94. Schizostachyum pseudolima McClure. 1, leafy branches bearing
inflorescences distal to the leaves; X 0.4. 2, culm sheath from about node 5,
ventral aspect; X 0.3. 3, the tip of a larger sheath from about the fifth node,
dorsal aspect; X 0.5. 4, diagrammatic representation of longitudinal section of
terminal portion of branch of inflorescence: A, bracts; B, bud; C, prophylls;
D, lemmas; E, palea; F, prolongation of rachilla. Lingnan Sci. Jour., 19: pi. 39.
1940. Based on the type. Drawn by McClure.
330
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 331
lacking; oral setae numerous, pale or dark, thick, rigid, smooth, fragile and
fugacious; ligule very short, concave at the apex, densely fringed on the margin
with pale, slender, fragile cilia; sheath blade strongly reflexed, linear-lanceolate,
long-acuminate, involute and subulate above, about one-fourth or one-fifth as
wide at the base as the apex of the culm sheath, antrorse-hispid on the upper
surface, glabrous or subglabrous on the lower. Leaf sheaths often more or less
striate with salient veins, usually glabrous, sometimes hispid and papillose;
auricles usually lacking; oral setae now lacking entirely, now well developed, pale,
rigid, smooth, fragile, usually fugacious; ligule very short, often not exserted,
truncate, fringed on the margin with delicate, fugacious cilia; petiole elongate,
glabrous on both surfaces; leaf blade to 25 cm. long and 32 mm. wide, oblong-
lanceolate, subulate, with a smooth awn at the tip, scabrous along the midrib
and along one edge and elsewhere glabrous or lightly asperous, and sometimes
sparsely strewn with white bristles on the upper surface, pilose at first then
glabrescent and minutely papillose between the nerves, on the lower surface,
cartilaginous and serrulate on both margins, more often nearly glabrous on one;
midrib and secondary veins salient on the lower surface, scarcely distinguishable
from the tertiary veins on the upper surface, transverse ridges rarely discernible.
SET ARIA Beauv.
Spikelets subtended by one or more bristles, the spikelets deciduous, the
bristles persistent; first glume broad, less than half as long as the spikelet, 3-5-
nerved; second glume and sterile lemma nearly equal, slightly longer than the
fruit, or the glume sometimes shorter; fruit indurate, smooth or rugose.
Annuals or perennials with flat, sometimes plaited blades, and spikelike,
bristly panicles, or the panicles open with the spikelets rather crowded along
the branches, some of the branches or branchlets reduced to sterile bristles around
the spikelets.
Species at least 100, in warm temperate and tropical regions
of both hemispheres.
Blades plaited, narrowly elliptic; bristles usually below only some of the spikelets;
panicles 40-70 cm. long, the lower branches distant, compound, ascending
to spreading, as much as 25 cm. long S. paniculifera.
Blades not plaited; bristles below all the spikelets.
Bristles retrorsely scabrous, at least toward the tip.
Plants perennial ; culms erect, densely tufted S. ienax.
Plants annual ; culms usually decumbent-spreading, freely branching.
Spikelets 2 mm. long S. verticillata.
Spikelets 1.5-1.7 mm. long.
Bristles retrorsely scabrous only at the tip, 3-6 mm. long, not implicate.
S. scandens.
Bristles retrorsely scabrous to the base, 5-10 mm. long, becoming
implicate S. tenacissima.
Bristles antrorsely scabrous only.
Plants perennial.
332 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Panicles 2-10 cm. long, dense, spikelike, the axis pubescent and sparsely
villous; bristles below each spikelet more than 5 S. geniculata.
Panicles 15-30 cm. long, as much as 6 cm. wide, rather loose, the axis
densely villous; bristles below each spikelet 1 or 2; culms coarse, as
much as 2 meters long S. vulpiseta.
Plants annual.
Blades softly pubescent S. yucatana.
Blades scabrous.
Axis of panicle scabrous; spikelets 2 mm. long S. liebmanni.
Axis of panicle densely covered with long ascending or appressed hairs.
S. longipila.
Setaria geniculata (Lam.) Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 51: 178. 1812.
Panicum geniculatum Lam. Encycl. 4: 727. 1798. Setaria gracilis
H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 109. 1815. Panicum imberbe Poir. in
Lam. Encycl. Suppl. 4: 272. 1816. P. flavum Nees, Agrost. Bras. 238.
1819. Chaetochloa imber t is Scribn. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Bull.
4: 39. 1897. C. imberbis geniculata Scribn. & Merr. U. S. Dept. Agr.
Div. Agrost. Bull. 21: 12. 1900. C. geniculata Millsp. & Chase,
Field Mus. Bot. 3: 37. 1903. For complete synonymy see Contr.
U. S. Nat. Herb. 22 (3): 168-171. 1920.
Swamps, prairies, fields, and roadsides, common in cultivated
ground and waste places, up to 1,500 meters; Pet&i; Alta Verapaz;
Izabal; Jalapa; Santa Rosa; Escuintla; Guatemala; Solola; Suchi-
tepe"quez; Retalhuleu; Quezaltenango. British Honduras; West
Indies; southern United States to Argentina; also in the Old World.
Densely tufted perennial; culms erect or geniculate-spreading, from short
knotty rhizomes, 20 cm. to more than 1 meter long, branching at the lower nodes,
glabrous; sheaths keeled, glabrous or scabrous toward the summit; ligule 0.5-1 mm.
long, densely minutely ciliate; blades mostly 5-15 cm. long, 4-6 mm. wide, flat,
acuminate, scabrous, often sparsely villous on the upper surface toward the base;
panicles dense, narrow, spikelike, yellow, purple, tawny, or greenish, mostly
2-6 cm. long, or as much as 10 cm. long on robust plants, the axis densely pubescent
and sparsely villous; bristles below each spikelet 5 or more, commonly 5-10 mm.
long, sometimes not longer than the spikelets; spikelets 2-2.5 mm. or even 3 mm.
long, ovoid; first glume one-third as long as the spikelet, 3-nerved; second glume
half to two-thirds as long as the spikelet, 5-nerved; sterile lemma acute, as long
as the fruit, 5-7-nerved, the palea well developed, sometimes with a staminate
flower; fruit strongly transversely rugose.
Setaria liebmanni Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 44. 1886. Chaetochloa
liebmanni Scribn. & Merr. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Bull. 21:
31. 1900.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 333
Damp thickets, fields, and waste places at low altitudes; Chi-
quimula; Retalhuleu. United States (Arizona); Mexico; Honduras;
Nicaragua.
Annual; culms usually less than 50 cm. tall, sometimes as much as 1 meter,
erect or ascending, branching at the lower nodes, scabrous below the panicles,
the nodes sometimes appressed-pilose; sheaths glabrous, densely ciliate, the collar
appressed-pilose or hispid; blades as much as 20 cm. long, 2 cm. wide, acuminate,
narrowed toward the base, lax, scabrous; panicles usually 5-20 cm. long, rarely
longer, loosely flowered, the axis scabrous; bristles 7-15 mm. long, slender, sca-
brous, 1 or 2 below each spikelet; spikelets 2 mm. long, ovate; fruit pointed,
gibbous, strongly transversely rugose.
Setaria longipila Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 47. 1886. Chaetochloa
longipila Scribn. & Merr. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Bull. 21:
22. 1900.
Moist woods and fields, Suchitepe"quez (Mazatenango) . Mexico;
El Salvador; Honduras.
Annual; culms erect or decumbent at the base, 20-50 cm. high, sparingly
branching, the nodes appressed-hispid ; ligule a dense line of hairs about 2 mm. long;
blades 4-10 cm. long, 5-11 mm. wide, thin, flat, scabrous, sparsely hispid, acumi-
nate, narrowed toward the base; panicles 4-9 cm. long, the axis densely covered
with ascending or appressed hairs about 2 mm. long; bristles mostly one below
each spikelet, 3-8 mm. long; spikelets 1.7 mm. long, subglobose; fruit sharply
transversely rugose, covered by the second glume and sterile lemma.
Setaria paniculifera (Steud.) Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 42. 1886.
Panicum sulcatum Aubl. PI. Guian. 1: 50. 1775. Not P. sulcatum
Bertol., 1820. P. paniculiferum Steud. Syn. PI. Glum. 1: 54. 1854.
Setaria effusa Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 42. 1886. Chaetochloa sulcata Hitchc.
Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 17: 260. 1913. Setaria sulcata A. Camus,
Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. 30: 108. 1924. Not S. sulcata Raddi, 1823.
Camelote (San Marcos); Maisillo (British Honduras). Figure 95.
Pine forests, swamps, hillsides, and stream banks, sometimes
in coffee plantations, sea level to 1,500 meters; Pete"n; Alta Verapaz;
Izabal; Chiquimula; San Marcos. British Honduras (El Cayo
District); West Indies; southern Mexico to Colombia.
Robust perennial; culms erect, 1.5-4 meters high; sheaths keeled toward the
summit, papillose or papillose-hispid, especially along the margins and on the
collar; blades conspicuously plicate, 0.5-1 meter long, 3-5 cm. or even 10 cm. wide,
scabrous, acuminate, narrowed toward the base to the width of the sheath, some-
times petiole-like; panicles narrow or finally loose and open, 40-70 cm. long, the
lower branches distant, compound, loosely to rather densely flowered, ascending
to spreading, as much as 25 cm. long, the upper shorter, approximate, nearly
simple; spikelets 3 mm. long, pointed, the bristles about 15 mm. long; first glume
334 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
obtuse, 3-5-nerved, about half as long as the spikelet; second glume acute, 5-7-
nerved, two-thirds as long as the spikelet; fruit narrow, acute, finely transversely
rugose.
Setaria scandens Schrad. ex Schult. Mant. 2: 279. 1824. Pan-
icum scandens Trin. Gram. Pan. 166. 1826. P. trinii Kunth, Enum.
PI. 1: 151. 1833. Chaetochloa scandens Scribn. in Bonn. Smith,
Enum. PI. Guat. 5: 91. 1899. Gusanillo, soko-yah (Huehuetenango) .
Moist fields, up to 1,200 meters; Alta Verapaz; Huehuetenango.
Southern Mexico; Honduras; Costa Rica; Panama; Colombia to
Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina (Misiones).
Freely branching annual; culms slender, erect or geniculate-spreading, gla-
brous, the nodes often appressed-pilose, 25-80 cm. high; sheaths compressed,
keeled, glabrous to pilose, the margins papillose-ciliate; ligule densely ciliate, about
1 mm. long; blades 5-15 cm. long, 4-10 mm. wide, acuminate, tapering to a narrow
base, scabrous and more or less pilose; panicles dense, spikelike, cylindrical, green
or often purple, sometimes interrupted at the base, 3-8 cm. long, the axis scabrous
or pubescent and also long-pilose, the branches very short; bristles at least partly
retrorsely scabrous, especially at the tip, 3-6 mm. long, 1-3 below each spikelet;
spikelets 1.5-1.7 mm. long, rather turgid; first glume about half as long as the
spikelet, broad, acute or subobtuse, 3-nerved; second glume and sterile lemma
nearly equal, 5-nerved, covering the fruit; fruit strongly plano-convex or sub-
hemispheric, transversely rugose.
Setaria tenacissima Schrad. ex Schult. Mant. 2: 279. 1824.
Panicum tenacissimum Nees, Agrost. Bras. 238. 1829. Chaetochloa
tenacissima Hitchc. & Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 18: 352. 1917.
Figure 96.
Thickets and ravines, up to 1,600 meters; Santa Rosa. British
Honduras (El Cayo District); West Indies; Central America;
Colombia and Venezuela; Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil.
Annual; culms simple to rather freely branching, erect or leaning or clambering
over vegetation, 30 cm. to as much as 2 meters long, glabrous, sometimes scabrous
below the panicle; sheaths compressed, keeled, more or less antrorsely scabrous
or nearly glabrous, the margins sometimes ciliate toward the summit; ligule
densely ciliate, about 0.5 mm. long; blades 6-20 cm. long, 4-10 mm. or sometimes
15 mm. wide, long-acuminate, firm, very scabrous, especially on the margins, and
also pilose; panicles 5-15 cm. long, more or less flexuous, green or usually tinged
with purple, the axis densely pubescent and sparsely pilose; bristles one below
each spikelet, 5-10 mm. long, prominently retrorsely scabrous above, antrorsely
below, flexuous, becoming implicate and tangled; spikelets 1.5 mm. long, usually
purple; first glume half as long as the spikelet, 3-nerved; second glume and sterile
lemma equal, 5-nerved, covering the finely transversely rugose fruit.
Setaria tenax (L. Rich.) Desv. Opusc. 78. 1831. Panicum tenax
L. Rich. Act. Soc. Hist. Nat. Paris 1: 106. 1792. P. impressum Nees,
FIG. 95. Setaria paniculifera, X
FIG. 96. Setaria tenacissima, X 1.
335
336 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Agrost. Bras. 247. 1829. P. sphaerocarpum Saltz. ex Steud. Syn. PI.
Glum. 1: 51. 1854. Chaetochloa salzmanniana Hitchc. Contr. U. S.
Nat. Herb. 17: 265. 1913. C. impressa Hitchc. & Chase, Contr. U. S.
Nat. Herb. 18: 350. 1917. C. tenax Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
22: 176. 1920.
Brushy rocky slopes and sandy pine-oak uplands, about 850
meters; Jutiapa (Jutiapa). British Honduras (Mountain Pine Ridge,
El Cayo District); southeastern Mexico; Honduras; Panama; West
Indies; Venezuela to French Guiana and Brazil; Bolivia (Nor-
Yungas), Paraguay, and Argentina (Chaco).
Densely tufted perennial; culms 1-1.5 meters high, stiffly erect, scabrous
below the panicle; sheaths compressed, keeled, hirsute, hispid on the collar, all
much longer than the internodes; ligule densely ciliate, about 2 mm. long; blades
as much as 35 cm. long, 2 cm. wide, long-acuminate, narrowed toward the base,
scabrous, especially on the margins; panicles 15-30 cm. long, erect, densely spike-
like or rather loose, narrowed above, the axis scabrous and rather densely villous,
the branches appressed or stiffly ascending, the lower ones 1.5-3 cm. long; bristles
1 or 2 below each spikelet, 1-2 cm. long, antrorsely and retro rsely barbed; spikelets
2-2.5 mm. long, subspherical, appearing inflated; first glume broad, obtuse or
subacute, apiculate, 5-nerved; second glume two- thirds as long as the spikelet,
obtuse; sterile lemma as long as the fruit, the palea well developed; fruit turgid,
minutely crested, finely cross- wrinkled.
Setaria verticillata (L.) Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 51, 178. 1812.
Panicum verticillatum L. Sp. PI. ed. 2. 1: 82. 1762. Ixophorus verticil-
latus Nash, Bull. Torrey Club 22: 422. 1895. Chaetochloa verticillata
Scribn. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Bull. 4: 39. 1897.
Common weed in gardens and coffee plantations; Sacatepe'quez
(Antigua). Temperate and warm regions of both hemispheres.
Introduced in America.
Annual; culms erect or spreading, freely branching, mostly 15-50 cm. long;
sheaths smooth; blades thin, flat, 4-15 cm. or even 20 cm. long, 4-12 mm. wide,
scabrous, sometimes pilose; panicles mostly 2-5 cm. long, rarely as much as 15
cm., dense, subcylindric, more or less lobed; spikelets 2 mm. long, oblong-elliptic,
glabrous, subtended by a single bristle as much as 10 mm. long, retrorsely scabrous
to the base; fertile lemma finely cross-wrinkled.
Setaria vulpiseta (Lam.) Roem. & Schult. Syst. Veg. 2: 495.
1817. Panicum vulpisetum Lam. Encycl. 4: 735. 1798. Setaria
composita H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 111. 1815. S. polystachya
Schrad. ex Schult. Mant. 2: 277. 1824. Chamaeraphis composita
Kuntze ex Beal, Grasses N. Amer. 2: 154. 1896. Chaetochloa com-
posita Scribn. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Bull. 4: 39. 1897. C.
vulpiseta Hitchc. & Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 18: 350. 1917.
Figure 97.
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA
337
Open ground, moist thickets, and brushy slopes; Huehuetenango.
British Honduras; southern Mexico; Honduras; El Salvador; Ni-
caragua; Costa Rica; Panama; West Indies; Peru and Argentina.
FIG. 97. Setaria vulpiseta, X 1.
Coarse perennial; culms in large tufts, erect or geniculate and rooting at the
lower nodes, branching, as much as 2 meters high, glabrous; sheaths usually much
longer than the internodes, compressed, keeled, glabrous to rather densely hirsute,
with a dense hispid line on the collar; ligule densely hispid, 2 mm. long; blades
as much as 50 cm. long, 2-3.5 cm. wide, acuminate, narrowed to a usually rather
long, often petiolate base, scabrous, especially on the lower surface, the margins
sharply scabrous; panicles 15-30 cm. long, as much as 6 cm. wide including the
bristles, somewhat narrowed toward the apex, the axis densely villous, the branches
slender, compound, crowded, ascending or spreading; bristles 1 or 2 below each
spikelet, 1-2 cm. long, yellowish or brownish; spikelets 2-2.5 mm. long; first glume
obtuse or acutish, 3-nerved, about half as long as the spikelet, the second obtuse,
7-nerved, about two-thirds as long as the spikelet; sterile lemma as long as the
spikelet, 5-nerved; fruit rather strongly transversely rugose, acute, minutely
crested.
338 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Setaria yucatana Herrm. Beitr. Biol. Pflanz. 10: 51. 1910.
Open ground, roadsides, and cultivated fields. British Honduras
(Corozal District); Yucatan.
Annual; culms erect or ascending, sometimes rooting at the lower nodes,
branching, 1-1.5 meters tall; sheaths papillose-pilose or only papillose, the margins
ciliate; blades softly pubescent, the margins scabrous, 10-25 cm. long, 5-10 mm.
wide; panicles oblong, tapering above, 10-30 cm. long, the branches ascending,
densely flowered to the base, the lowermost 1-3 cm. long; spikelets 1.8 mm. long,
the fertile lemma minutely rugose.
SETARIOPSIS Scribn.
Spikelets short-pedicellate, inflated; first glume obtuse or broadly acute,
5-7-nerved, about one-fourth as long as the spikelet; second glume 11-15-nerved,
cordate, very broad, the margins spreading, wing-like; sterile lemma longer and
narrower than the second glume, acute, more or less contorted at the base; fertile
lemma ovate, acute, strongly transversely rugose, the margins inrolled.
Annuals with flat blades and narrow panicles, the short branches terminating
in a long bristle.
Species 2, in Mexico, one extending to Central America and
northern South America.
Setariopsis auriculata (Fourn.) Scribn. in Millsp. Field Mus.
Bot. 1: 289. 1896. Setaria auriculata Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 43. 1886.
S. pauciseta Vasey, Bull. Torrey Club 13: 230. 1886. Figure 98.
Grassy plains at low altitudes; Zacapa. Mexico; Honduras;
Colombia; Venezuela.
Annual; culms 20-60 cm. high, erect or ascending, branching; sheaths shorter
than the internodes, keeled, pubescent; blades 4-15 cm. long, 3-10 mm. wide,
scabrous or pubescent; panicles 3-15 cm. long, interrupted, the short, usually
densely flowered branches ascending or appressed, the bristles as much as 10 mm.
long; spikelets 3-4 mm. long.
SORGHASTRUM Nash
Spikelets nearly terete, in pairs, one sessile, perfect, the other wanting, only
the hairy pedicel present; glumes subindurate, the first hairy, the margins partly
enclosing the second; sterile and fertile lemmas hyaline, the latter deeply lobed,
awned from between the lobes, the awn usually geniculate, twisted.
Annuals or perennials with narrow blades and panicles of short few-jointed
racemes, usually purplish or brownish, sometimes pale.
Species about 15, five in Africa, the rest in temperate and tropical
America.
FIG. 98. Setariopsis auriculata. Plant, X 1 A; inflorescence, X 4; spikelet, X 10.
339
340 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Plants annual; culms decumbent-spreading, rooting at the lower nodes.
S. incompletum.
Plants perennial; culms erect.
Spikelets dark brown; awn well developed, 13-20 cm. long S. brunneum.
Spikelets pale or golden; awn very short, sometimes as long as the spikelet.
S. setosum.
Sorghastrum brunneum Swallen, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb.
29: 428. 1949. Figure 99.
Hills, oak forests, and brushy slopes, 1,500-2,500 meters; Hue-
huetenango, the type collected in mountains west of Aguacatan,
Standley 81290. Mexico (Hidalgo and Guerrero).
Perennial; culms erect, 115 cm. high, glabrous, the nodes densely short-
bearded; sheaths elongate, mostly longer than the internodes, glabrous, or sparsely
pilose on the margins; ligule 3-5.5 mm. long, ciliate, decurrent; blades 15-30 cm.
long, 5-6 mm. wide, scabrous; panicle 20 cm. long, the flexuous branches in distant
fascicles, the lowermost as much as 7 cm. long, with short ones intermixed, pilose
in the axils, glabrous or somewhat scabrous; spikelets 5-6 mm. long, chestnut
brown, sparsely to rather densely hispid with white hairs; glumes obtuse, the first
a little shorter than the second, the tip ciliate; fertile lemma awned from between
the teeth of the rather deeply bifid apex, glabrous, not ciliate, the awn 13-16
mm. long, twice geniculate, tightly twisted below the second bend, hispid, the
terminal segment straight or nearly so, scabrous; anthers 2 mm. long.
Sorghastrum incompletum (Presl) Nash, N. Amer. Fl. 17:
130. 1912. Andropogon incompktus Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 342. 1830.
A. nutans var. incompletus Hack, in DC. Monogr. Phan. 6: 531. 1889.
Open banks, grassy slopes and meadows, and rocky pine-clad
hills, 900-1,900 meters; Chiquimula; Jalapa; Santa Rosa; Guatemala;
Chimaltenango. Mexico to Colombia and Venezuela; tropical Africa.
Slender annual; culms erect or ascending from a somewhat decumbent base,
sometimes rooting at the lower nodes, commonly 20-50 cm., but sometimes as much
as 2 meters high, simple or branching from the base, glabrous, the nodes appressed-
pubescent; sheaths rounded or keeled toward the summit, glabrous; ligule firm,
0.5-2 mm. long; blades commonly 6-15 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide, but on larger
plants as much as 25 cm. long and 8 mm. wide, pustulose or papillose-roughened,
usually pilose on the upper surface, the margins scabrous; panicles 5-20 cm. long,
the slender rather distant branches ascending, the secondary branches and pe-
duncles of the short racemes very slender or filiform, flexuous or tortuous, the
peduncles glabrous or sparsely covered with long hairs; spikelets 3.5-5 mm. long;
first glume usually truncate, the tip minutely hispidulous, hirsute on the back,
sometimes only near the base; rachis joints and pedicels densely ciliate with white
or yellowish hairs; awns 2-4.5 cm. long, twice-geniculate, the two lower segments
tightly twisted, usually villous, dark brown.
FIG. 99. Sorghastrum brunneum. Inflorescence, X 2; spikelet, X 5.
341
342 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Sorghastrum setosum (Griseb.) Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Nat.
Herb. 12: 195. 1909. Andropogon setosus Griseb. Cat. PL Cuba 235.
1866. Sorghastrum parviflorum Hitchc. and Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat.
Herb. 18: 287. 1917.
Sandy pine uplands, about 500 meters; Pete"n. British Honduras;
southern Mexico; Honduras; West Indies; Venezuela to Bolivia,
Brazil, and Argentina.
Perennial; culms slender, erect, commonly 1-1.5 meters high, sometimes
with rather strong rhizomes, the nodes densely appressed-bearded; sheaths
usually shorter than the internodes, glabrous; blades elongate, attenuate, 2-5
mm. wide, the margins hispid; panicles 15-25 cm. long, rarely less, with capillary,
ascending, flexuous branches; spikelets pale to golden brown, 4-5 mm. long;
first glume sparsely pilose with long hairs; awn very short to about as long as
the spikelet, straight or twisted and geniculate.
SORGHUM Moench
Spikelets in pairs, one sessile and fertile, the other pedicellate, usually stam-
inate, the pairs at the nodes of the tardily disarticulating rachis of short, few-
jointed, panicled racemes, the terminal sessile spikelet with 2 pedicellate spikelets;
glumes of fertile spikelet indurate, the first rounded, somewhat keeled at the
summit; fertile lemma awnless or with a short, usually geniculate, twisted awn;
pedicellate spikelets herbaceous, lanceolate, the first glume several-nerved, 2-
keeled in the upper half.
Annuals or perennials, with long narrow or wide blades and open, often
large panicles of short racemes.
Species probably about 35, mostly in tropical Africa.
Plants annual S. vulgare.
Plants perennial.
Culms erect from strong rhizomes; panicle branches stiffly ascending.
S. halepense.
Culms tufted, without rhizomes; panicle branches very slender, conspicuously
flexuous; racemes golden or reddish brown S. trichocladum.
Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers. Syn. PI. 1: 101. 1805. Holcus
halepensis L. Sp. PL 1047. 1753. Andropogon halepensis Brot. FL
Lusit. 1: 89. 1804. Figure 100.
In partially cleared pasture, Finca Las Tinajas, Panzos, Alta
Verapaz. A common weed in fields and waste places, southeastern
United States, Mexico, and the West Indies to Chile and Argentina.
Originally from the Mediterranean region.
Perennial with numerous strong rhizomes; culms erect, usually 1-1.5 meters
high, the nodes appressed -pubescent; sheaths usually shorter than the internodes,
FIG. 100. Sorghum halepense. Plant, X V^> two views of terminal raceme, X 6.
343
344 FIELD IANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
rounded, glabrous; ligule membranaceous, ciliate, about 2 mm. long; blades
elongate, commonly 1-1.5 cm. wide, smooth on both surfaces, the margins some-
what scabrous, the midrib prominent; panicles 15-30 cm. long, the branches
ascending or spreading, naked below; spikelets 5 mm. long, acute, rather easily
and cleanly disarticulating from the pedicel, the first glume indurate, pubescent,
the awn, when present, 1-1.5 cm. long, deciduous.
Sorghum trichocladum (Rupr.) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PL 2: 792.
1891. Andropogon trichocladus Rupr. in Hack, in DC. Monogr.
Phan. 6: 525. 1889. Hokus trichocladus Nash, N. Amer. Fl. 17:
131. 1912.
Oak forest along road between Chimaltenango and San Martin
Jilotepeque, Chimaltenango, 1,500-1,700 meters, Standley 80857.
Southern Mexico; Honduras.
Perennial; culms tufted, erect, commonly 1-1.5 meters high, appressed-hairy
below the panicle, the nodes densely and conspicuously bearded with usually long,
spreading, silky hairs; sheaths glabrous, becoming densely pilose or papillose-
pilose toward the summit, the collar very densely hairy; blades elongate, 3-8 mm.
wide, narrowed toward the base, with a prominent white midnerve, softly pilose,
densely ciliate at the base with long hairs; panicles 10-20 cm. long with rather
distant fascicles of slender or filiform, very flexuous branches; racemes 1.5-3 cm.
long, the sessile spikelets densely covered with golden or reddish brown hairs;
awn 1.5-2 cm. long, twisted, twice geniculate; pedicellate spikelet narrow, in-
conspicuous, pilose, awnless.
Sorghum vulgare Pers. Syn. PI. 1: 101. 1805. Hokus sorghum
Brot. Fl. Lusit. 1:88. 1804.
Probably escaped from cultivation; Pete"n; Sacatepe*quez. Cul-
tivated in warm regions of both hemispheres.
Annual; culms coarse, erect, with broad flat blades and small to large, dense,
heavy panicles; spikelets ovate, rather densely hairy, awned or awnless.
An extremely variable species with numerous horticultural va-
rieties.
Broomcorn, Sorghum vulgare var. technicum (Koern.) Jav.,
was found to occur occasionally in old fields near Barbarena, Santa
Rosa, Cutler 4308.
SPARTINA Schreb.
Spikelets 1-flowered, laterally compressed, sessile in two rows on one side
of a narrow flattened rachis, disarticulating below the glumes; glumes unequal,
the first shorter, the second longer than the floret, keeled, 1-nerved, subobtuse,
acute, or acuminate, rarely awned, \isually pilose or hispid on the keel; lemma
firm but thinner than the glumes, 1-nerved, or 3-nerved with the lateral nerves
j SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 345
obscure, keeled, subobtuse, more or less pilose or hispid on the keel; palea as long
as or longer than the lemma, broadly acute, with thin, very wide margins.
Coarse, usually tall, perennial grasses, mostly with strong scaly rhizomes,
tough, flat or involute blades, and several to numerous, appressed, ascending or
spreading spikes racemose on a common axis, the rachis produced beyond the
spikelets.
Species 16, mostly American.
Spartina spartinae (Trin.) Merr. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bur. PI. Ind.
Bull. 9: 11. 1902. Vilfa spartinae Trin. Me"m. Acad. St. Pe~tersb. VI.
4(1): 82. 1840. Spartina gouini Fourn. Mex. PI. Gram. 2: 135. 1886.
S. pittieri Hack. Oesterr. Bot. Zeitschr. 52: 237. 1902.
Marshes and swamps near the coast; Belize, Belize District,
British Honduras, Lundell 4718. Not known from Guatemala.
Florida to Texas; Mexico; Costa Rica; Paraguay and Argentina.
Culms 30-175 cm. tall, erect, in usually large dense clumps; sheaths longer
than the internodes, rounded on the back; ligule densely ciliate, 1 mm. long;
blades elongate, 3-5 mm. wide at the base, narrower than the mouth of the sheath,
often tortuous, pungent, the lower surface glabrous, the upper surface and the
margins scabrous; panicle 10-40 cm. long, usually dense, cylindric; spikes numer-
ous, 2-8 cm. long, sessile, appressed, the rachis scabrous on the margins; spikelets
6-7 mm. long, crowded; glumes acute to obtuse, sometimes minutely lobed and
mucronate, scabrous on the keels, the first a little shorter than the lemma, or
rarely only half as long, the second a little longer than the lemma; lemma 5-6
mm. long, obtuse, scabrous on the keel ; palea equal to the lemma.
SPOROBOLUS R. Br.
Spikelets 1-flowered, the rachilla disarticulating above the glumes; glumes
awnless, subequal or usually very unequal, the second often as long as the spikelet;
lemma 1-nerved, acute to obtuse, glabrous, awnless; palea as long as or sometimes
longer than the lemma; caryopsis readily falling from the spikelet at maturity,
the pericarp free from the seed.
Annuals or perennials, with open or contracted, often spikelike panicles.
Species about 100, in warm temperate and tropical regions of
both hemispheres.
Plants annual . . . . S. macrospermus.
Plants perennial.
Panicles diffuse, the slender branches naked below; spikelets 1.4 mm. long.
S. buckleyi.
Panicles dense or spikelike, or if open, not diffuse.
Culms wiry, creeping, with hard scaly rhizomes S. virginicus.
Culms caespitose, erect, without rhizomes.
346 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Panicle branches verticillate; glumes unequal, the second as long as the
spikelet.
Spikelets 1 mm. long S. pyramidatus.
Spikelets 3-4 mm. long.
Panicle branches ascending to spreading, naked below . . . . S. cubensis.
Panicle branches appressed, floriferous to the base. . .S. purpurascens.
Panicle branches not verticillate; glumes equal or subequal, much shorter
than the spikelet.
Panicles dense, spikelike; spikelets 2-2.4 mm. long S. poiretii.
Panicles scarcely dense, the slender branches ascending to spreading;
spikelets 1.6-1.8 mm. long S. indicus.
Sporobolus buckleyi Vasey, Bull. Torrey Club 10: 128. 1883.
Moist woods and shady places, British Honduras (Corozal and
Orange Walk districts) . Not known from Guatemala. Southeastern
Texas and eastern Mexico.
Perennial; culms erect, 40-130 cm. high; sheaths compressed, keeled, densely
hairy on the collar; blades 15-45 cm. long, 5-10 mm. wide, attenuate, glabrous,
the margins scabrous; panicles diffuse, as much as 50 cm. long, the very slender
branches ascending to drooping, naked in the lower half, the short branchlets
appressed or somewhat spreading; spikelets 1.4 mm. long, short-pedicellate,
approximate; glumes acute, the second nearly as long as the floret, the first about
half as long; lemma acute.
Sporobolus cubensis Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 237.
1909.
Pine ridges, British Honduras (Belize, El Cayo, and Toledo
districts). Not known from Guatemala. Southern Mexico; Costa
Rica; Panama; West Indies; Colombia to British Guiana and
Bolivia.
Perennial; culms densely tufted, erect, 30-60 cm. high; lower sheaths crowded,
becoming reddish-brown with age, conspicuously and densely ciliate with long
hairs on the margins, the culm sheaths shorter than the internodes, glabrous;
blades flat or folded, 10-30 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide, tapering toward the base,
narrower than the mouth of the sheath, papillose or papillose-ciliate on the margins
toward the base; panicles mostly 8-12 cm. long, open, the short branches ver-
ticillate, spreading to reflexed, bearing 1-3 spikelets; spikelets 3-4 mm. long;
first glume narrow, acuminate, about half as long as the spikelet, the second much
broader, acute, as long as the lemma.
Sporobolus indicus (L.) R. Br. Prodr. Fl. Nov. Roll. 170. 1810.
Agrostis indica L. Sp. PI. 63. 1753. Sporobolus jacquemontii Kunth,
ReV. Gram. 2: 427. pi. 127. 1831.
FIG. 101. Sporobolus poiretii. Plant, X Yi\ spikelet and floret, X 10.
347
348 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Sandy pine uplands, brushy and waste places; Suchitepe"quez.
British Honduras (Belize and El Cayo districts); Mexico and the
West Indies to Colombia and Brazil.
Perennial; culms slender, in large clumps, about 1 meter high; blades narrow,
elongate, attenuate to a fine point, usually flexuous, flat or becoming loosely
rolled; panicles 15-30 cm. long, attenuate toward the tip, the slender branches
ascending or spreading; spikelets 1.6-1.8 mm. long, short-pedicellate, subsecund
on the under side of the branches; glumes subequal, obtuse, 0.3-0.5 mm. long.
Sporobolus macrospermus Scribn. ex Beal, Grasses N. Amer.
2: 302. 1896.
Known in Guatemala only from Laguna de Ayarza, Jalapa,
Heyde & Lux 3925. Southern Mexico.
Annual; culms 15-30 cm. high, slender, erect or geniculate at the base, simple
or branching from the lower nodes; sheaths crowded toward the base, glabrous,
the uppermost elongate with a reduced blade; ligule ciliate, very short; blades
mostly less than 5 cm. long, 1-3 mm. wide, sparsely ciliate, glabrous, or sparsely
pilose on the upper surface; panicles 3-8 cm. long, the slender spreading branches
verticillate, 1-2 cm. long, few-flowered, spikelet-bearing in the upper half; spikelets
about 2 mm. long, the second glume as long as the floret, the first narrow, one-third
to half as long as the floret.
Sporobolus poiretii (Roem. & Schult.) Hitchc. Bartonia 14: 32.
1932. Axonopus poiretii Roem. & Schult. Syst. Veg. 2: 318. 1817.
Agrostis tenuissima Spreng. Syst. Veg. 1: 258. 1825. Vilfa berteroana
Trin. Me"m. Acad. St. Pe"tersb. VI. Sci. Nat. 4 (1): 100. 1840. Sporo-
bolus berteroanus Hitchc. & Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 18: 370.
1917. Sacapasto (Guatemala). Figure 101.
Grassy slopes and ridges, wet meadows, sand bars, fields and
roadsides, up to 2,700 meters; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Chiquimula;
Jalapa; Santa Rosa; Guatemala; Chimaltenango; Quezaltenango.
Tropical and subtropical America; tropical Asia.
Perennial; culms 1-1.5 meters high, glabrous; leaves mostly crowded toward
the base; blades flat, elongate, attenuate, often flexuous toward the ends, mostly
3-5 mm. wide; panicles 20-35 cm. long, plumbeous, dense, the branches appressed,
floriferous to the base or nearly so; spikelets 2-2.4 mm. long; glumes obtuse, the
first 0.5 mm. long, the second 0.7-1 mm. long.
Sporobolus purpurascens (Swartz) Hamilt. Prodr. PI. Ind.
Occ. 5. 1825. Agrostis purpurascens Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ.
25. 1788. Vilfa purpurascens Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 16, 182. 1812.
V. grisebachiana Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 98. 1886. V. liebmanni Fourn.
Mex. PI. 2: 100. 1886.
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 349
Known in Guatemala only from Coban, Alta Verapaz, collected
by von Tuerckheim. Southern Texas; eastern Mexico; Honduras;
Costa Rica; West Indies; Colombia; Ecuador; Peru.
Perennial; culms erect, glabrous, 30-60 cm. high; sheaths glabrous; blades
commonly 5-15 cm. long, rarely to 23 cm., 1-4 mm. wide, rarely to 8 mm., flat,
papillose-ciliate or papillose only; panicles 7-15 cm. long, contracted, dark brown
or purple, the branches verticillate, appressed or somewhat ascending, floriferous
to the base, the lower ones 1-2 cm. long; spikelets 3-4 mm. long, glabrous; first
glume acuminate, about half as long as the spikelet, the second as long as the
lemma.
Sporobolus pyramidatus (Lam.) Hitchc. U. S. Dept. Agr.
Misc. Pub. 243: 84. 1936. Agrostis pyramidata Lam. Tabl. Encycl.
1: 161. 1791. Vilfa arguta Nees, Agrost. Bras. 395. 1829. Sporobolus
argutus Kunth, Re>. Gram. 1: Suppl. 17. 1830.
Moist salt flats and wet places, 200-650 meters; Zacapa; Jutiapa.
Colorado and Kansas to Texas and Louisiana; West Indies; Mexico
to Nicaragua; Colombia to Brazil and Argentina.
Perennial; culms densely tufted, erect or somewhat spreading, 10-70 cm. high;
sheaths glabrous, with a few long hairs in the throat; blades 3-15 cm. long, 1-3
mm. wide, rarely as much as 4 mm., glabrous, scabrous on the margins, the upper-
most greatly reduced; panicles 3-12 cm. long, pyramidal, the branches ascending
or finally spreading, at least some of them naked at the base; spikelets about
1 mm. long, short-pedicellate, appressed; first glume 0.3-0.5 mm. long, obtuse;
second glume as long as the lemma or a little shorter; lemma acute or subacu-
minate.
Sporobolus virginicus (L.) Kunth, ReV. Gram. 1: 67. 1829.
Agrostis virginica L. Sp. PI. 63. 1753. A. littoralis Lam. Tabl. Encycl.
1: 161. 1791. Vilfa virginica Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 16, 182. 1812.
Sporobolus littoralis Kunth, ReV. Gram. 1: 68. 1829.
Salt marshes and sandy seacoasts; Izabal. British Honduras;
Honduras; Costa Rica; Panama; southern Florida and the West
Indies to Brazil and Chile.
Extensively creeping, tough, wiry perennial with hard scaly rhizomes; culms
slender to rather stout, 50-70 cm. or even as much as 1 meter long, with short
internodes; sheaths glabrous; blades conspicuously distichous, mostly 8-12 cm.
long, 3-5 mm. wide at the base, becoming loosely rolled or involute, gradually
narrowed to a rather fine but firm point; panicles densely spikelike, 6-10 cm. long,
0.5-1 cm. thick, usually partly enclosed in the sheath; spikelets 2.5 mm. long,
rarely longer; glumes acute, subequal, the second as long as the floret, the first
a little shorter.
STENOTAPHRUM Trin.
Spikelets sessile or subsessile, solitary in two rows on one side of a flattened
rachis, the racemes reduced to 1-3 spikelets, the rachis produced beyond the upper
350 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
spikelet, the prolongation about as long as the spikelet, the short racemes im-
bedded (in our species) on two sides of a thickened corky axis; first glume about
one-fourth as long as the spikelet; second glume and sterile lemma equal, pointed
beyond the fruit, acuminate, 5-nerved, the lemma enclosing a palea or staminate
flower; fruit acute, chartaceous, the margins of the lemma thin, not inrolled.
Coarse, wiry, branching, stoloniferous perennial with flat obtuse blades, and
solitary, terminal and axillary, thickened, false racemes.
Species 6, Africa, Australia, and the Pacific Islands, one in the
American tropics.
Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kimtze, Rev. Gen. PL
2: 794. 1891. Ischaemum secundatum Walt. Fl. Carol. 249. 1788.
Stenotaphrum americanum Schrank, PL Rar. Hort. Monac. pi. 98.
1822. S. sarmentosum Nees, Agrost. Bras. 93. 1829. S. dimidiatum
var. americanum Hack, in Stuck. Anal. Mus. Nac. Buenos Aires
21:57.1911. Figure 102.
Sandy ground, British Honduras. Probably to be found in
Guatemala. Southern United States and the West Indies to Ar-
gentina; Africa; Hawaii; Pacific Islands; Australia.
Coarse, tough, wiry, stoloniferous perennial; culms compressed, erect from
usually arching stolons, 5-50 cm. high, the long internodes alternate with a series
of very short ones, making the leaves in groups; sheaths broad, compressed, keeled,
glabrous, sometimes ciliate on the margins, with a small tuft of hairs in the throat;
blades flat, conduplicate, obtuse, 2-15 cm. long, as much as 15 mm. wide unfolded,
glabrous, the margins scabrous at the tip; racemes terminal on the main culm
and short branches from the upper nodes, mostly 4-10 cm. long, straight or
curved, the thick rachis 3-4 mm. wide; spikelets 4-6 mm. long, acuminate, gla-
brous, the first glume obtuse, one-third to one-half as long as the spikelet.
STIPA L.
Spikelets 1-flowered, the rachilla disarticulating above the glumes, the ar-
ticulation oblique, leaving a sharp-bearded callus on the floret; glumes equal, thin,
longer than the floret; lemma indurate, terete, terminating in a usually twice-
geniculate awn, the summit sometimes with a more or less distinct smooth crown.
Perennials with usually involute blades and narrow or open panicles.
Species about 150, in temperate regions of both hemispheres.
Panicles narrow, dense, silvery; lemma with conspicuous long hairs at the summit.
S. ichu.
Panicles open, the branches naked at least toward the base; lemma without long
hairs at the summit.
Lemma 5-6 mm. long, dark brown at maturity S. virescens.
Lemma 2.5 mm. long, pale S. linearifolia.
FIG. 102. Stenotaphrum secundatum. Plant, X
and fertile floret, X 10.
; two views of spikelet,
351
352 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Stipa ichu (Ruiz & Pav.) Kunth, ReV. Gram. 1: 60. 1829.
Jarava ichu Ruiz & Pav. Fl. Peruv. Chil. 1: 5. pi. 6, f. b. 1798. Stipa
liebmanni Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 76. 1886. Pajdn (Quezaltenango).
Plateaus, open rocky slopes, open pine and oak forests, sometimes
dominant on volcanic ash, 1,500-3,500 meters; Sacatepe"quez; Que-
zaltenango; Quiche"; San Marcos. Southern Mexico; Costa Rica;
Colombia and Venezuela to Argentina.
Perennial; culms erect in large dense clumps, 60-120 cm. high, glabrous;
sheaths scaberulous, with long hairs at the throat and sometimes on the collar;
blades elongate, firm, scabrous, somewhat curved or flexuous, those of the culm
sometimes flat; panicle 15-40 cm. long, shining, pale or purplish, the numerous
densely flowered branches ascending or appressed, very scabrous; glumes about
1 cm. long, attenuate, thin, hyaline, faintly 3-nerved; lemma about 2.5 mm. long,
pubescent, bearing at the summit conspicuous hairs 3-4 mm. long, the awn 1-2
cm. long, slender, flexuous or obscurely twice-geniculate, more or less twisted
in the lower part.
Stipa linearifolia Fourn. Mex. PL 2: 73. 1886.
Damp thickets and oak-pine forests, 2,500-3,000 meters; Quezal-
tenango. Southern Mexico. Infrequent.
Perennial; culms slender, erect or decumbent at the base, 50-140 cm. high,
3-4-noded, glabrous; blades linear, involute, or the culm blades flat, as much as
5 mm. wide, scaberulous; panicles 12-20 cm. long, the slender branches distant,
solitary or in pairs, ascending to spreading, sometimes naked for nearly half the
length; glumes thin, 3-nerved, obtuse to acutish, 3-4 mm. long; fruit 2.5-3.5 mm.
long, fusiform, pilose, with an indistinct crown, the awn 12-18 mm. long, twice-
geniculate, rather readily deciduous.
Stipa virescens H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 126. 1815. S.
caerulea Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 227. 1830. S. arsenii Hack. Repert.
Nov. Sp. Fedde 8: 515. 1910.
Dry pine woods, 1,800-3,000 meters; Chimaltenango; Quiche";
Huehuetenango; San Marcos. Mexico.
Perennial; culms erect in large tufts, 60-120 cm. high; sheaths glabrous,
usually much shorter than the internodes; ligule 1-2 mm. long, decurrent; blades
10-40 cm. long, rarely shorter, scabrous or sometimes nearly smooth, firm, in-
volute, or those of the culm flat, 1-2 mm. wide; panicle 10-30 cm. long, narrow,
the slender distant branches ascending or appressed, sometimes flexuous, bearing
one to few spikelets; glumes 7-8 mm. long, pale or purple, abruptly acuminate;
lemma 5-6 mm. long, dark brown at maturity, densely villous with brown hairs,
the callus 1 mm. long, densely bearded, the summit with a row of stiff, erect,
brown hairs; awn 1-2 cm. long, twice-geniculate, twisted to the second bend.
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 353
STREPTOCHAETA Schrad.
Spikelets 1-flowered, terete, disarticulating below the glumes; empty bractlets
(probably glumes and sterile lemmas) 4, much shorter than the spikelet, more
or less toothed; lemma indurate, gradually narrowed into a long, much-contorted
awn; palea shorter than the lemma, bifid to the base, indurate like the lemma;
inner bracts (lodicules) 3, imbricate, longer than the palea, firm but less indurate
than the lemma and palea; stamens 6, monodelphous, the tube about as long
as the lemma; style 1, stigmas 3.
Broad-leaved perennials with the spikelets usually in elongate spikes.
Species 2, in tropical America.
Blades 6-9 cm. wide; spikelets, excluding awns, about 14 mm. long; spike dense,
usually many-flowered S. sodiroana.
Blades 3-4.5 cm. wide; spikelets, excluding awns, about 22 cm. long; spike few-
flowered, the spikelets distant S. spicata.
Streptochaeta sodiroana Hack. Oesterr. Bot. Zeitschr. 40:
113. 1890.
Forests, Temash River, British Honduras. Not known from
Guatemala. Honduras; Costa Rica; Panama; Ecuador.
Perennial; culms erect or rarely decumbent at the base and rooting at the
lower nodes, 60-100 cm. high, densely pubescent below the inflorescence; lower
sheaths much shorter than the internodes, the upper ones crowded, flattened
but scarcely keeled, glabrous, broadened at the truncate, more or less auriculate,
densely ciliate mouth; ligule obsolete; blades 18-30 cm. long, 6-9.5 cm. wide,
petiolate, asymmetrical, rather abruptly acute or acuminate, glabrous; spike 20-30
cm. long, about 1 cm. thick, densely many-flowered, the axis and the pedicels
of the spikelets conspicuously hispid; spikelets appressed, somewhat obscured
by the awns; lower bracts very short, obscure, irregularly lobed; lemma about
12 mm. long, tapering into an awn 10 cm. long, the lower part (about 6 cm.)
nearly straight, the upper part much finer, minutely but conspicuously contorted ;
palea 8-9 mm. long, the lobes acute, somewhat spreading at the tip; lodicules
unequal, 13-15 mm. long, somewhat exceeding the lemma.
Streptochaeta spicata Schrad. ex Nees, Agrost. Bras. 537. 1829.
Figure 103.
Wet woods in deep shade, near sea level; Izabal. Southern
Mexico; Nicaragua; Panama; Trinidad; Venezuela; Ecuador; Para-
guay; Brazil.
Perennial; culms 60-90 cm. high, simple or sparingly branched, pubescent
at and below the nodes; lower sheaths shorter than the internodes, the upper
somewhat crowded, pilose on the margins toward the base, hispid-ciliate at the
mouth, often auriculate, the auricles as much as 7 mm. long; blades 8-15 cm. long,
2.5-4.5 cm. wide, acute, nearly symmetrical, glabrous; spike 10-12 cm. long,
bearing 5-9 erect spikelets, the axis densely pubescent; spikelets 20-24 mm. long;
354
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
lower bracts 2-3 mm. long, the first two narrow, awned, the other two very broad,
awnless, strongly nerved, irregularly dentate; lemma as long as or a little shorter
than the lodicules, tapering into an awn 7-10 cm. long, becoming slender and
finally contorted in the upper third; divisions of the palea acuminate, 14-15
mm. long.
FIG. 103. Streptochaeta spicata. Inflorescence, X l;spikelet, X 5.
THRASYA H.B.K.
Spikelets in pairs in two rows on one side of a narrow- to broad-winged rachis,
turned back to back, the first subsessile, the second pedicellate, the pedicel adnate
to the rachis, the spikelets thus appearing solitary; first glume small, sometimes
hyaline; second glume usually shorter than the fruit, acute; sterile lemma in-
durate, sulcate and often splitting down the middle at maturity, enclosing a well-
developed palea and usually a staminate flower; fruit indurate, striate, with a few
stiff hairs at the tip, the margins narrow, firm, not inrolled.
Branching perennials with narrow flat blades and solitary, terminal and
axillary, straight or usually curved racemes.
Species about 20, in tropical America.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA
355
Spikelets glabrous, 2.5-3 mm. long; racemes 4-8 cm. long; rachis 1.5-2 mm.
wide T. campylostachya.
Spikelets villous, 4 mm. long; racemes 15-20 cm. long; rachis 3-4 mm. wide.
T. petrosa.
Thrasya campylostachya (Hack.) Chase, Proc. Biol. Soc.
Washington 24: 115. 1911. Panicum campylostachyum Hack.
Oesterr. Bot. Zeitschr. 51: 367. 1901. Figure 104.
FIG. 104. Thrasya campylostachya, about X
356 FIELD IANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Pine forests and ridges, to about 1,000 meters; Alta Verapaz;
Izabal; Huehuetenango; Chiquimula. British Honduras (Toledo
District); southern Mexico (Veracruz and Oaxaca) to Bolivia.
Perennial; culms slender, flattened, erect or straggling, often more than
1 meter long, glabrous or pubescent below the more or less bearded nodes; blades
flat, 6-20 cm. long, 4-10 mm. wide, glabrous to softly pubescent, the margins
sometimes hispid; racemes solitary, terminal and axillary on slender, long-exserted
peduncles, arcuate, 4-8 cm. long, the rachis winged, 1.5-2 mm. wide; spikelets
2.5-3 mm. long, glabrous; first glume minute; second glume acute, two-thirds
as long as the fruit.
Thrasya petrosa (Trin.) Chase, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 24:
115. 1911. Panicum petrosum Trin. Gram. Icon. 3: pi. 280. 1831.
Tylothrasya petrosa Doell in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2 (2) : 295. pi. 37. 1877.
Rocky slopes, 1,200-1,500 meters; Quezaltenango; Chiquimula.
Panama to Peru, Brazil, and Paraguay.
Perennial; culms tufted, erect, 1-1.5 meters high, appressed-papillose-pilose,
the nodes bearded; sheaths keeled, elongate, mostly longer than the internodes,
glabrous to densely papillose-pilose, especially toward the summit; ligule brown,
truncate, about 1 mm. long; blades elongate, mostly 4-6 mm. wide, acuminate
or sometimes attenuate, narrowed toward the base, glabrous to more or less
papillose or papillose-hirsute, the uppermost wanting or very much reduced;
racemes 15-20 cm. long, curved, on long slender peduncles, the rachis winged,
3-4 mm. wide; spikelets 4 mm. long, villous; first glume minute; second glume
longer than the fruit, acuminate; sterile lemma slightly shorter than the second
glume, acute, sulcate, slightly divided at the summit, the palea prominent, nearly
as long as the lemma; fertile lemma 3.5 mm. long, narrowly ovate, palea minutely
striate, subacute.
TRACHYPOGON Nees
Spikelets in pairs at the nodes of a slender continuous rachis, one nearly
sessile, staminate, awnless, the other pedicellate, perfect, long-awned; pedicel
of the perfect spikelet obliquely disarticulating near the base, forming a sharp-
bearded callus below the spikelet; first glume of perfect spikelet firm, rounded
on the back, several-nerved, obtuse; second glume firm, obscurely nerved; fertile
lemma narrow, extending into a stout, twisted, geniculate or flexuous, often
plumose awn; sessile spikelet as large as the fertile spikelet, persistent, awnless.
Tufted perennials with terminal racemes, solitary or few, approximate on
a short axis.
Species about 15, in warmer regions of America and Africa.
Spikelets rather distant, the conspicuous white callus hairs contrasting with the
usually dark purple glumes of the fertile spikelets; awns short-hispid.
T. montufari.
Spikelets crowded, pale, the callus hairs inconspicuous; awns distinctly plumose.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 357
Ligule about 1.5 mm. long, inconspicuous; blades stiffly spreading.
T. angustifolius.
Ligule 5-12 mm. long T. secundus.
Trachypogon angustifolius (H.B.K.) Nees ex Hack. DC.
Monogr. Phan. VI: 326. 1889. Andropogon angustifolius H.B.K.
Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1:184. 1816.
Open grassy plains, rocky slopes, and sandy pine uplands, up
to 1,000 meters; Pete"n; Alta Verapaz; Izabal; Zacapa; Jutiapa.
British Honduras; southern Mexico; Panama.
Perennial; culms slender, erect, 40-80 cm. high, the nodes appressed-bearded
or sometimes nearly glabrous; sheaths glabrous, or the lower ones sparsely pilose;
blades 5-20 cm. long, 1-4 mm. wide, narrowed toward the base, usually stiffly
spreading; ligule firm, decurrent, not more than 1.5 mm. long; racemes solitary
or rarely paired, 8-12 cm. long; fertile spikelets about 8 mm. long, the glumes
pale, pubescent below, glabrous or nearly so toward the summit; awns 3-4.5 cm.
long, plumose to the second bend, sometimes throughout.
Trachypogon montufari (H.B.K.) Nees, Agrost. Bras. 342.
1829. Andropogon montufari H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 184. 1816.
Barren or grassy slopes, shady banks, sometimes in cultivated
places, 1,500-2,000 meters; Chiquimula; Guatemala; Sacatepe"quez;
Quezaltenango. British Honduras; Mexico; Colombia and Venezuela
to Bolivia.
Perennial; culms tufted, erect, 30 cm. to more than 1 meter high, the nodes
densely and conspicuously bearded with stiff, appressed hairs; sheaths usually
much shorter than the internodes, glabrous; ligule firm, decurrent, 3-10 mm. long;
blades attenuate, flat or loosely involute, 8-30 cm. long, not more than 5 mm.
wide, usually less; racemes solitary or rarely paired, 8-15 cm. long; fertile spikelets
about 1 cm. long, the glumes pubescent, usually purple; awns 3-5 cm. long,
twice-geniculate, appressed-hispid.
Trachypogon secundus (Presl) Scribn. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div.
Agrost. Circ. 32: 1. 1901. Heteropogon secundus Presl, Rel. Haenk.
1: 335. 1830. Andropogon secundus Kunth, ReV. Gram. 1: Suppl.
xxxix. 1830. Figure 105.
Grassy plains, pine slopes, dry ridges, and rocky or brushy slopes,
up to 2,500 meters; Izabal; Chiquimula; Jalapa; Jutiapa; Gua-
temala; Quezaltenango. Southwestern United States to Panama.
Perennial; culms densely tufted, erect, 0.5-1.5 meters high, the nodes in-
conspicuously bearded; sheaths glabrous or papillose-pilose, auriculate; ligule
5-12 mm. long, firm, the margins fused with the auricles of the sheaths; blades
elongate, 2-5 mm. wide, flat or loosely rolled, attenuate, narrowed to an almost
petiole-like base, scabrous or papillose-pilose; racemes 1 or 2, 10-20 cm. long;
FIG. 105. Trachypogon secundus. Plant, X 1 A', fertile spikelet, X 5.
358
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 359
fertile spikelets 8-12 mm. long including the sharp-bearded callus; first glume
rather densely pubescent, or nearly glabrous; awns 5-7 cm. long, the two lower
segments conspicuously plumose.
TRICHACHNE Nees
Spikelets lanceolate, rather distant, in pairs in two rows on one side of a narrow
rachis; first glume small, hyaline, nerveless, glabrous; second glume and sterile
lemma nearly equal, longer than the fruit, 3-5-nerved, densely covered with
usually long silky, pale or tawny hairs; fruit cartilaginous, acuminate, dark brown
at maturity, the tip pale, the margins of the lemma broad, thin, hyaline, nearly
covering the palea, not inrolled.
Slender to rather coarse perennials with flat narrow blades and plumelike
(in our species), contracted inflorescences" of numerous slender racemes arranged
on an elongate common axis.
Species about 15, in tropical and subtropical America and
Australia.
Trichachne insularis (L.) Nees, Agrost. Bras. 86. 1829. An-
dropogon insularis L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 2: 1304. 1759. Panicum
lanatum Rottb. Act. Lit. Univ. Hafn. 1: 269. 1778. P. leucophaeum
H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 97. 1815. P. insulare G. Meyer, Prim.
Fl. Esseq. 60. 1818. Tricholaena insularis Griseb. Abhandl. Gesell.
Wiss. Gottingen 7: 265. 1857. Syntherisma insularis Millsp. &
Chase, Field Mus. Bot. 1: 473. 1902. Valota insularis Chase, Proc.
Biol. Soc. Washington 19: 188. 1906. Digitaria insularis Mez ex
Ekman, Arkiv. Bot. 13: 22. 1913. Figure 106.
Swamps, pastures, open slopes, clearings, and along railroads
at low altitudes; Pete"n; Izabal; Santa Rosa; Escuintla; San Marcos.
British Honduras; Florida to Texas; West Indies; Mexico to Ar-
gentina.
Perennial; culms erect or decumbent-spreading from a knotty rhizomatous
base, branching, mostly 1-1.5 meters high, usually many-noded, the internodes
relatively short; cataphylls densely and softly hairy; sheaths keeled toward the
summit, longer than the internodes, sparsely papillose-pilose or papillose-hirsute,
the lower ones often densely so, with a tuft of hairs in the throat; ligule thin, 3-4
mm. long; blades 10-30 cm. long, 2-12 mm. wide, flat, acuminate to attenuate-
pointed, finely scabrous on the margins; panicles 15-30 cm. long, narrow, dense,
tawny, silky, the branches narrowly ascending, spikelet bearing from the base;
spikelets 3.5-4 mm. long, obscured by the long silky hairs, the first glume about
0.5 mm. long, glabrous.
TRINIOCHLOA Hitchc.
Spikelets 1-flowered, the rachilla disarticulating above the glumes, not pro-
longed beyond the floret; glumes thin, usually much shorter than the floret; lemma
FIG. 106. Trichachne insularis. Plant, X }4', spikelet and floret, X 10.
360
FIG. 107. Triniochloa stipoides. Inflorescence, X 1; spikelet, X 2.
361
362 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
firm, rounded on the back, awned from the back above the middle, the apex
2-toothed, the callus densely bearded; palea nearly as long as the lemma, sulcate,
the keels approximate.
Perennials with narrow blades and lax, open, few-flowered panicles.
Species 3, Mexico to Ecuador.
Triniochloa stipoides (H.B.K.) Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Nat.
Herb. 17: 303. 1913. Podosaemum stipoides H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp.
1: 131. 1815. P. alpestre H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 131. 1815.
Muhlenbergia stipoides Kunth, ReV. Gram. 1: 64. 1829. Avena
stipoides Scribn. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Circ. 19: 4. 1900.
Figure 107.
Hills, pine-clad slopes, and cloud forests, mostly 2,000-3,500
meters; Jalapa; Sacatepe"quez; Suchitepe'quez; Quezaltenango.
Mexico; Costa Rica; Colombia and Venezuela to Bolivia.
Perennial; culms numerous in dense tufts, slender, erect or somewhat decum-
bent at the base, 30-125 cm. high; lower sheaths retrorsely pubescent or pilose,
the upper ones scaberulous; ligule hyaline, 7-10 mm. long, those of the lower
sheaths much shorter; blades linear, 1-4 mm. wide, usually pilose on the upper
surface; panicles 5-20 cm. long, the slender few-flowered branches ascending to
spreading or even reflexed, sometimes flexuous; spikelets terete, 1-1.5 cm. long;
glumes 3-5 mm. long, acute; awn 1-1.5 cm. long.
TRIPSACUM L.
Monoecious, the staminate and pistillate spikelets in the same inflorescence;
staminate spikelets 2-flowered, in pairs at the nodes of a continuous rachis, one
sessile, the other subsessile or pedicellate; glumes membranaceous, equal, many-
nerved, the first 2-keeled, the margins rather sharply inflexed; pistillate spikelets
solitary on opposite sides on the lower part of the same rachis, sunken in the
thickened, hardened disarticulating joints, composed of one fertile floret and
a sterile lemma; first glume coriaceous, rounded, the margins nearly enclosing
the spikelet; sterile lemma, fertile lemma, and palea hyaline, each successively
smaller.
Coarse perennials with usually broad flat blades and one to several racemes
in terminal and axillary inflorescences.
Species 9, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America.
Culms relatively slender, about 1 meter high; blades elongate, 1-1.8 cm. wide.
T. lanceolatum.
Culms relatively coarse, 2-6 meters high; blades mostly much more than 2 cm.
wide.
Secondary and primary staminate spikelets sessile or nearly so; lower blades
with a long, petiole-like base T. latifolium.
Secondary spikelet of each pair of staminate spikelets pedicellate; base of blades
not petiole-like.
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 363
Sheaths glabrous T. laxum.
Sheaths, especially the lower ones, strongly hispid T. pilosum.
Tripsacum lanceolatum Rupr. ex Fourn. Mex. PL 2: 68. 1886.
Along small narrow rocky draw, pine-clad hills, between Monjos
and Jalapa, about 10 miles south of Jalapa, 1,000 meters, Steyermark
32213. Mexico; Honduras; Panama.
Perennial; culms in small clumps, relatively slender, about 1 meter high,
sparingly branching from the upper nodes; sheaths glabrous or somewhat hairy
on the collar; blades elongate, 1-1.8 cm. wide, narrowed toward the base, papillose-
pilose on the upper surface, glabrous beneath, the margins sharply scabrous;
racemes solitary, those of the branches scarcely eXserted from the sheath; stam-
inate spikelets 5-7 mm. long, the secondary of each pair with a short broad
pedicel; pistillate spikelets lanceolate, about 5 mm. long.
The description has been based entirely on the Guatemala speci-
men cited above. It is provisionally referred to T. lanceolatum,
since it differs in several respects from the type and Mexican ma-
terial. Too little is known as yet about Tripsacum to describe this
form as new.
Tripsacum latifolium Hitchc. Bot. Gaz. 41: 294. 1906.
River banks, ravines, and open hills, sometimes forming exten-
sive stands, up to 1,100 meters; Alta Verapaz (type from Cubil-
giiitz); Izabal. British Honduras; Honduras; West Indies.
Coarse perennial; culms as much as 6 meters high, glabrous, bearing slender
branches from the upper nodes; blades 70 cm. to more than 1 meter long, 2.5-8
cm. wide, acuminate, especially the lower ones narrowed to a long petiole-like
base, papillose-pilose or papillose-hispid above, nearly glabrous beneath; spikes
2 or 3 in the terminal inflorescences, solitary on the branches, slender, drooping;
both staminate spikelets of each pair sessile or subsessile, 4-6 mm. long, obtuse,
rather densely pubescent, the keels hispid toward the summit; joints of the
pistillate part of the spike 5-7 mm. long, the spikelet broadly ovate.
Tripsacum laxum Nash, N. Amer. Fl. 17: 81. 1909. T. fas-
ciculatum Trin. ex Aschers. Bot. Zeit. 35: 525. 1877. Not T. fasci-
culatum Rasp. 1825. Cana de Casa (Izabal) ; Guatemala grass.
Edges of pine forests, slopes, and hilltops, up to 2,000 meters;
Izabal; Guatemala. British Honduras; Mexico; El Salvador.
Perennial; culms coarse, erect, commonly 2-3 meters high, branching from
the upper nodes; sheaths glabrous; blades 2-6 cm. wide, somewhat cordate, the
margins scabrous; racemes usually solitary or in pairs, sometimes more in the
terminal inflorescence; staminate spikelets about 8 mm. long, the primary one
of each pair sessile, the secondary pedicellate, the pedicel flattened, rather broad,
about 2 mm. long; pistillate portion of racemes thickish, the spikelets rather
broadly ovate.
364 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
The above description applies to Guatemala specimens, which
differ in some respects from Mexican material, especially that which
has been accepted as the type.
Tripsacum pilosum Scribn. & Merr. U. S. Dept. Agr. Div.
Agrost. Bull. 24: 6. /. 1. 1901.
Rare on grassy slopes, lower slopes of Sierra de las Minas, along
trail above Rio Hondo, 250-900 meters, Zacapa, Steyermark 29558.
Mexico.
Similar to T. laxum; sheaths, especially the lower ones, strongly hispid;
staminate spikelets about 6 mm. long, the pedicel of the secondary spikelet
rounded, rather slender, about 3 mm. long.
The specimen cited lacks all but the upper sheaths, which are
papillose. The staminate spikelets are shorter than those of the
type.
TRISETUM Pers.
Spikelets 2-3-flowered, the rachilla usually villous, disarticulating above
the glumes and between the florets (in our species), prolonged beyond the upper-
most floret; glumes somewhat unequal, acute, the second usually longer than
the first floret; lemmas usually short-bearded at the base, 2-toothed at the apex,
bearing from the back, below the cleft apex, a straight and included or usually
geniculate and exserted awn (minutely lobed and awnless or nearly so in T.
pringlei).
Slender to tall and rather coarse perennials with usually flat narrow blades
and open or narrow and rather dense panicles.
Species probably about 75, in temperate and cold regions of both
hemispheres.
Spikelets awnless.
Panicles open; lemmas densely pilose T. pringlei.
Panicles narrow, the few branches appressed; lemmas scaberulous.
T. angustum.
Spikelets awned.
Panicles dense, spikelike; lemmas densely pilose T. rosei.
Panicles open, or if narrow, at least not spikelike.
Panicles silvery, almost plumelike from the copious callus hairs protruding
from the glumes; glumes nearly equal in size and shape, 1-nerved.
T. deyeuxioides.
Panicles greenish or purplish, not plumelike, the callus hairs short; first
glume 1-3-nerved, the second broader, 3-nerved.
Lemmas strongly scabrous throughout; awn inserted about one-third below
the tip of the lemma T. irazuense.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 365
Lemmas finely scabrous or glabrous; awn inserted about the middle
of the lemma.
Blades very firm, strongly nerved, very scabrous on the under surface;
lower lemma 8 mm. long T. altum.
Blades relatively thin and lax, scaberulous; lower lemma 6 mm. long.
T. pinetorum.
Trisetum altum Swallen, Phytologia 4, no. 7: 423. 1953.
Pine woods east of Finca Piamonte, El Progreso, 2,500 meters,
Steyermark 43836 (type).
Perennial; culms erect, 135 cm. high, glabrous; sheaths much shorter than the
internodes, rather prominently retrorsely scabrous; ligule hyaline, 5-8 mm. long;
blades as much as 30 cm. long, 3-4 mm. wide, firm, strongly nerved, very scabrous
on the under surface, sparsely pilose with long hairs on the upper; inflorescence
22 cm. long, about 4 cm. wide, the branches in somewhat distant fascicles, ascend-
ing, the lower ones as much as 10 cm. long with shorter ones intermixed; glumes
narrow, acute or acuminate, scabrous on the keel, the first 7 mm. long, 1-nerved,
the second 8 mm. long, 3-nerved; lower lemma 8 mm. long, scabrous, minutely
toothed, awned from just above the middle of the back, the awn about 6 mm.
long, twisted and contorted in the lower part.
Trisetum angustum Swallen, Phytologia 4, no. 7: 423. 1953.
Top of dry ridge in pine forest, between San Sebastian and
summit of Volcan Tajumulco, San Marcos, 3,800-4,600 meters,
Steyermark 35525 (type).
Perennial; culms slender, densely tufted, erect or ascending, 12-24 cm. high;
sheaths glabrous or the lower ones pubescent; blades 3-8 cm. long, 1 mm. wide,
those of the innovations densely pilose, those of the culm glabrous or sparsely
pilose; panicles 4-8 cm. long, very narrow, the few rather distant branches closely
appressed; spikelets 2-flowered; glumes acute or acuminate, 1-nerved, the first
narrow, 3.5-4 mm. long, the second broader, 4-5 mm. long; lower lemma 4.5 mm.
long, scaberulous, the tip minutely and irregularly toothed, the midnerve excur-
rent in a very short mucro.
Trisetum deyeuxioides (H.B.K.) Kunth, ReV. Gram. 1: 102.
1829. Avena deyeuxioides H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 147. 1815.
Trisetaria deyeuxioides Poir. in Lam. Encycl. Suppl. 5: 366. 1817.
Avena trichopodia Presl, Rel. Haenk. 1: 254. 1830. Deyeuxia triflora
Nees, Linnaea 19: 691. 1847. Pajisa (Jalapa).
Slopes and wet meadows, 1,250-3,500 meters; Jalapa; Guatemala;
Sacatepe'quez; Suchitepe'quez ; Chimaltenango. Southern Mexico to
Panama; Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador.
Slender lax perennial; culms erect or decumbent-spreading at the base,
70-120 cm. high, simple or sparingly branching; sheaths glabrous, usually longer
366 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
than the internodes; ligule thin, truncate, 2-4 mm. long; blades 8-25 cm. long,
2-6 mm. wide, scabrous, sometimes pilose on the upper surface; panicles 10-25
cm. long, narrow, silvery, the short branches ascending, somewhat flexuous,
spikelet-bearing nearly to the base; spikelets 5-6 mm. long, 2-flowered; both
glumes narrow, 1-nerved, subequal, nearly as long as the spikelet; lemmas narrowly
lanceolate, glabrous, the hyaline tip bifid, the lower one 4.5-5 mm. long, the callus
densely hairy, the hairs about 3 mm. long; awn 7-8 mm. long, fine, twisted below,
attached about the middle of the lemma; rachilla conspicuously hairy, the hairs
at the summit of each segment much longer than the rest, reaching more than
half the length of the lemma.
Trisetum irazuense (Kuntze) Hitchc. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash-
ington 40: 82. 1927. T. gracile Fourn. Mex. PI. 2: 108. 1886. Not
T. gracile Boiss. 1845. Calamagrostis irazuensis Kuntze, Rev. Gen.
PI. 2: 763. 1891. Trisetum fournieranum Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Nat.
Herb. 17: 326. 1913. T. scabriflorum Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Nat.
Herb. 24: 358. 1927. Figure 108.
Pine or pine-fir forests, moist or rocky slopes and ravines, and
alpine meadows, 1,800-4,400 meters; Chimaltenango; Solola;
Huehuetenango; Quezaltenango; San Marcos. Southern Mexico;
Costa Rica; Panama; Colombia; Venezuela; Ecuador.
Perennial; culms loosely tufted, erect or somewhat decumbent at the base,
50-90 cm. high, flattened, glabrous; lower sheaths crowded, densely villous, the
upper distant, elongate, glabrous or nearly so; ligule erose, truncate, about 1 mm.
long; blades flat, mostly 8-15 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide, sparsely pilose on both
surfaces; panicles 12-20 cm. long, suberect or nodding, the branches usually
ascending, somewhat flexuous, some of them naked at the base for 1-2 cm.,
as much as 7 cm. long; spikelets 5-8 mm. long, 2-3-flowered; glumes shorter than
the spikelet, the first 4-5 mm. long, 1-nerved, narrow, acuminate, the second
much broader, 5-6 mm. long, 3-nerved, abruptly acuminate; lemmas lanceolate,
slightly toothed, 5-nerved, scabrous and minutely wrinkled on the back, the
lowest one 5-6 mm. long; awn 7-10 mm. long, twisted in the lower third, inserted
about one-third from the tip of the lemma.
Trisetum pinetorum Swallen, Phytologia 4, no. 7: 424. 1953.
Ridges and pine-Abies slopes, 2,500-3,700 meters, Volcan Santo
Tomas, Quezaltenango, Steyermark 34824 (type).
Perennial; culms slender, tufted, erect or ascending, 35-70 cm. high, glabrous;
sheaths mostly shorter than the internodes, the uppermost elongate, glabrous;
ligule hyaline, 2-3 mm. long; blades linear, elongate, 1-2 mm. wide, scaberulous;
panicles 8-15 cm. long, narrow, rather dense, somewhat interrupted, the lower
branches about 3 cm. long, appressed; spikelets 2-flowered; glumes subequal,
acute, the first 1-nerved, the second 3-nerved; lower lemma 6 mm. long, smooth
below, scabrous above, the tip lacerate-toothed, the awn inserted about the middle
of the back, 10-12 mm. long, geniculate, twisted below the bend.
FIG. 108. Trisetum irazuense. Inflorescence, X I 1 /*; spikelet, X 8.
367
368 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Trisetum pringlei (Scribn.) Hitchc. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washing-
ton 40: 82. 1927. Graphephorum pringlei Scribn. ex Beal, Grasses
N. Amer. 2: 561. 1896.
Damp meadows and grassy slopes, 2,800-3,700 meters; Toton-
icapan; Huehuetenango. Mexico (Oaxaca and Chiapas); Costa
Rica; Panama.
Slender, densely tufted perennial; culms erect, 15-45 cm. high, glabrous;
leaves mostly crowded toward the base in a dense cluster, softly and rather
densely pubescent; blades firm, convolute, navicular, erect, 4-12 cm. long; panicles
narrow, lax, somewhat drooping, 7-12 cm. long, the short slender scabrous branches
ascending, sometimes flexuous, often naked at the base; spikelets 4-5 mm. long,
2-flowered, the florets distant, the upper one readily deciduous; glumes glabrous,
unequal, the first 1.5-2 mm. long, 1-nerved, the second 3 mm. long, 3-nerved;
first lemma 3.5 mm. long, 5-nerved, densely pubescent, rounded, obtusish, minutely
notched, rarely with a short awn; second lemma similar but smaller; rachilla
densely hairy.
Trisetum rosei Scribn. & Merr. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 8: 289.
1905.
Around summit of Volcan Santa Maria, 4,200 meters, Quezal-
tenango, Steyermark 34203. Mexico.
Perennial; culms densely tufted, erect, 20-85 cm. high; sheaths usually
densely retrorsely pubescent or pilose, the lower ones crowded, those of the culm
elongate; ligule 1-2 mm. long, ciliate; blades pubescent, firm, involute, especially
those of the innovations, sometimes flat, the upper ones reduced, flat, as much
as 5 mm. wide; panicles dense, spikelike, pale or usually purple-tinged, 6-12 cm.
long, about 1 cm. thick; spikelets 5 mm. long, the glumes broad, similar, acute,
a little shorter than the spikelet, the first 1-nerved, the second 3-nerved; lower
lemma 5 mm. long, densely pubescent below the awn, nearly glabrous above,
the awn 3-4 mm. long, divergent, inserted about one-third from the summit.
TRISTACHYA Nees
Spikelets short-pedicellate in groups of three at the ends of the branches or
branchlets, 2-flowered, the lower floret staminate or sterile, the upper fertile, the
rachilla disarticulating below the fertile floret, forming a sharp-pointed hairy
callus; first glume 1-nerved, the second 3-nerved, longer than the first; lemma of
lower floret similar to the second glume; lemma of fertile floret terete, firm,
5-nerved, the tip lobed, bearing between the lobes a stout, 2-geniculate awn, the
lower two segments tightly twisted.
Tufted perennials with narrow blades and few-flowered panicles of large
spikelets.
Species 5, in Mexico and South America.
Tristachya avenacea (Presl) Scribn. & Merr. U. S. Dept. Agr.
Div. Agrost. Bull. 24: 23. 1901. Monopogon avenaceus Presl,
SWALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA
369
Rel. Haenk. 1: 324. t. 44- 1830. Caragua (Chiquimula). Figure
109.
Pine slopes and rocky stream banks, 1,000-1,700 meters; Chi-
quimula; Quezaltenango. Mexico.
Perennial; culms tufted, erect, 90-120 cm. high, the nodes appressed-bearded ;
lower sheaths longer, the upper ones usually shorter than the internodes, sparsely
hispid to nearly glabrous, the lowermost densely villous toward the base; ligule
ciliate, less than 1 mm. long; blades linear, elongate, 3-6 mm. wide, sparsely
FIG. 109. Tristachya avenacea. In-
florescence, X %.
370 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
papillose-hispid on the upper surface to glabrous, the margins scabrous; panicles
10-22 cm. long, the branches paired or usually solitary, rather stiff, narrowly
ascending, densely pilose in the axils; glumes brown, glabrous, the first 1.5-2.5
cm. long, the second 2.5-3.0 cm. long; fertile floret about 8 mm. long including
the callus, the back pubescent, the lobes inconspicuous, 1 mm. long, the awn
as much as 6 cm. long, the terminal segment curved or flexuous.
TRITICUM L.
Spikelets 2-5-flowered, solitary, sessile, alternate on opposite sides of a con-
tinuous rachis, the rachilla disarticulating above the glumes and between the
florets; glumes broad, abruptly mucronate or awned, the tip more or less toothed;
lemmas firm, awned or awnless.
Annuals with flat blades and terminal spikes.
Species about 10, one commonly cultivated in temperate regions
around the world.
Triticum aestivum L. Sp. PL 85. 1753. T. sativum Lam. Fl.
Franc. 3: 625. 1778. T. vulgare Vill. Hist. PI. Dauph. 2: 153. 1787.
Wheat, Trigo. Figure 110.
Although frequently cultivated in Guatemala, only one specimen
has been seen, collected by Julian A. Steyermark, no. 34681, in wheat
field on Volcan Zunil, Quezaltenango, 2,500-3,800 meters. Cul-
tivated in all temperate regions.
UNIOLA L.
Spikelets laterally compressed, few- to several-flowered, the rachilla disar-
ticulating above the glumes and between the florets (tardily or not at all disar-
ticulating in our species), with 1-4 empty lemmas below the fertile florets; glumes
narrow, compressed-keeled, acute or acuminate, the first 1-5-nerved, the second
3-5-nerved; lemmas compressed-keeled, 5-several-nerved, the nerves often
obscure, acute or acuminate, awnless or sometimes mucronate; palea shorter than
the lemma, the keels straight (in our species) or prominently bowed.
Slender to coarse perennials with flat or convolute blades and open or usually
narrow and rather dense panicles of compressed spikelets.
Species 10, in warmer regions of America.
Uniola pittieri Hack. Oesterr. Bot. Zeitschr. 52: 309. 1902.
Figure 111.
Sea beaches, Ocos, Rio Naranjo, Quezaltenango. Mexico; Hon-
duras; Costa Rica; Panama; Ecuador.
Stout, glabrous, extensively stoloniferous perennial; culms in large clumps,
55-100 cm. high, some of the internodes elongate with 2-4 very short ones between
FIG. 110. Triticum aestivum. Plant, X 1 A; spikelet and floret, X 3.
371
372
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
FIG. 111. Uniola pittieri. Plant, X Y$\ spikelet and floret, about X 3.
them, the leaves thus appearing in groups; sheaths rounded, glabrous, villous
in the throat and on the margins; blades elongate, very firm, attenuate to a fine
tip, 8-10 mm. wide toward the base, flat but soon becoming convolute, usually
curled toward the ends, glabrous below, more or less scabrous on the upper surface
and on the margins; panicles usually 20-30 cm. long, 3-6 cm. wide, dense, inter-
rupted below; spikelets very shortly pedicellate, very flat, 1-2 cm. long, 8-10
mm. wide; lemmas ovate, acute, ciliate on the keel, the margins densely
villous at the base, otherwise glabrous; palea about two-thirds as long as the
lemma, narrow, the keels not bowed out, ciliate with fine hairs which protrude
beyond the margin of the lemma.
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA 373
ZEAL.
Spikelets unisexual; staminate spikelets 2-flowered, in pairs, on one side of
a continuous rachis, one nearly sessile, the other pedicellate; glumes membrana-
ceous, acute; pistillate spikelets sessile, in pairs, consisting of one fertile and one
sterile floret, the latter sometimes developed as a second fertile floret; glumes
broad, rounded or emarginate at apex; sterile lemma similar to the fertile, the'palea
present; style very long and slender, stigmatic along both sides well toward the
base. Tall annual, with broad, conspicuously distichous blades, monoecious
inflorescences, the staminate flowers in spikelike racemes, these numerous, forming
large spreading panicles (tassels) terminating the culms, the pistillate inflorescence
in the axils of the leaves, the spikelets in 8-16 or even as many as 30 rows on
a thickened, almost woody axis (cob), the whole enclosed in numerous large
foliaceous bracts (husks), the long styles (silk) protruding from the top as a silky
mass of threads.
Only one species, with numerous varieties.
Zea mays L. Sp. PL 971. 1753. Maize. Figure 112.
No specimens have been collected in Guatemala, although it is
commonly cultivated.
Coarse annual with broad drooping blades; extremely variable in size of plant
and character of the pistillate inflorescences.
ZEUGITES P. Br.
Spikelets few- to several-flowered, the lowest floret perfect, the rest staminate,
the rachilla joint between the perfect and staminate florets usually elongate;
articulation below the glumes, the spikelets falling entire; glumes subequal, broad,
obtuse or truncate, often irregularly toothed or lobed, conspicuously cross- veined ;
lemma of fertile floret broad, usually obtuse, the staminate florets narrower,
acutish or subobtuse.
Very slender to rather coarse perennials with broad, flat, usually thin, trans-
versely veined, petiolate blades and open panicles.
Species 12, in tropical America.
Culms erect, coarse, as much as 3 meters high; blades as much as 30 cm. long,
6 cm. wide Z. pittieri.
Culms very slender, decumbent-spreading with erect or ascending branches;
blades not more than 16 mm. wide.
Glumes conspicuously broadened above, 3-4 mm. long; spikelets usually purple
or tinged with purple Z. munroana.
Glumes narrow, scarcely broadened above, about 2 mm. long; spikelets bright
green Z. mexicana.
Zeugites mexicana (Kunth) Trin. ex Steud. Nom. Bot. ed. 2.
2: 798. 1841. Despretzia mexicana Kunth, Re"v. Gram. 2: 485. pi. 157.
FIG. 112. Zea mays. Pistillate inflorescence (ear) and two branches of
staminate inflorescence (tassel), X 1 A; pair of pistillate spikelets attached to
rachis (cob) with mature grains, the second glume showing, X 2; single pistillate
spikelet soon after flowering, X 4; staminate spikelet, X 2.
374
SW ALLEN: GRASSES OF GUATEMALA
375
1831. Zeugites colorata Griseb. Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 536. 1864. Smites
mexicana Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 17: 370. 1913. Figure 113.
Forests and forest borders, up to 1,700 meters; Alta Verapaz;
Chiquimula. Southern Mexico; Honduras to Panama; Colombia
and Venezuela to Bolivia.
FIG. 113. Zeugites mexicana, about X
Very slender, decumbent-spreading perennial; culms 15-50 cm. long, wiry,
usually rather freely branching, purple, shining, with a sulcus on one side; sheaths
usually much shorter than the internodes, sparsely pilose or glabrous; blades
1.5-3.5 cm. long, 6-16 mm. wide, ovate, acute, thin, glabrous or very sparsely
pilose, the peduncles 6-10 mm. long; panicles 6-9 cm. long, the slender more or less
flexuous, few-flowered branches ascending or spreading, the lower ones often
376 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
reflexed; spikelets 5-6 mm. long; glumes equal, 1.5-2 mm. long, about half as long
as the fertile floret; staminate florets 1 or 2, about 3 mm. long.
Zeugites munroana Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Amer. Bot. 3: 577.
1885. Z. hartwegi Fourn. Mex. PL 2: 121. 1886. Senites hartwegi
Arthur, Torreya 19: 48. 1919.
Moist banks, brushy pine forests and fields, 1,500-3,000 meters;
Guatemala; Sacatepe"quez; Chimaltenango. Mexico.
Annual; culms erect or usually spreading, the erect or ascending branches
as much as 50 cm. long; blades ovate, often petiolate, 2-6 cm. long, 6-12 mm.
wide; panicles 1-4 cm. long, the short slender branches ascending to reflexed;
spikelets 5-8 mm. long, pale or purple with 1-3 staminate florets above the fertile
one; glumes obovate, glabrous, conspicuously cross-veined, the margins irregular,
ciliate, the second much broader than the first; fertile lemma similar to the glumes;
lemma of staminate florets subacute or obtusish, not ciliate, inconspicuously
cross-veined near the summit, glabrous.
Zeugites pittieri Hack. Oesterr. Bot. Zeitschr. 52: 373. 1902.
Edge of woods and along roads, 950-1,100 meters; Suchitepe"quez;
Solola. Costa Rica, the type from Alto del Rodeo, Pittier 1617.
Perennial; culms coarse, caespitose, erect, as much as 3 meters high, glabrous,
simple or sparingly branching at the upper nodes; sheaths mostly much longer
than the internodes, glabrous except on the collar, the summit truncate, somewhat
auriculate; blades oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, as much as 30 cm. long, 6 cm.
wide, with rather thick petioles about 5 mm. long; panicles 20-30 cm. long, nearly
as wide, the branches stiffly ascending or spreading, the lower ones sometimes
reflexed, usually densely pilose in the axils, the main axis and branches often
conspicuously viscid; spikelets green, 7-18 mm. long, with 3-11 staminate florets
above the fertile one; second glume very broad, 4-6 mm. long, obtuse or very
abruptly acute, minutely ciliate, with a few strong cross-veins, the first a little
shorter and much narrower; lemma of fertile floret similar to those of the sterile
florets, subacute.
EMENDATIONS
Page 5: Omit Tripogon, as it has not yet been recorded from Guatemala.
Middle of page 7:
Lemmas awned from the back; glumes as long as the lowest
floret, usually about as long as the spikelet.
Spikelets in fascicles, the terminal fertile, the others sterile.
Lamarckia.
Spikelets all fertile, not in fascicles.
Plants annual; spikelets large in open panicles Avena.
Plants perennial; spikelets small in rather dense or spikelike
panicles Trisetum.
Bottom of page 8:
Spikelets large, in groups of three at the ends of the branches . . Tristachya.
Spikelets small, evenly distributed in the panicle.
Sterile lemma awned Melinis.
Sterile lemma awnless, the fertile lemma awned Arundinella.
Fertile lemma usually much firmer than the glumes, awnless or awn-tipped.
Spikelets subtended by bristles or enclosed in spiny burs.
Spikelets subtended by bristles.
Bristles persistent.
Spikelets arranged in one-sided racemes Ixophorus.
Spikelets paniculate.
Second glume cordate, the margins broad, winglike . . Setariopsis.
Second glume not cordate Setaria.
Bristles deciduous, falling with the spikelet Pennisetum.
Spikelets enclosed in spiny burs Cenchrus.
377
INDEX
Synonyms and secondary references in italic type; main references to names
of genera and species in bold-faced type.
Achyrodes aureum, 184
Acroceras oryzoides, 269
Aegopogon, 4, 12
cenchroides, 12, 14
geminiflorus, 12
guatemalensis, 12
tenellus, 13
unisetus, 13
Agrostis, 8, 14
abietorum, 14
alba var. verticillata, 16
arcta, 15
bacillata, 15
exserta, 15
implicata, 219
indica, 346
laxissima, 15
littoralis, 349
perennans, 16
punctata, 131
purpurascens, 348
pyramidata, 349
radiata, 82
semiverticillata, 16
tenuissima, 348
tolucensis, 17
verticillata, 16
vesca, 17
vinosa, 17
virginica, 349
Agrostomia aristata, 84
barbata, 84
Aira Za:ea, 228
pumila, 318
Almari, 259
Alphonse Karr, 55
Amphilophis piptatherus, 21
saccharoides, 24
Anasirop/ms compressus, 50
pectinatus, 289
poiophyllus, 50
AnaMeram virginicum, 28
Andong, 142
Andropogon, 12, 17
altus, 19
angustatus, 19
angustifolius, 357
apricus, 19
argenteus, 24
bicornis, 20, 22
bracteatus, 169
brevifolius, 20
campestris, 23
citratus, 97
clandestinus, 21
condylotrichus, 21
contortus, 161
cori/mbostts, 22
cwrimantts, 28
dissitiflorus, 28
domingensis, 22
elliottii, 21
eriophorus, 28
fastigiatus, 102
furcatus, 21
gerardi, 21
glomeratus, 22
gracilis, 27
halepensis, 342
hirtiflorus, 22, 26
hypogynus, 23
hypogynus anatherus, 23
hypogynus genuinus, 23
incompletus, 340
insularis, 359
laguroides, 24
lanuginosus, 23
latifolium, 180
laxus, 19
leptophyllus, 27
leucostachyus, 23, 26
leucostachyus selloanus, 26
louisianae, 28
macrourus, 22
malacostachyus, 23
microstachyus, 24
montufari, 357
rmtans var. incompletus, 340
obtusifolius, 20
piptatherus, 21
preslii, 27
ru/tts, 170
ruprechtii, 170
saccharoides, 11, 24
secttttdws, 357
selloanus, 26
semiberbis, 26
semitectus, 26
378
INDEX
379
setosus, 342
spathiflorus, 27
tener, 27
tetrastachyus, 28
torreyanus, 24
trichocladus, 344
0a0inatts, 28
virgatus, 27
virginicus, 28
virginicus var. corymbosus, 22
Anthaenantia lanata, 197
Anthephora, 4, 28
elegans, 28
hermaphrodita, 28
villosa, 28
An</iis<mo dissoluta, 169
Apogonia ramosa, 201
Aristida, 7, 31
adscensionis, 31
bromoides, 31
capillacea, 32
coarctata, 31
elegans, 32
hamulosa, 33, 34
implexa, 33
jorullensis, 33
lagascae, 34
laxa, 34
longifolia, 34
manzanilloana, 33
neesiana, 35
orizabensis, 34
orizabensis var. pseudospadicea, 34
pilosa, 33
pseudospadicea, 34
purpurascens, 35
recuryata, 35
riedeliana, 35
sanctae-luciae, 32
scobra, 36
schiedeana, 35
spadicea, 34
ternipes, 36
Arroz, 233
Arthraxon, 10, 37
ciliaris subsp. quartinianus, 38
quartinianus, 38
Arthrostylidium, 2, 3, 38
bartlettii, 38
excelsum, 39
pittieri, 40
spinosum, 155
Arundinaria, 3, 41
longiaurita, 43
simonii, 44
Arundinella, 8, 44
berterpniana, 45
confinis, 45
cubensis, 45
deppeana, 45
martinicensis, 45
pallida, 45
peruviana, 45
phragmitoides, 45
Arundo phragmites, 308
saccharoides, 158
Atoxia TJiexicana, 163
Atheropogon acuminatus, 62
curtipendulus, 62
distichus, 62
filiformis, 64
repens, 65
triaena, 65
Avena, 7, 47
deyeuxioides, 365
fatua, 47
stipoides, 362
trichopodia, 365
Awi leah, 142
tali, 142
Axonopus, 10, 47
affinis, 48
aureus, 48
blakei, 49
centralis, 49
ciliatifolius, 49
compressus, 48, 50
elongatus, 50
poiophyllus, 50
poiretii, 348
pulcher, 48
purpusii, 52
rhizomatosus, 52
Bamboo apoos, 140
bitoong, 141
giant timber, 311
string, 140
talie, 140
Bambusa, 3, 4, 52
apus, 140
arundinacea, 54
aspera, 141
baccifera, 204
longispiculata, 54
multiplex, 55, 56
nana, 55
oldhami, 56
stricta, 101
textilis, 56
tulda, 55, 57
tuldoides, 59
ventricosa, 59
verticillata, 142
vulgaris, 53, 60
vulgaris H. F. vittata, 60
Beetle, powder post, 60
Berchtoldia bromoides, 78
holciformis, 114
Bermuda grass, 98
Bothriochloa saccharoides, 24
Bouteloua, 6, 61
acuminata, 62
chondrosioides, 61
380
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
curtipendula, 62
disticha, 62
filiformis, 64
glandulpsa, 64
havardii, 61
hirticulmis, 64
pilosa, 62
pubescens, 64
racemose, 62
repens, 65
triaena, 65
Brachiaria, 10, 65
plantaginea, 65
Brachypodium, 7, 66
mexicanum, 66
Briza, 7, 66
minor, 68
rotundata, 68
Brizopyrum pilosum, 182
Bromus, 7, 68
exaltatus, 70
laciniatus, 70
pendulinus, 70
proximus, 70
rotundatus, 68
subalpinus, 70
Broomcorn, 344
Calamagrostis, 8, 70
guatemalensis, 71
irazttensis, 366
junciformis, 71, 72
pinetorum, 71
vulcanica, 72
Calinguera, 203
Calycodon montanum, 220
Camelote, 333
Cana, 158
brava, 89, 147, 150, 158
de azucar, 326
de casa, 158, 363
de Castilla, 158
mansa, 147, 150, 152
morada, 113
Canito, 89
Capriola dactylon, 98
Caragua, 369
Carricillo, 180
Carrizo, 41
Cathestecum, 5, 72
brevifolium, 74
erectum, 74
Cenchrus, 8, 76
brevisetus, 77
brownii, 76, 78
ciliare, 297
echinatus, 77
echinatus brevisetus, 77
echinatus var. viridis, 76
granularis, 160
macrocarpus, 77
pallidus, 78
pilosus, 78
pungens, 77
setosus, 300
villpsus, 28
viridis, 76
Chaetaria ascensionis, 31
bromoides, 32
capillacea, 32
capillaris, 32
purpurascens, 35
recuryata, 35
spadicea, 34
Chaetium, 9, 78
bromoides, 78
Chaetochloa composite,, 336
geniculata, 332
imberbis, 332
imberbis geniculata, 332
impressa, 336
liebmanni, 332
longipila, 333
salzmanniana, 336
scandens, 334
sulcata, 333
tenacissima, 334
tenox, 336
verticillata, 336
vulpiseta, 336
Chamaeraphis composita, 336
Chinese Goddess, 56
Chloris, 5, 80
atoa, 84
aristata, 84
ciliata, 80
ciliata var. iexawa, 80
curfipendttia, 62
digitaria, 196
elegans, 84
gay ana, 81
glaucescens, 82
leptanatha, 81
mollis, 81
nashii, 80
petraea, 82
propinqua, 80
pubescens, 84
radiata, 82
rufescens, 84
rupestris, 81
septentrionalis, 82
swartziana, 82
swartzii, 82
texana, 80
virgata, 84
Chondrosium humboldtianum, 61
Chusquea, 2, 86
heydei, 87
lanceolata, 87
longifolia, 88
pittieri, 89
simpliciflora, 91
Cinna, 4, 7, 93
INDEX
381
glomerata, 22
lateralis, 28
macroura, 219
poaeformis, 93
Cinnastrum miliaceum, 93
poae forme, 93
Coelorachis ramosa, 201
Coix, 12, 95
lacryma-jobi, 96
Cola de ardill, 113
de venado, 45
Cornucopiae perennans, 16
Crowfoot grass, 98
Crypsis macroura, 219
seti folia, 219
Cryptochloa, 5, 96
granulifera, 96
Cymatochloa pyramidalis, 291
repens, 291
Cymbopogon, 12, 97
bracteatus, 169
citratus, 97
rufus, 170
ruprechtii, 170
Cynodon, 5, 97
ciliatus, 80
dactylon, 98
virgatus, 196
Cynosurus aegyptius, 98
aureus, 184
tenellus, 13
, 196
Dactyloctenium, 5, 98
aegyptium, 98
mucronatum var. erecfttra, 98
Dallis grass, 281
Dendrocalamus, 3, 4, 101
asper, 141
latiflorus, 56
strictus, 101
Despretzia raezicana, 373
Deyeuxia junciformis, 71
poaeformis, 93
fn/tora, 365
Diectomis, 11, 102
angustata, 19
fastigiata, 102
Zaza, 19
Digitaria, 9, 105
argillacea, 105
cayoensis, 106
digitaria, 106
dilatata, 281
fimbriata, 110
foliosa, 294
horizontalis, 106
insuZam, 359
leu cites, 106
marginata, 110
multiflora, 107
obtusa, 108
panicea, 108
paspaloides, 282
sanguinalis, 108
velutina, 107
villosa, 108
Dimorphostachys adoperiens, 274
botterii, 276
langei, 284
monostachyum, 289
paspaloides, 276
pedunculata, 281
piiosa, 289
Dinebra chondrosioides, 61
repens, 65
Dinoderus, 60
Diplachne guatemalensis, 146
uninervia, 196
Distichlis, 6, 110
spicata, 110
stricta, 110
Echinochloa, 9, 112
colonum, 112
crusgalli cntspaponis, 113
cruspavonis, 112
cwbensis, 227
holciformis, 114
sabulicola, 113
spectabilis, 114
Echinolaena, 9, 114
gracilis, 115
polystachya, 323
Eleusine, 5, 115
aegyptiaca, 98
domingensis, 115
gracilis, 115
Indira, 115
indica var. major, 115
mucronata, 193
scabro, 115
virgata, 196
Elyonurus, 11, 116
cih'aris, 116
tripsacoides var. ciliaris, 116
Epicampes emersleyi, 218
macroura, 219
sfricta, 221
subpatens, 218
Eragrostis, 6, 116
acutiflora, 119
amabilis, 119
bahiensis, 121
cilianensis, 121
ciliaris, 121
conferta, 124
delicatula, 128
diffusa, 121
domingensis, 123
elliottii, 123
glandulosa, 123
glomerata, 123
hirsuta, 124
382
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
hirta, 124
hypnoides, 124
infirma, 318
intermedia, 126, 128
lugens, 127
major, 121
maxima, 123
maypurensis, 127
megastachya, 121
mexicana, 127
nitida, 123
panicoides, 195
plumosa, 119
praetermissa, 128
purshii var. diffusa, 121
simpliciflora, 128
tenella viscosa, 129
tephrosanthos, 128
uninervia, 196
viscosa, 129
Eriochloa, 9, 129
aristata, 130
distachya, 130
nelsoni, 130
punctata, 131
Eriochrysis, 11, 131
cayennensis, 131
Erosion hypnoides, 124
Erucaria glandulosa, 64
Euchlaena, 12, 133
mexicana, 133
Euclasta condylotricha, 21
Eustachys petraea, 82
Eutriana pilosa, 62
repens, 65
triaena, 65
Festuca, 7, 133
amplissima, 134
breviglumis, 134
dertonensis, 136
filiformis, 193
hephaestophila, 136
megalura, 136
mexicana, 66, 139
tolucensis, 136
tolucensis var. hephaestophila, 136
virgata, 196
willdinoviana, 139
Fuquneras, 41
Gambong, 142
Gigantochloa, 3, 4, 139
apus, 140
aspera, 141
verticillata, 142
Glyceria, 7, 144
striata var. mexicana, 144
Gouinia, 5, 144
guatemalensis, 146
Grama banderita, 66
Graphephorum pringlei, 368
Guadua, 2, 146
aculeata, 147, 151
angustifolia, 148, 150
paniculata, 153
philippinensis, 147
spinosa, 155
Guatemala grass, 363
Guinea grass, 253
Gusanillo, 300, 334
Gymnopogon, 5, 157
filiformis, 157
laevis, 157
mollis, 81
radiata, 82
rupestre, 81
spicatus, 157
Gymnothrix bambusiformis, 297
complanata, 297
distachya, 298
grisebachiana, 297
mexicana, 297
nervosa, 298
Gynerium, 6, 158
saccharoides, 158
sagittatum, 158
Hackelochloa, 11, 158
granularis, 160
Helopus punctatus, 131
Heteropogon, 11, 161
contortus, 161
firmus, 161
secundus, 357
Hierochloe, 4, 6, 161
mexicana, 163
Hilaria, 4, 163
cenchroides, 163
Holcus halepensis, 342
sorghum, 344
trichocladus, 344
Homalocenchrus grandiflorus, 191
hexandrus, 192
Homolepis, 10, 163
aturensis, 166
Huapito, 218
Hymenachne, 10, 166
amplexicaulis, 10, 166
frondescens, 245
leptostachya, 259
myuros, 326
Hyparrhenia, 12, 169
bracteata, 169
dissoluta, 169
rufa, 170
ruprechtii, 170
Hypogynium campestre, 23
spathiflorum, 27
Ichnanthus, 9, 10, 170
alsinoides, 176
axillaris, 171
brevivaginatus, 172
INDEX
383
dasycoleos, 176
gracilis, 172
lagotis, 173
lanceolatus, 173
mexicanus, 173
pallens, 174
scaberrimus, 175
standleyi, 175
tenuis, 176
villosus, 176
Imperata, 11, 177
brasiliensis, 177
contracta, 177
Indocalamus longiauritus, 43
Isachne, 8, 10, 178
arundinacea, 178
polygonoides, 179
pubescens, 179
rigens, 179
trachyspermum, 179
Ischaemum, 11, 180
latifolium, 180
secundatum, 350
Ixophorus, 8, 180
unisetus, 182
verticillatus, 336
Jaragud, 170
Jarava ichu, 352
Jimba, 155
Job's tears, 96
Jouvea, 6, 182
pilosa, 182
straminea, 183
Lagrimas de Job, 96
de San Pedro, 96
Lamarckia, 184, 377
aurea, 184
tenella, 13
Lasiacis, 2, 4, 10, 184
compacta, 190
diyaricata, 186
grisebachii, 187
liebmanniana, 190
linearis, 187
oaxacensis, 187
papillosa, 187
prpcerrima, 189
rhizpphpra, 189
ruscifolia, 189
scabripr, 190
sloanei, 190
sorghoidea, 191
swartziana, 191
Leersia, 4, 7, 191
distichophylla, 191
gouinii, 192
grandi flora, 191
hexandra, 192
mexicana, 192
Lemon grass, 97
Leptochloa, 5, 193
filifprmis, 193
floribunda, 195
halei, 195
imbricata, 196
langloisii, 195
liebmanni, 195
mucronata, 193
panicoides, 195
paniculata, 193
perennis, 196
scabra, 195
uninervia, 196
virgata, 196
Leptocoryphium, 10, 196
lanatum, 197
Leptostachya virgata, 196
Lithachne, 5, 197
axillaris, 197
pauciflora, 197
Lolium, 5, 200
perenne, 200
temulentum, 200
Luziola, 4, 200
peruviana, 201
Maisillo, 333
Maiz de cuevo, 243
Maize, 373
Manisuris, 11, 201
granular is, 160
ramosa, 201
Megastachya hypnoides, 124
panicoides, 195
simpliciflora, 128
uninervia, 196
Melinis, 203, 377
minutiflora, 203
Melocanna, 3, 204
baccifera, 204
bambusoides, 204
Merostachys, 2, 3, 206
argyronema, 207
pauciflora, 209
Mesosetum, 9, 209
angustifolium, 210
blakei, 209
filifolium, 210
stoloniferum, 210
Mezme"t, 182
Microchloa, 5, 210
kunthii, 212
Mil in ui colonum, 112
cornpressum, 50
digitatum, 106
lanatum, 197
microspermum, 217
paniceum, 108
punctatum, 131
nl H tin i < in, 106
Molasses grass, 203
Monachne punctata, 131
384
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Monopogon avenaceus, 368
Mozote, 77
Muhlenbergia, 8, 213
aurea, 214
beyrichiana, 302
bourgaei, 221
breviculmis, 215
breviligula, 215
calcicola, 215
capillaris, 216
ciliata, 217
confusa, 217
debilis, 220
distans, 218
diversiglumis, 218
emersleyi, 218
enervis, 220
erecta, 219
exilis, 224
implicata, 219
macroura, 219
microsperma, 217, 220
montana, 220, 223
nigra, 220
orophila, 221
polygpnoides, 223
presliana, 221
pusilla, 221
quadridentata, 223
ramosissima, 220
ramulosa, 223
setarioides, 223
stipoides, 362
stricta, 221
sylvatica var. setarioides, 223
tenella, 224
trichodes, 217
trifida, 220
trinii, 218
vaginata, 224
vaseyana, 218
Napier grass, 298
Navajuela, 20
Neeragrostis hypnoides, 124
Oedipachne punctata, 131
Olyra, 2, 4, 224
arundinacea, 226
axillaris, 197
latifolia, 4, 226
latifolia var. arundinacea, 226
paniculata, 226
pauciflora, 197
yucatana, 226
Oplismenus, 9, 226
affinis, 227
angustifolius, 113
burmanni, 227
chondrosioides, 227
colonum, 112
cristatus, 227
cruspavonis, 112
cubensis, 227
hirtellus, 227, 228
holcifprmis, 114
jamaicensis, 112
liebmanni, 228
rariflprus, 228
setarius, 228
tenttis, 176
thiebauti, 228
Ortachne pilosa, 33
scabra, 36
Orthoclada, 6, 228
laxa, 228
rariflora, 228
Orthopogpn burmanni, 227
cubensis, 227
Oryza, 4, 7, 231
alta, 231
hexandra, 192
latifolia, 231
monandra var. grandiflora, 191
sativa, 233
sativa latifolia, 231
Oryzopsis fimbriata, 318
seleri, 318
Pajisa, 365
Pajon, 96, 219, 352
bianco, 22
largo, 220
del rfo, 12
Panicum, 10, 233
adscendens, 110
agrostoides, 238
albomaculatum, 239
albomarginatum, 239
alcpbense, 239
alsinoides, 176
alsophilum, 240
altum, 240
amplexicaule, 166
anceps strictum, 265
aquaticum, 240
arenicploides, 241
arttwdinaceitm, 178
arundinariae, 241
atlanticum, 267
aturense, 166
axillare, 171
barbinode, 259
bartlettii, 241
berchtholdium, 78
bernoullianum, 263
biglandulare, 242
blakei, 242
blepharophorum, 166
boliviense, 242
bourgaei, 258
breviramosum, 243
bulbosum, 243
burmanni, 227
INDEX
385
campylostachyum, 355
capillaceum, 266
capillaceum strictius, 266
cayennense, 243
cayennense divaricatum, 260
cayennense patulum, 243
cayoense, 244
chamaelonche, 244
chartaginense, 245
colomum, 112
compactum, 190
crusgalli var. sabulicola, 112
cruspavonis, 112
cubensis, 227
cyanescens, 244
dactylon, 98
dasytrichum, 260
decumbens, 281
densiflorum, 258
dichotomum nitidum, 255
dichotomum sphaerocarpum, 263
dichotomum var. villosum, 267
disciferum, 66
distichum, 258
diflaricaZttra, 186
elephantipes, 245
elongatum ramosius, 238
exile, 176
fasciculatum, 245
flabellatum, 250
flavum, 332
frondescens, 245
furtivum, 246
furvum, 246
fuscum, 245
fusiforme, 246
geminatum, 248
geniculatum, 332
glutinosum, 248
grande, 248
grisebachii, 187
guatemalense, 249
hians, 249
hirsutum, 249
hirtellum, 227
hirticaule, 250
hirtum, 250
horizon tale, 106
/mwboWJianuw, 283
ichnanthoides, 250
imberbe, 332
impresstm, 334
incumbens, 251
tnstiZare, 359
jejunum, 249
jumentorum, 252
kegelii, 245
Zaepe, 252
lagotis, 173
lanatum, 191, 359
lancearium, 251, 257
lancearium var. patulum, 257
lasianthum, 262
laxiflorum pubescens, 264
laxum, 251
leandri, 66
lepidulum, 252
leptostachyum, 259
leucites, 106
leucophaeum, 359
liebmannianum, 190
longiligulatum, 252
longipedunculatum, 264
lundellii, 252
maximum, 252
maximum bulbosum, 243
melinis, 203
microcarpon sphaerocarpon, 263
microspermum, 266
milleflprum, 253
minutiflorum, 203
molle, 253
monostachyum, 289
multirameum, 255
myosurus, 326
myrianthum, 248
myuros, 326
nashianum patulum, 257
neuranthum, 255
nitidum, 255
oaxacense, 187
oblongiflorum, 249
obtectum, 283
olivaceum, 255
orthophyllum, 241
oryzoides, 269
pattens, 174
paludivagum, 256
pampinpsum, 256
paniculiferum, 333
parcum, 256
parvifolium, 257
parviglume, 257
patulum, 257
pedunculare, 243
petrosum, 356
phleiforme, 326
pilosum, 258
pilosum polygonatum, 258
plantagineum, 65
polycaulon, 258
polygamum, 252
polygonatum, 258
polygonpides, 179
procerrimum, 189
pseudopubescens, 259
pseudoryzoides, 269 .
puberulum, 262
pulchellum, 259
purpurascens, 259
ramiparum, 260
rariflorum, 228
reflexopilum, 268
reptans, 260
386
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
reticulatum, 245
rhigiophyllum, 260
rhizophorum, 189
rigens, 179
roseum, 323
rudgei, 260
rudgei brasiliense, 260
ruprechtii, 268
ruscifolium, 189
sabulicola, 112
sanguinale, 108
scandens, 334
schiedeanum, 242
schiffneri, 262
schmitzii, 262
scoparium, 260
sellowii, 262
setarium, 228
sloanei, 190
sorghoideum, 191
spectabile, 114
sphaerocarpon, 263
sphaerocarpum, 336
stagnatile, 263
stenodes, 264
stenodoides, 264
stoloniferum, 264
stoloniferum major, 245
strigosum, 258, 264
subbarbulatum, 255
sulcatum, 333
swartzianum, 191
tenadssimum, 334
tenax, 334
tenerum, 264, 265
trachyspermum, 179
transiens, 265
trichanthum, 266
trichocondylum, 253
trichoides, 266
trichophorum, 258
trinii, 334
tuerckheimii, 266
umbonulatum, 269
uncinatum, 323
unisetum, 182
venezuelae, 267
verticillatum, 336
villosissimum, 259, 267
villosissimum var. pseudopubescens,
259
virgultorum, 241
viscidellum, 268
vulpisetum, 336
wrightianum, 268
xalapense, 268
zizanioides, 269
zonale, 112
Para grass, 260
Paspalum, 9, 10, 269
acuminatum, 274
adoperiens, 274
affine, 274
antillense, 290
arenicolum, 290
argyrocondylon, 291
arundinaceum, 275
aureum, 48
blepharophorum, 283
blodgettii, 275
boscianum, 275
botterii, 276
caespitosum, 276
caespitosum var. longifolium, 276
candidum, 276
ciliatum, 277
ciliiferum, 284
clavuliferum, 277
cognatissimum, 285
conjugatum, 277
conjugatum var. pubescens, 277
compressicaulis, 288
compressum, 50
confertum, 275
conspersum, 279
convexum, 279
corcovadense, 279
cordovense, 288
corypheum, 280
costaricense, 280
curvistachyus, 287
cymbiforme, 281
decumbens, 281
dilatatum, 281
dilatatum var. decumbens, 281
distichophyllum, 283
distichum, 282
distichum var. vaginatum, 294
drummondii, 284
effusum, 285
elegans, 293
encylocarpum, 279
familiare, 280
fasciculatum, 282
fasciculatum var. glabratum, 282
foliosum, 294
gracile, 276, 291
gracillimum, 275
guatemalense, 274
hemicryptum, 279
hemisphericum, 288
heterophyllum, 27 S
hispidum, 283
hitchcockii, 283
horticola maritimum, 286
humboldtianum, 283
inflatum, 294
inops, 279
jaliscanum, 284
karwinskyi, 286
kleineanum, 294
lagascae, 293
lagascae var. virgatum, 296
lanatum, 197, 281
INDEX
387
langei, 10, 284
larranagai, 294
laticulmum, 50
lenormandii, 287
lenticulare, 290
lentiginosum, 284
leucocheilum, 296
liebmanni, 293
ligulare, 285
lineare, 276
lividum, 285
lloydii, 287
longissimum, 277
macrophyllum var. piliferum, 276
maculosum var. rotundiflorum, 292
microstachyum, 285
millegrana, 286
minus, 286
montevidense, 290
multicaule, 286
notatum, 287
nutans, 287
orbiculatum, 287
oricola, 284
ovatum, 281
paniculatum, 288
paniculatum /3 rigidum, 288
papillosum, 286
paspaloides, 282
pauperculum, 290
pauperculum var. altius, 290
peckii, 288
pectinatum, 289
pedunculare, 281
pedunculatum, 281
pilosum, 289
pittierii, 277
plenum, 290
plicatulum, 290
pruinosum, 280
pubescens, 293
pulchellum, 290
purpurascens, 275
piirpusii, 52
pusillum, 287
pyramidale, 291
raunkiaerii, 50
reimarioides, 294
renggeri, 277
repens, 291
saltewe, 287
sanguirwte, 108
scabrum, 291
serpens, 287
serpentinum, 291
simpsoni, 275
sin^uZarts, 287
splendens sphacelatum, 292
squamulatum, 292
stellatum, 292
stellatus var. monostachyus, 292
strictum, 288
sumichrasti, 292
taphrophyllum, 287
tenellum, 293
<ewzte, 277
temmsmttm, 212
tinctum, 293
trachycoleon, 293
tristachyum, 294
underwoodii, 286
undulatum, 290
urvillei, 294
vaginatum, 294
vaginatum var. nanum, 294
vaginatum var. pleostachyum, 282
vaginiflorum, 281
vaseyanum, 294
villifolium, 279
violascens, 280
virgatum, 275, 296
virgatum var. purpurascens, 275
yucatanum, 275
Pasto de gordura, 203
Pastojueno, 74
Pelo de macho, 98
Penicuiws angustifolius, 210
Pennisetum, 8, 296
bambusiforme, 297
ciliare, 297
complanatum, 297
distachyum, 298
Treezicawitm, 297
nervosum, 298
nicaraguense, 300
purpurascens, 300
purpureum, 298
setosum, 300
tristachyum var. bambusiforme, 297
vulcanicum, 300
Pentarrhaphis, 6, 300
paupercula, 302
scabra, 302
Pereilema, 7, 302
beyrichianum, 302
brastiiawMTO, 302
crinitum, 302, 303
Phalaris semiverticillata, 16
Pharus, 4, 304
glaber, 304
latifolius, 306
parvifolius, 306
virescens, 306
Phragmites, 6, 308
communis, 308
Phyllostachys, 3, 308
aurea, 310
bambusoides, 311
nidularia, 312
nuda, 314
rubromarginata, 315
viridi-glaucescens, 315
Piptatherum confine, 45
Piptochaetium, 8, 316
388
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
fimbriatum, 318
Pleioblastus simonii, 44
Poa, 7, 318
acutiflora, 119
aestivalis, 318
amabilis, 119
annua, 318
cilianensis, 121
ciliaris, 121
conferta, 124
domingensis, 123
glomerata, 123
guatemalensis, 319
hirsuta, 124
hypnoides, 124
infirma, 318
maypurensis, 127
mexicana, 127
nitida, 123
panicoides, 195
plumosa, 119
reptans var. caespitosa, 124
seleri, 319
subuniflora, 93
tacanae, 319
uninervia, 196
venosa, 319
viscosa, 129
Podosaemum alpestre, 362
brachyphyllum, 217
capillare, 216
ciliatum, 217
de&ite, 220
ffracite, 223
implicatum, 219
quadridentatum, 223
stipoides, 362
tenellum, 224
Pollinia brevifolia, 20
microstachya, 24
Polyodon distichum, 62
Polypogon, 4, 7, 320
brachyphyllus, 217
ciliatus, 217
elongatus, 320
spicatus, 157
Polyschistis paupercula, 302
Powder post beetle, 60
Pseudechinolaena, 9, 320
polystachya, 323
Rabdochloa virgata, 84
Reimaria Candida, 276
elegans, 290
Rhachidospermum mexicanum, 182
Rhodes grass, 81
Rhynchelytrum, 10, 323
roseum, 323
Rice, 233
Rottboellia aurita stigmosa, 201
ramoso, 201
Rytilix granularis, 160
Sacapasto, 348
Saccharum, 11, 326
contractum, 177
officinarum, 326
sagittatum, 158
Sacciolepis, 10, 326
myuros, 326
Savastana mexicana, 163
Schizachyrium brevifolium, 20
hirtiflorum, 22
malacostachyum, 23
oligostachyum, 22
semiberbe, 26
tenerum, 27
Schizostachyum, 3, 4, 328
brachycladum, 329
hainanensis, 329
pseudolima, 329
zollingeri, 329
Schultesia petraea, 82
Senites hartwegi, 376
mexicana, 375
Setaria, 8, 331
auriculata, 338
cirrhosa, 182
composita, 336
ejfwsa, 333
geniculata, 332
gracilis, 332
liebmanni, 332
longipila, 333
paniculifera, 333
pauciseta, 338
polygonata, 258
polystachya, 336
scandens, 334
sulcata, 333
tenacissima, 334
tenax, 334
wwiseto, 182
verticillata, 336
vulpiseta, 336
yucatana, 338
Setariopsis, 338, 377
auriculata, 338
Sinocalamus oldhami, 56
Soko-yah, 334
Sorghastrum, 11, 338
brunneum, 340
incompletum, 340
parviflorum, 342
setosum, 342
Sorghum, 11, 342
brevifolium, 20
contortum, 161
elliottii, 21
glomeratum, 22
halepense, 342
hirtiflorum, 22
saccharoides, 24
tenerum, 27
trichocladum, 344
INDEX
389
virginicum, 28
vulgare, 344
vulgare var. technicum, 344
Spartina, 5, 344
gouini, 345
pittieri, 345
spartinae, 345
Sporobolus, 8, 345
argutus, 349
berteroanus, 348
buckleyi, 346
confusus, 217
cubensis, 346
indicus, 346
jacquemontii, 346
littoralis, 349
macrospermus, 348
microspermus, 217
poiretii, 348
purpurascens, 348
pyramidatus, 349
ramulosus, 223
virginicus, 349
Stenotaphrum, 9, 349
americanum, 350
dimidiatum var. americanum, 350
sarmentosum, 350
secundatum, 350
Stipa, 8, 350
arsenii, 352
caerulea, 352
capillaris, 216
fimbriata, 318
ichu, 352
liebmanni, 352
linearifolia, 352
virescens, 352
Streptachne domingensis, 22
pilosa, 33
scabra, 36
Streptochaeta, 4, 353
sodiroana, 353
spicata, 353
String-bamboo, 140
Sugarcane, 326
Syntherisma argillacea, 105
digitata, 106
insularis, 359
velutinum, 107
Tarro, 147
T6 Iim6n, 97
Teosinte, 133
Thrasya, 9, 354
campylostachya, 355
petrosa, 356
Torresia mexicana, 163
Torson, 300
Trachypogon, 11, 356
angustifolius, 357
montufari, 357
rufus, 170
secundus, 357
Triaena racemosa, 65
Triathera gracilis, 65
Trichachne, 9, 359
insularis, 359
Trichochloa berteroniana, 45
ciliata, 217
implicata, 219
microsperma, 220
polypogon, 217
quadridentata, 223
Trichodium perennans, 16
Tricholaena insularis, 359
obtecta, 283
rosea, 323
Trigo, 370
Triniochloa, 8, 359
stipoides, 362
Tripsacum, 12, 362
fasciculatum, 363
hermaphrodita, 28
lanceolatum, 363
latifolium, 363
laxum, 363, 364
pilosum, 364
Trisetaria deyeuxioides, 365
Trisetum, 7, 364
altum, 365
angustum, 365
deyeuxioides, 365
fournieranum, 366
gradle, 366
irazuense, 366
pinetorum, 366
pringlei, 368
rosei, 368
scabriflorum, 366
Tristachya, 8, 368
avenacea, 368
Triticum, 5, 370
aestivum, 370
sativum, 370
vulgare, 370
Tylothrasya petrosa, 356
Unipla, 4, 6, 370
pittieri, 370
spicata, 110
Urochloa uniseta, 182
Valota insularis, 359
Vasey grass, 294
Vilfa arguta, 349
berteroana, 348
grisebachiana, 348
liebmanni, 348
purpurascens, 348
ramulosa, 223
spartinae, 345
virginica, 349
Vulpia megalura, 136
390
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 24
Wheat, 370
Zacate, 253
"Zacate gordura," 81
Zacate gordura, 203
Zacate limon, 97
Zacaton, 253
Zea, 12, 373
mays, 373
Zeugites, 4, 6, 373
colorata, 375
hartwegi, 376
mexicana, 373
munroana, 376
pittieri, 376
BAMBUSEAE
Arthrostylidium, 2, 3, 38
bartlettii, 38
excelsum, 39
pittieri, 40
spinosum, 155
Arundinaria, 3, 41
longiaurita, 43
simonii, 44
Bambusa, 3, 4, 52
apus, 140
arundinacea, 54
aspera, 141
baccifera, 204
longispiculata, 54
multiplex, 55, 56
nana, 55
oldhami, 56
stricta, 101
textilis, 56
tulda, 55, 57
tuldoides, 59
ventricosa, 59
verticillata, 142
vulgaris, 53, 60
vulgaris H. F. vittata, 60
Chusquea, 2, 86
heydei, 87
lanceolata, 87
longifolia, 88
pittieri, 89
simpliciflora, 91
Dendrocalamus, 3, 4, 101
asper, 141
latiflorus, 56
strictus, 101
Gigantochloa, 3, 4, 139
apus, 140
aspera, 141
verticillata, 142
Guadua, 2, 146
aculeata, 147, 151
angustifolia, 148, 150
paniculata, 153
philippinensis, 147
spinosa, 155
Indocalamus longiauritus, 43
Melocanna, 3, 204
baccifera, 204
bambusoides, 204
Merostachys, 2, 3, 206
argyronema, 207
pauciflora, 209
Phyllostachys, 3, 308
aurea, 310
bambusoides, 311
nidularia, 312
nuda, 314
rubromarginata, 315
viridi-glaucescens, 315
Pleioblastus simonii, 44
Schizostachyum, 3, 4, 328
brachycladum, 329
hainanensis, 329
pseudolima, 329
zollingeri, 329
Sinocalamus oldhami, 56
Publication 776
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA
