BOTANY OF THE MAYA AREA


 29. MESOSETUM Steud.
1. Mesosetum filifolium F. T. Hubb. Proc. Amer. Acad. 49: 494. 1913.
 Pcniculus angustifolius Swallen, Amer. Jour. Bot. 19: 581, fig. 1. 1932.
 Mesosetum angustifolium Swallen, Jour. Wash. Acad. Sci. 23: 460. 1933.
 Perennial; culms densely tufted, slender, erect, 25 to 45 cm. tall, the nodes
pubescent; blades firm, involute, 5 to 9 cm. long, the uppermost much
reduced, those of the innovations elongate; racemes solitary, 2 to 6 cm.
long, the rachis more or less flexuous; spikelets solitary, rather 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. Pine ridges, British Honduras.
 BRITISH HONDURAS. Belize District: Gracie Rock, Gentle 1653. Manatee
Lagoon, Peck 136. El Cayo District: Mountain Pine Ridge, Bartlett 11748.
Great Southern Pine Ridge, Sampson 83. Stann Creek District: All Pines,
Schipp 792.
 30. ERIOCHLOA H.B.K.
1. Eriochloa punctata (L.) Desv.; Hamilt. Prodr. PI. Ind. Occ. 5. 1825.
 Perennial; culms ascending from a decumbent base, about 1 m. long,
the nodes and the main axis of the panicle pubescent; blades flat, the
margins scabrous; panicles mostly 10 to 15 cm. long, the branches narrowly
ascending or appressed, the lower 3 to 5 cm. long; spikelets acuminate,
4 to 5 mm. long, appressed pilose; fruit 2 mm. long with a hispidulous awn
1 mm. long. Swamps and wet places, southern United States to Argentina.
 BRITISH HONDURAS. Belize District: Belize, Smart 76.

 31. AXONOPUS Beauv.
Rachis conspicuously hispid with stiffly spreading golden yellow hairs.1. A. arena
Rachis not hispid.
 Plants stoloniferous; blades thin, usually more than 6 mm. wide. 2. A. compresses
 Plants cespitose; blades firm, less than 5 mm. long.
 Culms erect, from short scaly rhizomes.
 Spikelets 2.5 to 3 mm. long; fruit pale --.........- .... 3. A. rhizomatosus
 Spikelets 2 to 2.3 mm. long; fruit dark brown ...... .....4. A. ciliatifolius
 Culms without rhizomes.
 Racemes not more than 8 cm. long; spikelets 2 mm. long 5. A. purpusii
 Racemes 10 to 15 cm. long; spikelcts 3 mm. long -------- 6. A. poiophyllus

1. Axonopus aurens Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 12. 1812.
 Perennial; culms compressed, slender, branching, 0.5 to more than 1 m.
tall; blades flat, firm, mostly 6 to 10 cm. long, 4 to 8 mm. wide; inflorescence
usually long exserted, with few to several slender, subdigitate, ascending
racemes; rachis stiffly hispid below the spikelets and on the margins with
spreading golden yellow hairs; spikelets solitary, 1.3 mm. long, subobtuse,
glabrous or nearly so. Dry savannas and open grassy hills, Puerto Rico
and Central America to Brazil and Bolivia.
 BRITISH HONDURAS. El Cayo District: Mountain Pine Ridge, Bartlett
11885.
2. Axonopus compresses (Swartz) Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 12. 1812.
 Stoloniferous perennial; culms compressed, erect or ascending, 15 to 40
cm. long, the nodes pubescent; blades thin, flat, 5 to 15 cm. long, 6 to 8 mm.
wide, more or less papillose-ciliate toward the base; racemes 2 to 5, usually