BOTANY OF THE MAYA AREA


16. Paspalum fasciculamm Willd.; Fliigge, Monogr. Pasp. 69. 1810.
 Stoloniferous perennial; culms branching, widely creeping, 2 to several
meters long, compressed, glabrous; nodes glabrous to densely appressed-
hairy; sheaths loose, about as long as the internodes; blades flat, elongate,
1.5 to 3 cm. wide, the margins scabrous; panicle flabellate, the numerous
racemes 10 to 15 cm. long, crowded on a short axis; spikelets elliptic, pointed,
4 to 4.5 mm. long, glabrous to silky on the margins. River banks, swamps,
and low ground, southern Mexico to Argentina.
 BRITISH HoNDUR~s. Toledo District: Temash River, Schipp 1379.

17. Paspalnm convexum Humb. & Bonpl. in Fliigge, Monogr. Pasp. 175. 1810.
 Annual; culms leafy, densely tufted, erect to geniculate spreading, 15 to
30 cm. tall; blades flat, rather lax, densely hairy, 8 to 15 cm. long, 4 to
10 mm. wide; racemes 2 or 3, 2 to 4 cm. long, erect or ascending; spikelets
crowded, brown, obovate, usually 2.5 mm. long, pubescent. Open ground,
cultivated fields and waste places, Mexico to Brazil.
 GUATEMALA. Pet6n: La Libertad, Aguilar 317.

18.-Paspalum plicatulum Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer. 1: 45. 1803. Zacate Remolillo.
 Perennial; culms in small tufts, erect or ascending, mostly 0.5 to 1 m. tall;
sheaths keeled; blades flat or folded, firm, as much as 50 cm. long, 3 to
10 mm. wide (usually 5 to 8 mm.), glabrous or papillose pilose, especially
along the margins; racemes few to several, usually arcuate spreading, the
rachis with a conspicuous tuft of hairs at the base; spikelets in pairs, 2.5 to
2.8 mm. long, glabrous or appressed pubescent, the sterile lemma cross-
wrinkled near the margin; fruit dark brown, smooth and shining. Moist
open ground or wood borders in clay or sandy soil, southern United States
and the West Indies to Argentina.
 BamrrSH HozmmD.AS. Belize District: Gracie Rock, Gentle 1678.
 GUATEMALA. Petin: La Libertad, Aguilar 45; Lundell 2305, 3561.

19. Paspalnm pulchellum Kunth, Mem. Mus. Hist. Nat. 2: 68. 1815.
 Perennial; culms in small dense clumps, very slender, erect, 25 to 70 cm.
tall; lower sheaths crowded, overlapping, the upper ones much shorter than
the elongate internodes; blades flat, becoming involute, attenuate, as much
as 20 cm. long, 1 to 2 mm. wide, pilose, the uppermost much reduced;
racemes 2 to 4, 2 to 9 cm. long, erect or ascending, the rachis with a dense
tuft of hairs at the base; spikelets 1.7 to 2 mm. long, solitary, the glumes
wanting, the sterile lemma usually purple tinged. Sandy savannas and pine-
lands, British Honduras, Guatemala and the West Indies to Brazil.
 BRITISH HONDURAS. Belize District: Manatee Pine Ridge, Gentle 90.
Manatee Lagoon, Peck 86. Baker's Pine Ridge, Lundell 3794.
 GUATEMALA. Peten: Sabana Zotz, Lundell 3583.

 33. PANICUM L.
Spikeleta 2.5 to 3.5 mm. long.
 Plants annual; spikelets brown, prominently reticulate-veined. 1. P. fascieulatnu
 Plants perennial; spikelets green or purple tinged, not
 reticulate-veined.
 Fruit transversely rugose.
 Culms erect, densely tufted; spikelets paniculate .... 5. P. maximum