BOTANY OF THE MAYA AREA


 Blades not more than 1 cm. wide, not narrowed toward the base;
 plants annual.
 Bristles retrorsely scabrous, becoming implicate ... 3. S. tenacissima
 Bristles antrorsely scabrous, not implicate- ._.... ..._... _4. S. yucatana

1. Selaria paniculifera (Steud.) Fourn.; Hfemal. Biol. Centr. Amer. Bot. 3: 505. 1885.
 Maicillo, Zacate Gamalote.
 Perennial; culms robust, 1.5 to 4 m. tall; sheaths papillose-hispid, espe-
cially on the margins and collar; blades flat, plicate, narrowed toward both
ends, scabrous, 0.5 to 1 m. long, mostly 3 to 5 cm. wide; panicles usually
loose and open, 40 to 70 cm. long, the branches compound, as much as
25 cm. long; spikelets comparatively few, 3 mm. long, pointed, glabrous
or obscurely pubescent, the subtending bristles about 15 mm. long. Wet
forests, thickets, and swamps, Mexico and the West Indies to Colombia.
 BRITISH HONDURAS. El Cayo District: El Cayo, Bartlett 11944, 11964,
12952. Toledo District: Moho River, Peck 565.
 GUATEMALA. Pet6n: La Libertad, Aguilar 153.

2. Setaria geniculata (Lam.) Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 51: 178. 1812. Cola de Gato, Fox TAIL.
 Perennial; culms erect or spreading from short knotty rhizomes, 20 cm.
to more than 1 m. tall; blades flat, mostly 5 to 15 cm. long, 4 to 6 mm.
wide; panicles dense, spikelike, usually about 5 cm. long, yellow to reddish
brown; bristles more than 5, 5 to 10 mm. long, scabrous; spikelets 2 to
2.5 mm. long, the fruit conspicuously transversely rugose. Open ground,
cultivated and waste places, United States and the West Indies to Argentina.
Also in the Old World.
 BRITISH HONDURAS. Corozal District: San Andres, Lundell 4808. Orange
Walk District: Honey Camp, Lundell 643. Belize District: Manatee Pine
Ridge, Gentle 95. Gracie Rock, Gentle 1605. Stann Creek District: Middle-
sex, Smart 28. Toledo District: Toledo, Peck 491.
 GUATEMALA. Pet6n: La Libertad, Aguilar 70.

3. Setaria tenacissima Schrad.; Schult. Mant. 2: 279. 1824.
 Annual; culms erect or clambering, 1 to 2 m. tall; blades flat, scabrous
and pubescent, 10 to 15 cm. long, 4 to 6 mm. wide (rarely as much as
1 cm.); panicles 5 to 10 cm. long, somewhat flexuous, the axis pubescent
and sparsely villous; bristles becoming implicate, retrorsely scabrous above,
antrorsely scabrous below, 5 to 10 mm. long; spikelets 1.5 mm. long, purple,
the fertile lemma finely rugose. Brushy hillsides, Central America and the
West Indies to Brazil.
 BRITISH HONDURAS. El Cayo District: Mountain Pine Ridge, Bartlett
11585.
4. Setaria yucatana Herrm. Beitr. Biol. Pflanz. 10: 51. 1910.
 Annual; culms erect or ascending, sometimes rooting at the lower nodes,
branching, 1 to 1.5 m. tall; sheaths papillose-pilose or only papillose, the
margins ciliate; blades softly pubescent, the margins scabrous, 10 to 25 cm.
long, 5 to 10 mm. wide; panicles oblong, tapering above, 10 to 30 cm. long,
the branches spreading, densely flowered to the base, the lowermost 1 to
3 cm. long; spikelets 1.8 mm. long, the fertile lemma minutely rugose.
Open ground, roadsides and cultivated fields. Known only on the Yucatan
Peninsula.