Scattered Paspalum

Paspalum conspersum Schrad.; Schultes, in R. & S. Syst. Veg
Mant. 2 : 174. 1824.
Paspalum virgatum conspersum. Doell, in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2^ : 89. 1877. t Paspalum. cordovense Fourn. Mex. PI. Gram. 9. 1881. Paspalum, Hartwegianum Fourn. Mex. PI. Gram. 12. 1881.
Stems up to 1.5 m. tall or more, stout, glabrous, simple; lower leaf-sheaths papillosehispid, the upper ones usually glabrous; blades up to 5 dm. long, the larger 2-3 cm. wide, fiat, rough on the margins, glabrous on the surface or hispid near the base; panicle up to 2.5 dm. long, dense, the numerous racemes ascending or erect, the lower sometimes recurved, up to 1 dm. long, the rachis 0.5-0.7 mm. wide, sometimes setiferous; spikelets in pairs, 2-2.5 mm. long, 1.5-1.7 mm. wide, elliptic to obovate, the first scale wanting, the second and third scales 3-nerved, the second scale appressed-pubescent, long-ciliate, the third scale glabrous, sometimes sparsely ciliate, the fruiting scale yellowishgreen, elliptic, obtuse, minutely roughened.
Type locality : Brazil.
Distribution : Southern Mexico and Guatemala ; also in Brazil.

Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Ste m internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems with inflorescence 1-2 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly cauline, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath hairy, hispid or prickly, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blades 1-2 cm wide, Leaf blades 2 or more cm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades more or less hairy, Leaf blades scabrous, roughened, or wrinkled, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence a panicle with narrowly racemose or spicate branches, Inflorescence with 2-10 branches, Inflorescence branches more than 10 to numerous, Inflorescence branches 1-sided, Rachis dilated , flat, central axis to which spikelets are attached, Rachis winged, Rachis angular, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets dorsally compressed or terete, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 1 fertile floret, Spikelets with 2 florets, Spikelet with 1 fertile floret and 1-2 sterile florets, Spikelets paired at rachis nodes, Spikelets all alike and fertille, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating below the glumes, Spikelets secund, in rows on one side of rachis, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 1 clearly present, the other greatly reduced or absent, Glumes distinctly unequal, Glumes equal to or longer than adjacent lemma, Glume equal to or longer than spikelet, Glumes 4-7 nerved, Lemma similar in texture to glumes, Lemma becoming indurate, enclosing palea and caryopsis, Lemma 5-7 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma apex truncate, rounded, or obtuse, Lemma awnless, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea short er than lemma, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis.