Bigleaf Paspalum

Paspalum macrophyllum H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1 : 92. 1815
Paspalum planifolium Fourn. Mex. PI. Gram. 10. 1881.
Paspalum macrophyllum piliferum Fourn. Mex. PI. Gram. 11. 1881.
Dimorphostachys Boiterii Fourn. Mex. PI. Gram. 14. 1881.
Dimorphosiachys paspaloides Fourn. Mex. PI. Gram. 14. 1881.
Paspalum seiaceum pubiflqrum Vasey, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 1 : 114. 1891.
Stems tufted, up to 1.5 m. tall, glabrous, with usually leafless flower-bearing branches in the uppermost axil; leaf -sheaths often ciliate, the lower ones commonly papillose-hispid, the upper ones glabrous; blades up to 3 dm. long or more, the larger 1.5-2.^ cm. wide, rough on the margins and often ciliate, flat, sometimes papillose-hispid on the surfaces; racemes 5-15, rarely fewer, spreading or ascending, up to 1 dm. long, the rachis 1 mm. wide; spikelets 2-2.7 mm. long, 1.4 mm. wide, in pairs, elliptic to obovate, the first scale wanting, or sometimes present in the lower spikelet, the second 5-nerved, appressed-pubescent, equaling or a little shorter than the spikelet, often surrounding the base of the spikelet, the third scale 3-5-nerved, glabrous or appressed-pubescent, the fruiting scale yellowish, roughened with papillae.
Type locality : Near Ibagu^, Colombia.
Distribution : Central and southern Mexico ; aLso in Colombia.

Perenni als, 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, Stems branching above base or distally at nodes, Stem 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 basal, below middle of stem, Leaves mostly cauline, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades lanceolate, Leaf blades 1-2 cm wide, Leaf blades 2 or more cm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blade with prominently raised or widened midvein, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades more or less hairy, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, o r cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence a panicle with narrowly racemose or spicate branches, Inflorescence with 2-10 branches, Inflorescence branches 1-sided, Rachis dilated, flat, central axis to which spikelets are attached, Rachis angular, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets sessile or subsessile, 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 2 clearly present, Glumes distinctly unequal, Glume equal to or longer than spikelet, Glume surface hairy, villous or pilose, Glumes 4-7 nerved, Lemma becoming indurate, enclosing palea and caryo psis, Lemma 3 nerved, Lemma 5-7 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma rugose, with cross wrinkles, or roughened, Lemma apex truncate, rounded, or obtuse, Lemma awnless, Lemma margins inrolled, tightly covering palea and caryopsis, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea shorter than lemma, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis.