Sporobolus purpurascens (Sw.) Ham.

Sporobolus purpurascens (Sw.) Hamilt. Prodr. 5. 1825
Agrostis purpurascens Sw. Prodr. 25. 1788.
Vilfa purpurascens Beauv. Agrost. 16, 182. 1812. (Based on Agrostis purpurascens Sw.)
Vilfa pilifera var. latifolia Rupr. Bull. Acad. Brux. 9: 228. 1842. Name only, for Galeotti 5706.
Vilfa Grisebachiana Fourn. Mex. PI. Gram. 98. 1886. (Type from Cuba.)
Vilfa densiflora Fourn. Mex. PI. Gram. 98. 1886. (Type from Orizaba, Botteri 139)
Vilfa Liebmanni Fourn. Mex. PI. Gram. 100. 1886. (Type from Mexico.)
Perennial; culms erect, glabrous, mostly 2-3-noded, 30-60 cm. tall; sheaths glabrous; ligule erose, scarcely 0.5 mm. long; blades flat or loosely involute, glabrous, remotely ciliate with long hairs from papillae or papillose only, 5-15 cm. long, the uppermost shorter, 1-4 mm. wide; panicles contracted, sometimes almost spikelike, dark-brown or purple, more or less interrupted, 7-15 cm. long, the axis glabrous, the branches in verticils, appressed or somewhat ascending, floriferous nearly to base, 1-2 cm. long or the upper shorter; spikelets 3-4 mm. long, glabrous, first glume acuminate, about half as long as the spikelet; second glume, lemma, and palea about the same length.
Type locality: Jamaica.
Distribution: Sandy prairies, southern Texas, eastern Mexico, Revillagigedo Islands (.Socorro,