Ekra

Erianthus jamaicensis (Trin.) Anderss. Oefv. Sv. Vet.-Akad
Forh. 1855 : 163. 1855.
Saccharum jamaicense Trin. Mem. Acad. St. Petersb. VI. 2 : 312. 1832. Erianthus Ravennae jamaicensis Hack, in DC. Monog. Phan. 6 : 141. 1889.
Stems 1-2 m. tall; leaf -sheaths silky-villous on the inside; blades up to 6 dm. long and 6 mm. broad, very acuminate, glaucous beneath, the upper surface and the margins rough ; panicle 2 dm. long, linear-lanceolate, the axis somewhat flexuous and roughened, the internodes a little longer than the pedicels and shorter than the spikelets, slender, linear, furnished with hairs longer than themselves ; spikelets 5.5-6 mm. long, lanceolate, pale, about equaling the involucral hairs at the base, the outer 2 scales chartaceous, 3nerved, somewhat caudate-acuminate, the first one, especially near the margins, with scattered hairs almost as long as themselves, the second scale glabrous, the third scale empty, faintly 5-nerved, membranous, the fourth scale hyaline, enclosing a hermaphrodite flower, and bearing at the apex a bristle-like straight awn about as long as the scale.
Type locality : Jamaica.
Distribution : Known only from the type locality. This may be only a form of the Old World E. Ravennae (L.) Beauv., perhaps introduced into Jamaica and escaped from cultivation. It has not been reported recently from there.