Paspalum saccharoides Nees ex Trin.

Paspalum saccharoides Nees; Trin. Ic. pi. 107. 1827
Saccharum polystachyon Sw. Prodr. 21. 1788. Not Paspalum polystachyum R. Br. 1810. Panicum saccharoides Kunth, R6v. Gram. 237. 1830. Syllepis polystachya Fourn. Mex. PL Gram. 52. 1881. Tricholaena saccharoides Griseb. Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 557. 1864.
Stems up to 1 m. tall or more; leaf-sheaths ciliate, otherwise glabrous; blades up to 3 dm. long, 1-1.5 cm. wide, flat, pubescent on the upper surface, glabrous beneath; racemes numerous, slender, lax, fascicled, up to 2.5 dm. long, the rachis about 0.5 mm. wide; spikelets 2.5-3 mm. long, 0.5-0.7 mm. wide, lanceolate, auricled at the base by the extension of the lateral nerves, the first scale wanting, the second and third scales very delicate and thin, 2-nerved by the suppression of the midnerve, the internerve hyaline, the second scale ciliate with hairs 2-3 times as long as the spikelet, the third scale lanceolate, glabrous, shorter than the first, the fruiting scale yellowish-green, thin, smooth, about three fifths as long as the spikelet.
Type locality: St. Kitts.
Distribution: St. Kitts to Grenada; Costa Rica; Panama; also in northern South America.