Rabo De Gato

Arundinella martinicensis Trin. Gram. Pan. 62. 1826
Thysanachne scoparia Presl, Thysan. Nov. PI. Gen. 1829. Arundinella pallida "^^^s^ Agrost. Bras. 465. 1829. Arundinella scopa%ia Fourn. Mex. PI. Gram. ^^. 1881. Arundinella Palmeri Vasey ; Beal, Grasses N. Am. 2 : 76. 1896.
Stems 1 m. tall or more; leaf -sheaths appressed-hispid toward the summit; blades up to 4 dm. long and 2 cm. wide, rough, usually hispid on one or both stnfaces; panicle usually 2-4dm. long, dense, its branches erect or nearly so, occasionally loose and open and sometimes larger with the branches bearing fewer spikelets and spreading or ascending; spikelets, exclusive of the awn, 3.5-4 mm. long, the first scale one half to two thirds as long as the second scale, 3-nerved, the second scale 5-nerved, the third scale a little shorter or longer than the first, the fourth scale 1.5-2 mm. long, bearing an awn about twice its own length, the tightly spiral column shorter than the scale or rarely equaling it, and shorter than the subula.
Type LOCALITY : Martinique.
Distribution : Southern Mexico to Costa Rica, and in the West Indies.

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, 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 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 mostly flat, Leaf blades more or less hairy, Leaf blades scabrous, roughened, or wrinkled, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence an open panicle, openly paniculate, branches spreading, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence branches more than 10 to numerous, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets laterally compressed, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, 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 in paired units, 1 sessile, 1 pedicellate, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating above the glumes, glumes persistent, Spikelets disarticulating beneath or between the florets, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearl y present, Glumes distinctly unequal, Glumes equal to or longer than adjacent lemma, Glumes keeled or winged, Glumes 3 nerved, Lemma coriaceous, firmer or thicker in texture than the glumes, Lemma 3 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma body or surface hairy, Lemma rugose, with cross wrinkles, or roughened, Lemma apex dentate, 2-fid, Lemma distinctly awned, more than 2-3 mm, Lemma with 1 awn, Lemma awn less than 1 cm long, Lemma awn from sinus of bifid apex, Lemma awn twisted, spirally coiled at base, like a corkscrew, Lemma awn once geniculate, bent once, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea membranous, hyaline, Palea shorter than lemma, Palea about equal to lemma, Palea 2 nerved or 2 keeled, Palea auriculate or bowed out at base, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear.