Tropical Sprangletop

Leptochloa virgata (L.) Beauv. Agrost. 71, 161, 166. 1812
Cynosurtis virgatiis L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 2: 876. 1759.
Festuca virgata Lam. Tab. Encyc. 1: 189. 1791. (Based on Cynosiirus virgatus L.)
Eleusine virgata Pers. Syn. PI. 1; 87. 1805. (Based on Cynosurus virgatus L.)
Chloris poaeformis H.B.K. Nov. Gen.&Sp. 1: 159. 1816. (Localities cited, Colombia and Ecuador,
Humboldt &■ Bonpland.) Chloris digitaria H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 168. 1816. (Type from Peru, Humboldt &■ Bonpland.) Leplostachys digitaria G. Meyer, Fl. Esseq. 74. 1818. (Based on Chloris digitaria H.B.K.) Leptostachys virgata G. Meyer, FI. Esseq. 74. 1818. (Based on Cynosurus virgatus Willd. [error
for L.j.) Leptochloa procera Nees, Syll. PI. Nov. 1: 2. 1824. (Type from Brazil.) Cynodon virgatus Rasp. Ann. Sci. Nat. 5: 302. 1825. (Based on Leptochloa virgata Beauv.) Leptochloa digitaria Nees, Agrost. Bras. 433. 1829. (Based on Chloris digitaria H.B.K.) Leptochloa procera var. major Brongn. in Duperrey. Bot. Coq. Voy. 2': 48. 1830. Leptochloa procera var. minor Brongn. in Duperrey, Bot. Coq. Voy. 2^: 48. 1830. (Type from Lima
Peru.) Leptochloa mutica Steud. Syn. Gram. 208. 1854. (Type from Surinam, Kappler 1553.) Leptochloa virgata var. aristata Fourn. Mex. PI. Gram. 2: 146. 1886. (Type from Mexico.) Leptochloa virgata var. intermedia Fourn. Mex. PI. Gram. 2: 146. 1886. (Type from Mexico,
Liebmann 243, 251.) Leptochloa perennis ii^ick. Int. An. Estac.CenU. Agion. Cuba 1; 411. 1906. (Type from Cuba,
Baker 4617.)
Perennial; culms tufted, erect or somewhat decumbent at the base, 30 cm. to more than a meter tall; sheaths rounded on the back, glabrous or nearly so; ligule 0.2-0.3 mm. long, minutely erose; blades flat, acuminate, 10-20 cm. long, 4-12 mm. wide, the margins scabrous; inflorescence drooping, 10-15 cm. long; spikes somewhat aggregate, slender, drooping, mostly 6-10 cm. long; spikelets 3-4-flowered, 2-3 mm. long; glumes similar, acute, the first 1.5 mm. long, the second a little longer; lemmas 1.5-2 mm. long, sparsely pilose on the margins, the tip blunt, often minutely lobed, awnless or rarely awned.
Type locality: Jamaica.
Distribution: Open ground along streams and ditches, also in brushy places, Texas, Florida, and southward through the West Indies to Argentina.

Leptochloa domingensis (Jacq.) Trin. Fund. Agrost 133. 1820.
Cynosurus domingensis Jacq. Misc. Austr. 2: 363. 1781.
Festuca domingensis Lam. Tab. Encyc. 1: 189. 1791. (Based on Cynosurus domingensis Jacq.) Eleusine domingensis Pers. Syn. PI. 1: 87. 1805. (Based on Cynosurus domingensis Jacq.) Rabdochloa domingensis Beauv. Agrost. 84, 176. 1812. (Based on Cynosurus domingensis Jacq.) Chloris gracilis H.B.K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1; 168. 1816. (Type from Peru, Humboldt &• Bonpland.) Leptostachys domingensis G. Meyer, Fl. Esseq. 74. 1818. (Based on Eleusine domingensis Pers.) Leptostachys gracilis G. Meyer, Fl. Esseq. 74. 1818. (Based on Chloris gracilis H.B.K.) Leptochloa gracilis Nees, Syll. PI. Nov. 1: 4. 1824. (Based on Chloris gracilis H.B.K.) Eleusine gracilis Spreng. Syst. I: 350. 1825. (Based on Chloris gracilis H.B.K.) Cynodon domingense Rasp. Ann. Sci. Nat. 5: 302. 1825. (Based on Rabdochloa domingensis Beauv.) Leptochloa virgata var. domingensis Link; Griseb. Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 538. 1864. (Based on L. domingensis Link [same as L. domingensis Trin].) Diplachne domingensis Chapm. Fl. S. U. S. ed. 3. 609. 1897. (Based on L. domingensis Link [same
as L. domingensis Trin].) Leplochloa virgaia var. puberula Hack. Repert. Nov. Sp. 6: 345. 1909. (Type from Paraguay,
Rojas 94.)
Perennial; culms erect or ascending, 30 cm. to more than a meter tall, glabrous; sheaths glabrous or pilose, especially on the margins, densely pubescent on the collar, at least the lower ones compressed, keeled; ligule membranaceous, 0.2 mm. long, minutely ciliale; blades flat, acuminate, as much as 40 cm. long, 4-10 mm. wide, usually sparsely pilose, smooth or scabrous on the lower surface, scabrous on the upper; inflorescence 15-30 cm. long, drooping; spikes several to numerous, slender, drooping, the lower ones 4-15 cm. long, pilose in the axils; spikelets 4-5-flowered, not crowded; first glume acuminate, 1.5 mm. long, the second acute,
2 mm. long; lemmas 1.5-2 mm. long, subobtuse, sparsely pilose over the back, the slender awn 1-3 mm. long.
Type locality: Santo Domingo.
Distribution; Open hillsides, cultivated fields, and waste places. Florida; eastern Mexico; West Indies, and southward to Argentina.

Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Stems trailing, spreading or prostrate, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems mat or turf forming, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stems compressed, flattened, or sulcate, 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 cauline, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath hairy, hispid or prickly, Leaf sheath hairy at summit, throat, or collar, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blade margins folded, involute, or conduplicate, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades more or less hairy, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence solitar y, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence a panicle with narrowly racemose or spicate branches, Inflorescence a panicle with digitately arranged spicate branches, Inflorescence with 2-10 branches, Inflorescence branches more than 10 to numerous, Inflorescence branches 1-sided, Inflorescence branches paired or digitate at a single node, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets sessile or subsessile, Spikelets laterally compressed, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 2 florets, Spikelets with 3-7 florets, Spikelets solitary at rachis nodes, Spikelets all alike and fertille, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating above the glumes, glumes persistent, Spikelets disarticulating beneath or between the florets, Spikelets secund, in rows on one side of rachis, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes distinctly unequal, Glumes shorter than adjacent lemma, Glumes keeled or winged, Glume s 1 nerved, Lemmas thin, chartaceous, hyaline, cartilaginous, or membranous, Lemma 3 nerved, Lemma body or surface hairy, Lemma apex truncate, rounded, or obtuse, Lemma awnless, Lemma mucronate, very shortly beaked or awned, less than 1-2 mm, Lemma distinctly awned, more than 2-3 mm, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea membranous, hyaline, Palea about equal to lemma, Palea 2 nerved or 2 keeled, Stamens 2, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis.