Paspalum azuayense Sohns
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Authority
Sohns, Ernest R. & Swallen, Jason R. 1955. Plants collected in Ecuador by W. H. Camp. Gramineae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 9 (2): 133-146.
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Family
Poaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Latin Diagnosis - Perenne, caespitosum; culmi 25-65 cm alti, striati, glabri; vaginae glaberrimae, marginibus ciliatae summo papilloso-ciliatae; ligula membranacea, brevis (1-1.5 mm longa); laminae 2-12 cm longae, acuminatae, 4-6 mm latae, supra sparse pilosae, subtus glaberrimae; racemi 2-4, 2.4-5 cm longi; rachis glabra, 0.9-1 mm lata, recta vel subflexuosa; spiculae binae, 1.6-2.1 mm longae, 1.2-1.5 mm latae, elliptico-ovatae; gluma secunda et lemma sterile minute pubescentia, 3-nervia, ad maturitatem gluma secunda quam lemmate fertili breviore; lemma sterile et lemma fertile aequalia; fructus ca. 2 mm longus, pallidus.
Species Description - An erect tufted perennial; culms simple, 25-65 cm tall, striate, smooth; nodes 1-1.5 mm long, brown, glabrous; sheaths shorter than the internodes, prominently striate, glabrous, ciliate on the margins, papillose-pilose near the summit (especially on the innovations), the basal sheaths sparsely long pilose, becoming glabrescent, the uppermost bladeless; ligule membranaceous, 1-1.5 mm long; blades 2-12 cm long, folded when dry, 4-6 mm wide, glabrous on the lower surface, glaucous and sparsely pilose on the upper surface, the margins antrorsely scabrous; panicle (in mature specimens) long-exserted, 5-7 cm long; racemes 2-4, 2.4-5 cm long, straight or slightly flexuous, with a tuft of white hairs in the axils; rachis 0.9-1 mm wide, straight or nearly so, drying dark brown; spikelets in pairs, crowded, on short pedicels, greenish, brownish or drying dark-brown to reddish, elliptic-ovate, 1.6-2.1 mm long, 1.2-1.5 mm wide; second glume pubescent, three-nerved, shorter than the fertile lemma in mature spikelets; sterile lemma pubescent, as long as the fertile lemma; fruit pale, 2 mm. long, the lemma and palea minutely striate. (See Fig. 1, a-g.)