Paspalum vaginatum Sw.

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Poaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Paspalum vaginatum Sw.

  • Description

    Species Description - Perennial, stoloniferous herb; flowering culms 0.6-6 dm tall, erect or decumbent at the base, unbranched or sparingly branched. Leaf sheaths glabrous; ligule 0.5-1.2 mm long; blades linear, flat, conduplicate or convolute, 5-22 x 0.1-0.4 cm, smooth, glabrous on the upper surface. Inflorescence ovate; main axis 0-12 mm long; primary branches 2-5 cm long; racemes 2, conjugate. Spikelets solitary, elliptic, 2.5-3.7 x 0.9-1.5 mm; upper glumes 2.5-3.7 mm long, 4-6-nerved; lemma of lower floret lanceolate, membranous, 5-nerved, muticous, the palea absent; lemma of upper floret elliptic, indurate, smooth to striate, yellow, 2.3-3.5 mm long, muticous.

  • Distribution

    Uncommon coastal herb. Fish Bay (W808). Also on St. Croix and Tortola; throughout the tropics and subtropics.

    Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Saint John Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America|