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Manual of the New Zealand Flora.
3. Paspalum, Linn
3. Paspalum, Linn.
Annual or perennial grasses, of various habit. Spikelets 1-flowered, orbicular or oblong, obtuse or rarely acute, not awned, sessile or very shortly pedicelled, arranged in one or two rows on one side of a slender spike; spikes solitary, binate, digitate, or panicled. Glumes 3; 2 outer empty, membranous, usually subequal or rarely page 845the lowest smaller or absent; upper or flowering glume much firmer, cartilaginous or almost coriaceous, 5–7-nerved. Palea similar in texture to the flowering glume but rather smaller, 2-nerved. Lodicules 2, cuneate. Stamens 3. Styles 2, distinct to the base, rather long. Grain ovoid or oblong, free, enclosed within the hardened flowering-glume and palea.
Species about 160, scattered through the tropics of both hemispheres, but most abundant in America. The three species found in New Zealand are widely distributed.
| Rhizome not creeping. Culms usually erect, 1–3 ft. Spikelets orbicular-ovoid, obtuse | 1. P. scrobiculatum. |
| Rhizome long, creeping. Culms ascending, 6–24 in. Leaves flat, ⅙–⅓ in. broad. Lateral spikes sessile. Spikelets oblong-ovoid, acute | 2. P. Digitaria. |
| Rhizome long, creeping. Culms ascending, 2–8 in. Leaves involute, 1/12 in. broad. Spikes all peduncled. Spikelets oblong, acute | 3. P. distichum. |
| 1. | P. scrobiculatum, Linn. Mant. i. 29.—Rhizome short. Culms tufted, erect or decumbent at the base, usually sheathed through out by the leaves, glabrous, 1–3 ft. high. Leaves linear or linear-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, ¼–½ in. broad, glabrous or slightly hairy towards the base, flat or wrinkled; margins rough; ligule short, broad, membranous; sheaths rather lax. Spikes varying in number from 2 to 6, 1–2 in. long, alternate towards the top of the culm, usually rather distant, spreading or erect; rhachis 1/12 in. broad, flat, margins ciliate. Spikelets in 2 or rarely 3–4 rows, imbricate, sessile or very shortly pedicelled, sometimes geminate on a common pedicel, ovoid-orbicular, obtuse, glabrous. Empty glumes subequal, thin and membranous, with a prominent midrib; the outer one with a single marginal vein on each side; the upper one with 2 marginal veins. Flowering glume similar in size and shape to the empty glumes, hard and coriaceous, brown, shining, minutely pitted. Palea coriaceous like the flowering glume, the margins produced into membranous inflected auricles.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 291; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 323; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 460; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 10a. P. orbiculare, Forst. Prodr. n. 35; A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 140; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 266; Raoul, Choix, 39.
North Island: Auckland—Lowland stations from the North Cape to the East Cape, not uncommon. An abundant plant in all warm countries outside America. |
| 2. | P. Digitaria, Poir. Encycl. Suppl. iv. 316.—Rhizome long, branched, creeping and rooting. Culms erect or ascending, sheathed throughout by the leaves, glabrous, 6–24 in. high. Leaves numerous, distichous, 2–8 in. long, ⅙–⅓ in. broad, flat, glabrous or sparingly hairy towards the base; ligules short, membranous, truncate; sheaths compressed, striate, margins pilose above. Spikes rather page 846slender, 1–2 in. long, usually 2 but sometimes 3 or even 4, the lateral ones sessile or nearly so; rhachis flat, margins scabrid. Spikelets in 2 rows, nearly sessile, imbricate and appressed to the rhachis, ovate-oblong, acute, flattened, pale-green. Empty glumes equal, acute, membranous, pubescent or glabrous; the lower one 3-nerved; the upper 5-nerved, sometimes an additional minute empty glume is present at the base of the spikelet. Flowering glume coriaceous, smooth, shining, faintly nerved. Palea smaller, coriaceous, margins inflexed but not auricled.—Stapf. in Fl. Capen. vii. 370.
North Island; Auckland—Near Ahipara, T. F. C.; Bay of Islands and Whangarei, Petrie! marshes by the lower Waikato, T. F. C.; Coromandel, Petrie! Probably introduced into New Zealand, as in Australia, South Africa, India, and other countries, but the localities it affects give it the appearance of being indigenous. It is a common plant in many parts of America, from Virginia southwards. It can be distinguished from P. distichum by its greater size, much broader flat leaves, and by the lateral spikes being sessile. |
| 3. | P. distichum, Linn. Amœn. Acad. v. 391.—Rhizome long, branched, creeping and rooting. Culms numerous, ascending, sheathed throughout by the leaves, glabrous, 2–8 in. high. Leaves numerous, distichous, 2–5 in. long by about 1/12 in. broad, linear, acute, strict, spreading, usually involute; ligules short, truncate; sheaths thin, pale, loose, bearded at the mouth. Spikes 2, both peduncled and jointed on the top of the culm, usually spreading, 1–1½ in. long; rhachis narrower than the spikelets. Spikelets in two rows, sessile or nearly so, imbricate and appressed to the rhachis, oblong, acute or almost acuminate, flattened, glabrous, pale. Empty glumes equal, acute, thin and membranous, faintly 3–5-nerved. Flowering glume rather shorter than the empty glumes, coriaceous, pale, very indistinctly nerved. Palea coriaceous like the flowering glume, margins slightly auricled.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 291; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 323; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 460; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 10a.
North Island: Auckland—Salt marshes from the North Cape to the Bay f Plenty and the Waikato River, abundant. Widely distributed in all warm countries. |