Class II. MONOCOTYLEDONOUS or ENDOGENOUS PLANTS. (continued 5)

[+] Spikelets very obtuse, orbicular; spikes one terminal and often 1–5 lateral.

3. P. setàceum, Michx. Culm ascending or decumbent (1–2° long), slender; leaves (2´´ wide, flat) and sheaths clothed with soft spreading hairs; spikes very slender (2–4´ long), smooth, mostly solitary on a long peduncle, and usually one from the sheaths of each of the upper leaves on short peduncles or included; spikelets (½´´ wide) narrowly 2-rowed.—Sandy fields; common from E. Mass. to Ill., and southward. Aug.

4. P. læ̀ve, Michx. (Pl. 13, fig. 1–3.) Bright green, sparingly villous, rather stout; stems somewhat decumbent; leaves and spikes widely spreading; spikes (2–4) approximate, 2–4´ long, smooth or nearly so; spikelets about 1´´ wide, 2-rowed.—Moist soil, S. New Eng. to Ky., and southward.

5. P. Floridànum, Michx. Stout, erect, 3–6° high, glaucous; sheaths and leaves more or less villous, the latter and the spikes erect or ascending; spikes (2–5) broader, 2–5´ long, the smooth spikelets nearly 2´´ broad, in 2 rows.—Moist soil; Del. to Fla., Ark., and Tex.

[+][+] Spikelets acute; spikes several, racemose.

6. P. dilatàtum, Poir. Stout, erect, 2–5° high, villous at the top of the sheath; spikes few on a naked peduncle, erect, 2–3´ long; spikelets 1´´ long or more, the lower glume soft-villous on the margin.—Va. to Tex.

[+][+][+] Spikelets acute; spikes always a pair at the summit of the naked peduncle.

7. P. dístichum, L. (Joint-Grass.) Nearly glabrous, rather glaucous; culms ascending (about 1° high) from a long creeping base; leaves linear-lanceolate (2–3´ long); peduncle usually short; spikes short and closely-flowered (9´´–2´ long), often slightly separated; rhachis flat on the back; spikelets ovate, slightly pointed (barely 1½´´ long), approximate on one side of the rhachis.—Wet fields, Va. and southward. July–Sept.

8. P. Ellióttii, Watson. Culms ascending (1–2½° high) from a creeping base; leaves lanceolate (3–6´ long, 4–6´´ wide); spikes slender, rather sparsely flowered (1–4´ long), both sessile upon the long slender peduncle; spikelets ovate-lanceolate (2´´ long), on nearly opposite sides of the rhachis. (Milium paspalòdes, Ell. P. Digitaria, Chapm.; not Poir.)—Va. and southward.

4. ERIÓCHLOA, HBK. (Pl. 16.)

Spikelets ovate, subsessile or shortly pedicelled upon one side of the rhachis of a spike, with a callus at base and jointed on the pedicel, 1-flowered. Glumes 3, the 2 empty ones slightly unequal, membranaceous, acute, the flowering one shorter, indurated, obtuse, enclosing the free grain.—Coarse tufted grasses, with flat leaves, the spikes more or less scattered along a common peduncle, and the pedicels and rhachis of the spike usually pubescent or hairy (hence the name, from ἔριον, wool, and χλόα, grass).

1. E. polystàchya, HBK. Culms erect or decumbent, 2° high; spikes 6–12, erect or ascending, 1–2´ long, forming a compound spike 3–6´ long; spikelets glabrous, very shortly pedicelled, oblong-lanceolate, nearly 2´´ long.—S. Kan. to Tex. and Mex.

5. PÁNICUM, L. Panic-Grass. (Pl. 13.)

Spikelets jointed upon the pedicels, ovate, panicled, racemed, or sometimes spiked, not involucrate, with one perfect and sometimes a second lower rudimentary or staminate flower. Glumes 4, but the lower one usually short or minute (rarely even wanting), and the third empty or sterile, membranaceo-herbaceous. Upper flower perfect, closed, coriaceous or cartilaginous, usually flattish parallel with the glumes, awnless (except in § 3), enclosing the free and grooveless grain. Stamens 3. Stigmas plumose, usually purple. (An ancient Latin name of the Italian Millet, P. Italicum (now Setaria Italica), of uncertain origin and meaning.)

§ 1. DIGITÀRIA. Spikelets crowded 2–3 together in simple and mostly 1-sided clustered spikes or spike-like racemes, wholly awnless and pointless, 1-flowered; lower glume minute or obsolete or wanting; annual, often purplish.

[*] Spikes erect; the rhachis filiform and nearly terete.

1. P. filifórme, L. Culms very slender (1–2° high), upright; lower sheaths hairy; spikes 2–8, alternate, approximate, filiform; spikelets oblong, acute (½´´ long); lower glume almost wanting.—Dry sandy soil, Mass. to N. J. along the coast, to Iowa, Neb., and southward. Aug.

[*][*] Spikes spreading; the rhachis flat and thin.

P. glàbrum, Gaudin. Culms spreading, prostrate, or sometimes erect (5–12´ long), glabrous; spikes 2–6, widely diverging, nearly digitate; spikelets ovoid (about 1´´ long); upper empty glume equalling the flower, the lower almost wanting.—Cultivated grounds and waste places; common, especially southward; sometimes appearing indigenous. Aug., Sept. (Nat. from Eu.)

P. sanguinàle, L. (Common Crab- or Finger-Grass.) (Pl. 13, fig. 1–3.) Culms erect or spreading (1–2° high); leaves and sheaths glabrous or hairy; spikes 4–15, spreading, digitate; spikelets oblong (1½´´ long); second glume half the length of the flower, the lower one small.—Cultivated and waste grounds. Aug.–Oct. (Nat. from Eu.)

§ 2. PANICUM proper. Spikelets scattered, in panicles, awnless.

[*] Panicle elongated and racemose, wand-like or pyramidal; the numerous and usually pointed spikelets short-pedicelled, excepting n. 3 and 4.

[+] Sterile flower none; lower glume short; spikelets ½–1½´´ long; annuals except n. 4; leaves flat; sheaths flattened.

[++] Glabrous and smooth throughout; spikelets appressed, short-pedicelled.

2. P. prolíferum, Lam. Culms usually thickish and rather succulent, branched, geniculate and ascending from a procumbent base; sheaths flattened; ligule ciliate; panicles terminal and lateral, compound, pyramidal, the slender primary branches at length spreading; spikelets pale green, rarely purplish; lower glume broad, {1/3} to ¼ the length of the upper, which is little longer than the flowering one.—Marshy river-banks and shores, especially if brackish, but also in the interior, from Mass. to Iowa, and southward. Aug.

[++][++] Hispid or hairy on the sheaths, at least the lower; spikelets mostly scattered on slender pedicels in an ample, loose, at length very effuse panicle; culms mostly branched from the base, erect or ascending (10–20´ high).

3. P. capillàre, L. (Old-witch Grass.) (Pl. 13, fig. 4, 5.) All the sheaths and usually the leaves copiously hairy or hispid; panicle mostly very compound, the branches divaricate when old; spikelets from ovoid to narrowly oblong, pointed; lower glume half the length of the upper empty one, which is longer than the elliptical obtuse perfect flower.—Sandy soil and cultivated fields everywhere. Aug.–Oct.—Varies extremely in size and appearance, the culms erect and simple, or decumbent, geniculate and branched; in depauperate forms the spikelets only ¾´´, in the larger forms 1½´´ in length.

4. P. autumnàle, Bosc. Root perennial (?), lower sheaths and margins of the small narrow leaves more or less hairy, otherwise glabrous, except some bristly hairs in the main axils of the very effuse capillary panicle, its much elongated divisions sparingly branched, or even simple and terminated with solitary spindle-shaped spikelets; lower glume minute; perfect flower lanceolate-oblong and pointed, nearly equalling the lance-oblong obtusish empty glumes.—Sand-hills, Ill. to Minn., Mo., and southward.

[+][+] Sterile flower rudimentary (staminate in n. 7), its glume fully twice the length of the lower glume; spikelets small (1 or 1½´´ long); root perennial.

5. P. ánceps, Michx. Culms flat, upright (2–4° high); leaves rather broadly linear (1–2° long, 4–5´´ wide), smooth; panicle contracted-pyramidal; spikelets ovate-lanceolate, pointed, a little curved; second glume 5–7-nerved; neutral flower one third longer than the perfect one.—Wet sandy soil, N. J. and Penn. to S. Ill., and southward. Aug.—Spikelets larger and branches of the panicle longer and narrower than in the next.

6. P. agrostoìdes, Muhl. Culms flattened, upright (2–4° high); leaves long, and with the sheaths smooth; panicles terminal and often lateral, pyramidal (4–8´ long); spikelets racemose, crowded and one-sided on the spreading branches, ovate-oblong, acute (purplish); second glume 5-nerved, longer than the neutral flower; perfect flower shorter, bearded at the apex.—Wet meadows and shores, E. Mass. to Minn., Neb., and common southward. Aug.

7. P. Curtísii, Chapm. Culms stout, 3–4° high, often rooting below; mostly glabrous; panicle slender, simple, spike-like (6–8´ long), the spikes appressed; spikelets lanceolate, acute; lower glume half the length of the 5-nerved second one.—Ponds, Del. to Fl. and Tex.

[+][+][+] Sterile flower staminate; lower glume more than half the length of the next; spikelets large (2–2½´´ long), ovate, pointed, as are the glumes, etc.; perennials, glabrous, with tall or stout and rigid upright culms.

8. P. virgàtum, L. (Pl. 13, fig. 8, 9.) Tall (3–5° high); leaves very long, flat; ligule silky-bearded; branches of the compound loose and large panicle (9´–2° long) at length spreading or drooping; spikelets scattered, usually purplish.—Moist sandy soil; common. Aug.

9. P. amàrum, Ell. Culms (1½° high or more) sheathed to the top; leaves involute, glaucous, coriaceous, the uppermost exceeding the contracted panicle, the simple racemose branches of which are appressed; spikelets pale.—Sandy shores, Conn., Va., and southward. Aug., Sept.—The northern form (var. mìnus, Vasey & Scribn.) somewhat smaller than the southern.

[*][*] Panicle short or small, loosely spreading or diffuse; perennials.

[+] Sterile flower none; spikelets warty roughened.

10. P. verrucòsum, Muhl. Smooth; culms branching and spreading, very slender (1–2° long), naked above; leaves linear-lanceolate (2–3´´ wide), shining; branches of the diffuse panicle capillary, few-flowered; spikelets dark green, oval, acute, ¾´´ long; lower glume ¼ as long as the faintly nerved second.—Sandy swamps, N. Eng. to Va., near the coast, and southward.

[+][+] Lower (sterile) flower neutral, or in n. 12 and sometimes in n. 11 staminate, the palet scarious and sometimes small and inconspicuous.

[++] Culm-leaves broadly lanceolate or wider, with 9–15 principal nerves (obscure or none in n. 17).

[=] Spikelets 1–1½´´ long.

11. P. xanthophỳsum, Gray. Culm simple, or at length branched near the base (9–15´ high); sheaths hairy; leaves lanceolate, very acute (4–6´ long by ½´ wide), not dilated at the ciliate-bearded clasping base, smooth except the margins, strongly 9–11-nerved; panicle long-peduncled, very simple, the appressed branches bearing a few roundish-obovate spikelets (about 1½´´ long); lower glume ovate, acutish, {1/3}–½ the length of the 9-nerved second.—Dry sandy soil, Maine to Penn., Wisc., Iowa, and northward; rare. June.—Yellowish-green; spikelets minutely downy; sterile flower sometimes staminate.

12. P. latifòlium, L. Culm (1–2° high) smooth; the joints and the throat or margins of the otherwise smooth sheaths often bearded with soft woolly hairs; leaves broadly oblong-lanceolate from a heart-clasping base (often 1´ wide), taper-pointed, 11–15-nerved, smooth, or sparingly downy-hairy; panicle more or less exserted (2–3´ long), usually long-peduncled, the branches spreading; spikelets obovate, 1½´´ long, downy; lower glume ovate, not half the length of the many-nerved second; sterile flower often (not always) with 3 stamens.—Moist thickets; common. June–Aug.

13. P. clandestìnum, L. (Pl. 13, fig. 6, 7.) Culm rigid (1–3° high), very leafy to the top, at length producing appressed branches, the joints naked; sheaths rough with papillæ bearing very stiff and spreading bristly hairs; leaves oblong-lanceolate from a heart-clasping base, very taper-pointed; lateral and usually also the terminal panicle more or less enclosed in the sheaths, or with the terminal one at length long-peduncled;—otherwise resembling n. 12; but the spikelets more ovoid, often smooth; the lower flower (always?) neutral.—Low thickets and river-banks, N. Eng. to Mich., Mo., and southward. June–Sept.

14. P. víscidum, Ell. Culms stout, upright or ascending, at length much branched, leafy to the top, densely velvety-downy all over, as also the sheaths, with reflexed soft and often clammy hairs, except a ring below each joint; leaves likewise velvety, lanceolate (½´ wide), 11–13-nerved; panicle spreading, the lateral ones included; spikelets obovate, 1 or 1½´´ long, downy; the roundish lower glume scarcely one fourth the length of the 7-nerved second one.—Damp soil, N. J. to Va., and southward. Aug.

15. P. scopàrium, Lam. Culms upright, at length much branched and reclining (1–2° long), roughish; leaves lanceolate (3–5´ long by {1/3}–½´ wide), rather faintly 9-nerved, hairy or smooth, fringed on the whole margin or next the base with long and stiff spreading hairs, the sheaths bristly throughout with similar hairs; panicle open, nearly simple, bearing few tumid-obovate hairy or smoothish spikelets about 1½´´ long; lower glume roundish, about half or a quarter of the length of the upper one. (P. pauciflorum, Ell.)—Wet meadows and copses, E. Mass. to Minn., west and southward. June, July.

16. P. commutàtum, Schultes. Rather slender, erect, 1–2° high, nearly glabrous; leaves lanceolate, acuminate (3–6´ long), the margins toward the base and the sheaths sparsely ciliate; panicle spreading, often short-peduncled; spikelets scattered, glabrous, oblong, acutish, little more than 1´´ long; lower glume ovate, often acute.—N. Y. to Fla.—A frequent variety with smaller spikelets (not 1´´ long) approaches the next, and has also been confused with P. dichotomum.—Ont. to Va. and southward.

[=][=] Spikelets less than 1´´ long.

17. P. nítidum, Michx. (Lam.?) Resembles the last; leaves rather thick and the principal nerves very obscure or none except at the base; panicle broad, more slender; spikelets smaller ({2/3}´´ long), broadly ovate and very obtuse; lower glume very obtuse. (P. sphærocarpon, Ell.)—N. Y. to Ga., and westward.

18. P. microcárpon, Muhl. Like the last; the broadly lanceolate leaves nearly similar, but usually longer (8´ long or less), distinctly nerved; panicle soon exserted on a slender peduncle, rather narrower, with numerous slender branches and very many-flowered (3–7´ long); spikelets about ½´´ long, ovoid, smooth or smoothish; lower glume orbicular and very small.—Dry or moist thickets, Penn. to Mich., Neb., and southward. July–Sept.

[++][++] Culm-leaves linear or sometimes narrowly lanceolate (basal often lanceolate); primary nerves often indistinct or none; spikelets small.

19. P. depauperàtum, Muhl. Culms simple or branched from the base, forming close tufts (6–12´ high), terminated by a simple and few-flowered contracted panicle, often much overtopped by the narrowly linear and elongated (4–7´) upper leaves; spikelets ¾–1½´´ long, oval-obovate, commonly pointed when young; lower glume ovate.—Varies, with the leaves involute, at least when dry (P. involutum, Torr.), and with the sheaths either beset with long hairs or nearly smooth; the panicle either partly included, or on a long and slender peduncle.—Dry woods and hills; rather common. June.

20. P. consanguíneum, Kunth. Culms slender, 1–2° high, often decumbent and rooting below; nearly glabrous or the sheaths and leaves somewhat pubescent or villous; panicle small, with rather few spreading few-flowered branches; spikelets 1–1½´´ long, oblong-obovate, acutish.—Dry woods, Norfolk, Va., and south to Fl. and Tex.

21. P. dichótomum, L.! Culms (8´–2° high) at first mostly simple, bearing a more or less exserted spreading compound panicle (1–3´ long), and linear to linear-lanceolate flat leaves (those tufted at the root usually ovate-lanceolate and very short, thickish); but commonly branching later in the season, the branches often clustered, and bearing nearly simple and included small panicles; spikelets ½-{2/3}´´ long, elliptical, obtuse, downy or smooth; lower glume roundish.—Common everywhere. Very variable both in habit and in the amount of villosity (depending upon the soil, exposure, season, etc.), so that it is difficult to specify any well defined varieties. The more conspicuous forms are (a) commùne, with simple culms erect or ascending, and leaves suberect, usually pale green—(b) fasciculàtum, with clustered leafy branches and short peduncles, a common autumnal state—and (c) grácile, the culms lax, very slender and elongated, with rather distant spreading leaves (usually bright green), and mostly long-pedunculate panicles.

22. P. laxiflòrum, Lam.! Closely resembling the last species, in its several forms; distinguished by the larger acutish spikelets (nearly or quite 1´´ long).—Common.

§ 3. ECHINÓCHLOA. Spikelets imbricated-spiked on the branches of the simple or compound raceme or panicle, usually rough with appressed stiff hairs; lower palet of the sterile flower awl-pointed or awned.

P. Crus-gálli, L. (Barnyard-Grass.) Root annual; culms stout, branching from the base (1–4° high); leaves lanceolate (½´ wide or more), rough-margined, otherwise with the sheaths smooth; spikes alternate (1–3´ long), crowded in a dense panicle; glumes ovate, abruptly pointed; glume of the neutral flower bearing a rough awn of variable length.—Varies greatly; sometimes awnless or nearly so; sometimes long-awned, especially in the var. híspidum, a very large and coarse form with the sheaths of the leaves very bristly.—Moist, chiefly manured soil; the variety in ditches, especially of brackish water; possibly indigenous. Aug.–Oct. (Nat. from Eu.)

6. SETÀRIA, Beauv. Bristly Foxtail Grass. (Pl. 13)

Spikelets altogether as in Panicum proper, and awnless, but with the short peduncles bearing below the joint of the spikelet solitary or clustered bristles resembling awns (but not forming an involucre). Inflorescence a dense spiked panicle, or apparently a cylindrical spike.—Annuals, in cultivated or manured grounds, with linear or lanceolate flat leaves. (Name from seta, a bristle.)

[*] Bristles single or in pairs, roughened or barbed downward.

S. verticillàta, Beauv. Spike cylindrical (2–3´ long, pale green), composed of apparently whorled short clusters; bristles short, adhesive.—Near dwellings. (Adv. from Eu.)

[*][*] Bristles in clusters, roughened or barbed upward.

S. glaùca, Beauv. (Foxtail. Pigeon-Grass.) (Pl. 13, fig. 1, 2.) Spike cylindrical, dense, tawny yellow (2–4´ long); bristles 6–11 in a cluster, much longer than the spikelets; perfect flower transversely wrinkled.—Very common, in stubble, etc. (Adv. from Eu.)

S. víridis, Beauv. (Green Foxtail. Bottle-Grass.) Spike nearly cylindrical, more or less compound, green; bristles few, longer than the spikelets; flower striate lengthwise and dotted.—Cultivated grounds. (Adv. from Eu.)

S. Itálica, Kunth. Spike compound, interrupted at base, thick, nodding (6–9´ long), yellowish or purplish; bristles 2 or 3 in a cluster, either much longer or else shorter than the spikelets.—Cultivated under the name of Millet, or Hungarian or Bengal Grass; rarely spontaneous. (Adv. from Eu.)

7. CÉNCHRUS, L. Hedgehog- or Bur-Grass. (Pl. 14.)

Spikelets as in Panicum, awnless, but enclosed 1 to 5 together in a globular and bristly or spiny involucre, which becomes coriaceous and forms a deciduous hard and rigid bur; the involucres sessile in a terminal spike. Styles united below. (An ancient Greek name of Setaria Italica.)

1. C. tribuloìdes, L. Annual; culms branched and ascending (1° high or less); leaves flat; spike oblong, of 8–20 spherical heads; involucre prickly all over with spreading and barbed short spines, more or less downy, enclosing 2 or 3 spikelets.—Sandy soil, on river banks, etc. Aug.—A vile weed.

8. AMPHICÁRPUM, Kunth. (Pl. 13.)

Spikelets jointed upon the pedicels, 1-flowered, oblong or ovoid, of two kinds; one kind in a terminal panicle, deciduous from the joint without fruit, although the flower is perfect; the other kind solitary at the extremity of slender runner-like radical peduncles (more or less sheathed toward the base), much larger than the others, perfect and fertile, subterranean, fertilized in the bud. Glumes 3, nearly equal, 5-nerved in the panicle, many nerved in the fertile spikelets; palet a little shorter; all becoming indurated and enclosing the very large grain. Stamens 3 (small in the radical flowers). Stigmas plumose, deep purple. (Name from ἀμφίκαρπος, doubly fruit-bearing.)

1. A. Púrshii, Kunth. Annual or biennial(?), erect, 1–4° high; leaves lanceolate, copious on the lower part of the culm, hispid, especially on the sheaths; panicle strict, naked; grain ovoid or oblong (2–3´´ long), terete.—Moist sandy pine-barrens, N. J. to Fla. Sept.

9. LEÉRSIA, Swartz. White Grass. (Pl. 7.)

Flowers crowded in one-sided panicled spikes or racemes, perfect, but those in the open panicles usually sterile by the abortion of the ovary, those enclosed in the sheaths of the leaves close-fertilized in the bud and prolific. Spikelets 1-flowered, flat, more or less imbricated over each other, jointed upon the short pedicels. Glumes 2, chartaceous, strongly flattened laterally or conduplicate, awnless, bristly-ciliate on the keels, closed, nearly equal in length, but the lower much broader, enclosing the flat grain. Palet none. Stamens 1–6. Stigmas feathery, the hairs branching.—Perennial marsh grasses; the flat leaves, sheaths, etc., rough upward, being clothed with very minute hooked prickles. (Named after John Daniel Leers, a German botanist.)

[*] Spikelets narrowly oblong, rather loosely crowded.

1. L. Virgínica, Willd. (White Grass.) Panicle simple; the spikelets closely appressed on the slender branches, around which they are partly curved (1½´´ long); stamens 2 (a third imperfect or wanting); glumes sparingly ciliate (greenish-white).—Wet woods; Maine to Minn., and southward. Aug.

2. L. oryzoìdes, Swartz. (Rice Cut-grass.) (Pl. 7, fig. 1–3.) Panicle diffusely branched; spikelets flat, rather spreading (2½–3´´ long); stamens 3; glumes strongly bristly-ciliate (whitish).—Very wet places; Mass, to Minn., and southward; common. Aug. (Eu.)

[*][*] Spikelets broadly oval, imbricately covering each other (2½–3´´ long).

3. L. lenticulàris, Michx. (Catch-fly Grass.) Smoothish; panicle simple; glumes very flat, strongly bristly-ciliate (said to close and catch flies); stamens 2; otherwise like the preceding.—Low grounds, Va., Ill., and southward.

10. ZIZÀNIA, Gronov. Water or Indian Rice. (Pl. 7.)

Flowers monœcious; the staminate and pistillate both in 1-flowered spikelets in the same panicle. Glumes 2, subtended by a small cartilaginous ring, herbaceo-membranaceous, convex, awnless in the sterile, the lower one tipped with a straight awn in the fertile spikelets. Palet none. Stamens 6. Stigmas pencil-form.—Large, often reed-like water-grasses. Spikelets jointed upon the club-shaped pedicels, very deciduous. (Adopted from ζιζάνιον, the ancient name of some wild grain.)

1. Z. aquática, L. (Indian Rice. Water Oats.) (Pl. 7, fig. 1–4.) Annual; culms 3–9° high; leaves flat, 2–3° long, linear-lanceolate; lower branches of the ample pyramidal panicle staminate, spreading; the upper erect, pistillate; lower glume long-awned, rough; styles distinct; grain linear, slender, 6´´ long.—Swampy borders of streams and in shallow water; common, especially northwestward. Aug.

2. Z. miliàcea, Michx. Perennial; panicle diffuse, ample, the staminate and pistillate flowers intermixed; awns short; styles united; grain ovate.—Penn. (?), Ohio, and southward. Aug.—Leaves involute.

11. TRÍPSACUM, L. Gama-Grass. Sesame-Grass. (Pl. 14.)

Spikelets monœcious, in jointed unilateral spikes, staminate above and fertile below. Staminate spikelets in pairs, sessile at each triangular joint of the narrow rhachis, both alike, 2-flowered, longer than the joints; glumes 4, coriaceous, the lower (outer) one nerved, the second boat-shaped, the upper with the palets very thin and membranaceous, awnless; anthers opening by 2 pores at the apex. Pistillate spikelets 2-flowered (the lower flower neutral), single and deeply imbedded in each oblong joint of the cartilaginous thickened rhachis, occupying a boat-shaped recess which is closed by the polished and cartilaginous ovate outer glume, the inner glume much thinner and pointed, the upper with the palets very thin and scarious, pointless. Styles united; stigmas very long (purple), hispid. Grain ovoid, free.—Culms stout and tall, solid, from very thick creeping rootstocks. Leaves broad and flat. Spikes axillary and terminal, separating spontaneously into joints at maturity. (Name from τρίβω, to rub, perhaps in allusion to the polished fertile spike.)

1. T. dactyloìdes, L. Spikes (4–8´ long) 2–3 together at the summit (when their contiguous sides are more or less flattened), and also solitary from some of the upper sheaths (when the fertile part is cylindrical); in var. monostàchyum, the terminal spike also solitary.—Moist soil, from Conn. to Penn. and Fla., near the coast, and from Ill. southward. Aug.—Culm 4–7° high; leaves like those of Indian Corn. This is one of our largest and most remarkable Grasses; sometimes used for fodder at the South.

12. ROTTBŒ́LLIA, L. f. (Pl. 16.)

Spikelets in pairs at each joint of a terete slender spike, awnless; one imperfect or rudimentary on a short and thick appressed pedicel; the other sessile and imbedded in an excavation of the joint of the rhachis, 1-flowered or rarely with a second staminate flower. Glumes 4, obtuse, the outer hard and cartilaginous, with a transverse depression next the base, the inner one boat-shaped and membranaceous, the 2 upper thin and delicate. Stamens 3. Styles 2.—Tall or coarse perennials, with rigid stems, and single cartilaginous spikes terminating the stem and axillary branches, chiefly subtropical. (Named for Prof. C. F. Rottboell, an excellent Danish botanist, who wrote much upon Gramineæ, Cyperaceæ, etc.)

1. R. rugòsa, Nutt. Culm flattish, 2–4° high; leaves linear; spikes 1–2´ long, the lateral ones on short clustered branches in the axils, often partly included in the sheaths of the leaves; sterile flower neutral; lower glume transversely rugose.—Low pine-barrens, from S. Del. (W. M. Canby) southward near the coast. Sept.–Oct.

13. ERIÁNTHUS, Michx. Woolly Beard-Grass. (Pl. 14.)

Spikelets spiked, in pairs upon each joint of the slender rhachis, one sessile, the other pedicelled, both 1-flowered, alike. Glumes 4, the 2 lower nearly equal, one 4–5-nerved, the other many-nerved; the 2 upper hyaline, one empty, the upper awned from the tip. Stamens 3. Grain free.—Tall and stout reed-like perennials, with the spikes crowded in a panicle, and clothed with long silky hairs, especially in a tuft around the base of each spikelet (whence the name, from ἔριον, wool, and ἄνθος, flower).

1. E. saccharoìdes, Michx. (Pl. 14, fig. 1, 2.) Culm (4–6° high) woolly-bearded at the joints; panicle contracted; the silky hairs longer than the spikelets, shorter than the awn; stamens 2. (E. alopecuroides, Ell.)—Wet pine-barrens, from N. J. and Ill. southward; rare. Sept., Oct.

2. E. brevibárbis, Michx. Culm (2–5° high), somewhat bearded at the upper joints; panicle rather open; silky hairs shorter than the spikelets.—Low grounds, Va., and southward.

14. ANDROPÒGON, Royen. Beard-Grass. (Pl. 14.)

Spikelets in pairs upon each joint of the slender rhachis, spiked or racemed, one of them pedicelled and sterile (staminate, pistillate or neutral), often a mere vestige, the other sessile, 1-flowered and fertile; lower glume the larger, coriaceous and nerved, blunt, the second carinate and acute, the 2 upper hyaline, the flowering glume awned from the tip. Stamens 1–3. Grain free.—Coarse, mostly rigid perennials, mostly in sterile or sandy soil; with lateral or terminal spikes commonly clustered or digitate; the rhachis hairy or plumose-bearded, and often the sterile or staminate flowers also (whence the name, composed of ἀνήρ, man, and πώγων, beard).

[*] Spikes digitate, thickish, short-bearded, the sterile spikelet staminate; stamens 3.

1. A. furcàtus, Muhl. (Pl. 14, fig. 1–3.) Tall, 3–4° high, rigid, the naked summit of the culm (and usually some lateral branches) terminated by 2–5 rigid spikes; spikelets approximate, appressed; hairs at the base of the fertile spikelet, on the rhachis and on the stout pedicel of the awnless staminate spikelet short and rather sparse; awn of fertile flower long and bent; leaves flat, roughish, the lower ones long. ("A. provincialis, Lam.")—Common in dry sterile soil. Aug.–Oct.

[*][*] Spikes with slender often zigzag rhachis, silky-villous.

[+] Single and scattered along the branches, with the silky hairs shorter than the flowers; sterile spikelet conspicuous but mostly neutral; the fertile triandrous.

2. A. scopàrius, Michx. Culms slender (1–3° high), with numerous paniculate branches; lower sheaths and narrow leaves hairy; spikes slender, scattered, mostly peduncled (1–2´ long), very loose, often purplish, silky with lax dull-white hairs; sterile spikelet awn-pointed or awnless; the fertile about half the length of its twisted or bent awn.—Dry ground. July–Sept.

3. A. marítimus, Chapm. Smooth and glaucous; culms ascending from creeping rootstocks, 1–1½° high; leaves rather rigid, divaricate, their compressed sheaths imbricated; panicle short; peduncles included within the conspicuous bracts; rhachis and pedicels copiously ciliate with spreading hairs; glumes larger, 3–4´´ long.—Sandy sea-coast; Cape May, and south to Fla.

[+][+] In pairs or clustered; the copious soft-silky hairs much longer than the flowers; sterile spikelet a small neutral rudiment (in n. 4 and 5), or altogether wanting on the very plumose-hairy pedicel; fertile flower monandrous, its awn capillary; leaves narrow, the lower or their sheaths often rather hairy.

4. A. argénteus, Ell. Smooth; culms rather slender (1–3° high); spikes in pairs (rarely in fours) on short mostly exserted and loosely paniculate peduncles, densely flowered (1–2´ long), very silky with long bright white hairs. (A. argyræus, Schultes.)—Md. to Va., near the coast, and southward.

5. A. Ellióttii, Chapm. Closely resembling the last; sheaths and leaves villous; upper nodes of the branches densely bearded.—Md. to Fla. and Tex.

6. A. Virgínicus, L. Culm flattish below, slender (2–3° high) sparingly short-branched above, sheaths smooth; spikes 2 or 3 together in distant appressed clusters, shorter than their sheathing bracts, weak (1´ long), the spikelets loose on the filiform rhachis, the soft hairs dull white. (A. dissitiflorus, Michx. A. vaginàtus, Ell., a form with larger and inflated sheaths.)—Sandy soil, E. Mass. to Va., Ill., and southward. Sept., Oct.

7. A. macroùrus, Michx. Culm stout (2–3° high), bushy-branched at the summit, loaded with very numerous spikes forming thick leafy clusters; sheaths rough, the uppermost hairy; flowers nearly as in the preceding; the sterile spikelet of each pair wholly wanting, its pedicel slender and very plumose.—Low and sandy grounds, N. Y. to Va., near the coast, and southward.

8. A. laguroìdes, DC. Culms slender, tall, the elongated peduncle bearing numerous sessile spikes in a spike-like panicle 2–4´ long; spikes slender, 1´ long or more, very silky; spikelets glabrous, the sterile a narrow convolute empty glume.—Central Kan. to Tex. and Mex.

[+][+][+] Spikes digitate-clustered, very silky; sterile spikelet larger than the fertile one.

9. A. Hàllii, Hackel. Culm stout, 2–3° high; lateral peduncles few, scarcely exserted from the sheaths; spikes 2–5, 1–3´ long, dense; spikelets 3–4´´ long.—Central Kan. to Dak., and westward.

15. CHRYSOPÒGON, Trin. (Pl. 14.)

Spikelets in pairs on the ramifications of an open panicle (those at the ends of the branches in threes), the lateral ones pedicellate, sterile or often reduced merely to their pedicels; only the sessile middle or terminal one fertile, its glumes coriaceous or indurated, sometimes awnless; otherwise nearly as in Andropogon. Stamens 3. (Name composed of χρυσός, gold, and πώγων, beard.)

1. C. nùtans, Benth. (Indian Grass. Wood-Grass.) Root perennial; culm simple (3–5° high), terete; leaves linear-lanceolate, glaucous; sheaths smooth; panicle narrowly oblong, crowded or loose (6–12´ long); the perfect spikelets at length drooping (yellowish or russet-brown and shining), clothed especially toward the base with fawn-colored hairs, lanceolate, shorter than the twisted awn; sterile spikelets small and imperfect, deciduous, or reduced to a mere plumose-hairy pedicel. (Andropogon avenaceus, Michx. Sorghum nutans, Gray.)—Dry soil; common, especially southward.

16. PHÁLARIS, L. Canary-Grass. (Pl. 13.)

Spikelets crowded in a clustered or spiked panicle, 1-flowered. Glumes 5, the third and fourth reduced to mere rudiments (a scale or a pedicel), one on each side, at the base of the flowering glume and palet, which are flattish, awnless and shining, shorter than the equal boat-shaped and keeled persistent empty glumes, finally coriaceous or cartilaginous, and closely enclosing the flattened free and smooth grain. Stamens 3.—Leaves broad, mostly flat. (The ancient name, from φαλός, shining, alluding to the shining seed.)

§ 1. PHALARIS proper. Panicle very dense, spike-like; glumes wing-keeled.

P. Canariénsis, L. (Canary-Grass.) Annual, 1–2° high; spike oval; empty glumes white with green veins, the rudimentary ones small lanceolate scales.—Waste places and roadsides; rare. (Adv. from Eu.)

§ 2. DÍGRAPHIS. Panicle branched, the clusters open in anthesis; glumes not winged on the back.

1. P. arundinàcea, L. (Reed C.) (Pl. 13, fig. 1, 2.) Perennial, 2–4° high; leaves flat (3–5´´ wide); glumes open at flowering, 3-nerved, thrice the length of the fertile flower; rudimentary glumes reduced to a minute hairy scale or pedicel.—Wet grounds; common, especially northward. June, July.—Var. pícta, the leaves striped with white, is the familiar Ribbon-Grass of the gardens. (Eu.)

17. ANTHOXÁNTHUM, L. Sweet Vernal-Grass. (Pl. 13.)

Spikelets spiked-panicled, 1-flowered. Glumes 5, the third and fourth empty, hairy, 2-lobed and awned on the hack, the flowering glume and palet small, hyaline and obtuse; basal glumes persistent, very thin, acute, keeled, the lower half as long as the upper. Squamulæ none. Stamens 2. Grain ovate, adherent. (Name compounded of ἄνθος, flower, and ἄνθων, of flowers. L.)

A. odoràtum, L. Spikelets (brownish or tinged with green) spreading at flowering-time; one middle glume bearing a bent awn from near its base, the other short-awned below the tip.—Meadows, pastures, etc. Low slender perennial; very sweet-scented in drying. May–July. (Nat. from Eu.)

18. HIERÓCHLOE, Gmelin. Holy Grass. (Pl. 13.)

Spikelets 3-flowered, open-panicled, the two lower (lateral) flowers staminate only, 3-androus, sessile, the carinate glumes often awned on the middle of the back or near the tip, the uppermost flower perfect, short-pedicelled, scarcely as long as the others, 2-androus, awnless. Basal glumes persistent, carinate, acute, somewhat 3-nerved, equalling or exceeding the spikelet.—Perennials; leaves flat. (Name composed of ἱερός, sacred, and χλόη, grass; these sweet-scented grasses being strewn before the church-doors on saints' days, in the North of Europe.)

1. H. boreàlis, Roem. & Schultes. (Vanilla or Seneca Grass.) (Pl. 13, fig. 1, 2.) Panicle somewhat one-sided, pyramidal (2–5´ long); peduncles smooth; staminate flowers with the glume mucronate or bristle-pointed at or near the tip; rootstock creeping.—Moist meadows, chiefly northward near the coast and along the Great Lakes. May.—Culm 1–2° high, with short, lanceolate leaves. Spikelets chestnut-color; the staminate flowers strongly hairy-fringed on the margins, and the fertile one at the tip. (Eu.)

2. H. alpìna, Roem. & Schultes. Panicle contracted (1–2´ long); one of the staminate flowers with its glume barely pointed or short-awned near the tip, the other long-awned from below the middle; lowest leaves very narrow.—Alpine mountain-tops, N. Eng., N. Y., and northward. July. (Eu.)

19. ARÍSTIDA, L. Triple-awned Grass. (Pl. 8.)

Spikelets 1-flowered, not jointed on the pedicels. Outer glumes unequal, often bristle-pointed; the flowering glume tipped with three awns; the palet much smaller. Otherwise much as in Stipa.—Culms branching; leaves narrow, often involute. Spikelets in simple or panicled racemes or spikes. Grain linear. All grow in sterile, dry soil, and all ours have the awns naked and persistent, and flower late. (Name from arista, a beard or awn.)

[*] Awns separate to the base, not jointed with the glume.

[+] Awns very unequal; the much shorter or minute lateral ones erect, the elongated middle one horizontal or turned downward; low (5–18´ high) and branching, mostly tufted annuals, and the spikelets in nearly simple spikes.

[++] Middle awn more or less coiled.

1. A. ramosíssima, Engelm. Culms much branched; spikes loose, usually exserted; lower glumes 6–10´´ long, exceeding the upper, usually rather strongly 3–5-nerved; middle awn 1´ long, soon abruptly hooked-recurved, the lateral ones 1–3´´ long.—Dry prairies of Ill., Ky., and Mo.—Also var. uniaristàta, Engelm., with the lateral awns wanting.

2. A. basiràmea, Engelm. Spikes closer, mostly enclosed at base, at all the lower nodes (even to the base of the culm) very short and sessile; lower glumes 4–8´´ long, mostly thin and 1-nerved or rather faintly 3-nerved; middle awn very slender, 6´´ long, the lateral 2´´ long.—Ill. to Neb. and Minn.

3. A. dichótoma, Michx. (Poverty Grass.) Culms low, very slender, much branched throughout, ascending; spikelets in narrow strict simple or compound spikes; lower glumes nearly equal (3–4´´ long), longer than the flowering glume and fully equalling its minute lateral awns (or unequal and shorter, in var. Curtíssii, Gray), the soon reflexed middle awn about as long.—Dry, sandy or gravelly fields; common, Maine to Ill., and southward.

[++][++] Middle awn nearly straight (not coiled).

4. A. grácilis, Ell. Culms slender, erect (6–18´ high), naked above and terminating in a slender raceme- or spike-like virgate panicle; lower glumes 1-nerved, about the length of the upper, the exserted lateral awns varying from one third to fully half the length of the horizontally bent middle one: or in var. depauperàta, from one fifth to one third its length.—Sandy soil, coast of Mass., and from Ill. southward.—Middle awn 3–9´´ long in the ordinary forms, but not rarely shorter, and very variable often on the same plant.

[+][+] Awns all diverging and alike, or the lateral ones moderately shorter, rarely at all coiled.

[++] Glumes equal or the middle one longer.

5. A. strícta, Michx. Culms (2–3° high) densely tufted from a perennial root, bearing a (1°) long spiked panicle; leaves involute-thread-form, long, rigid, sometimes downy; awns about the length of the glumes (6´´) or the lateral one third shorter.—Va. and southward.

6. A. oligántha, Michx. Culms (6–20´ high) tufted from an annual root, bearing a loosely few-flowered raceme; leaves short, somewhat involute when dry; lower glume 3–5-nerved (nearly 1´ long); awns capillary, 1½–3´ long, much exceeding the slender spikelet.—Va. to Ill., and common southwestward.

7. A. purpùrea, Nutt. Perennial; culms (1° high or less) densely tufted, spreading; leaves revolute and filiform, short; panicle loose, of rather few slender-pedicellate spikelets; lower glumes thin, 1-nerved, loose, the outer about half the length of the inner, which is 8–10´´ long; awns 2–4´´ long.—Minn. and Dak. to Tex.—Very variable.

[++][++] Middle glume shorter than the lower; perennials, simple-stemmed, 2–4° high.

8. A. purpuráscens, Poir. (Pl. 8.) Glabrous; leaves long, rather involute; spikelets in a (10–18´) long spiked panicle; lower glumes 1-nerved; awns much longer than the spikelet, the middle one about 1´ long.—Mass. to Mich., Minn., and southward; common.

9. A. lanàta, Poir. Tall and stout; leaves tardily involute, rough above, rigid; sheaths woolly; panicle (1–2° long) spike-like or more compound and open; glumes 1-nerved, 6–8´´ long; middle awn 1´ long.—Del. to Fla.

[*][*] Awns united below into one, jointed with the apex of the glume; root annual.

10. A. tuberculòsa, Nutt. Culm branched below (6–18´ high), tumid at the joints; panicles rigid, loose, the branches in pairs, one of them short and about 2-flowered, the other elongated and several-flowered; lower glumes (1´ long, including their slender-awned tips) longer than the upper, which is tipped with the common stalk (about its own length) of the 3 equal divergently-bent awns (1½–2´ long) twisting together at the base.—Sandy soil, E. Mass. to N. J.; also Wisc., Minn., and southward.

20. STÌPA, L. Feather-Grass. (Pl. 8.)

Spikelets 1-flowered, terete; the flower falling away at maturity (with the conspicuous obconical bearded and often sharp-pointed callus) from the membranaceous persistent lower glumes. Fertile glumes coriaceous, cylindrical-involute and closely embracing the smaller palet and the cylindrical grain, having a long and twisted or tortuous simple awn jointed with its apex. Stamens mostly 3. Stigmas plumose.—Perennials, with narrow involute leaves and a loose panicle. (Name from στύπη, tow, in allusion to the flaxen appearance of the feathery awns of the original species. In our species the awn is naked.)

[*] Callus or base of the flower short and blunt; lower glumes pointless.

1. S. Richardsònii, Link. Culm (1½–2° high) and leaves slender; panicle loose (4–5´ long), with slender few-flowered branches; lower glumes nearly equal, oblong, acutish (2½–4´´ long), about equalling the pubescent linear-oblong fertile one, which bears a tortuous awn 6–9´´ long.—Pleasant Mountain, near Sebago Lake, Maine, Mt. Marcy, N. Y., north shore of L. Superior, Mont., and northward.

[*][*] Callus pungently pointed, at maturity villous-bearded; flowering glume slender and minutely bearded at the tip; empty glumes taper-pointed.

2. S. avenàcea, L. (Black Oat-Grass.) (Pl. 8.) Culm slender (1–2° high); leaves almost bristle-form; panicle open; fertile glume blackish, nearly as long as the lower ones (about 4´´ long); the awn bent above, twisted below (2–3´ long).—Dry woods, S. New Eng. to Wisc., and southward.

3. S. spàrtea, Trin. (Porcupine Grass.) Culm rather stout (1½–3° high); panicle contracted; fertile glume linear, ¾–1´ long (including the long callus), pubescent below, shorter than the lanceolate slender subulate pointed greenish lower glumes; the twisted strong awn (3½–7´ long), pubescent below, rough above.—Plains and prairies, from Ill. and N. Mich. northwestward.

4. S. virídula, Trin. Culms clustered, 1–3° high or more; panicle narrow and usually dense, 6–18´ long; glumes very thin, 3–4´´ long; fertile glume usually somewhat silky, with a short callus; awn 1´ long, slender, glabrous or a little pubescent below.—W. Minn., Dak., and southwestward.

21. ORYZÓPSIS, Michx. Mountain Rice. (Pl. 8.)

Spikelets 1-flowered, nearly terete. Lower glumes herbaceous or thin-membranaceous, several-nerved, nearly equal, commonly rather longer than the oblong flower, which is deciduous at maturity, and with a very short obtuse callus or scar-like base. Flowering glume coriaceous, at length involute so as closely to enclose the equal palet and the oblong grain; a simple untwisted and deciduous awn jointed on its apex. Stamens 3. Squamulæ 2 or 3, conspicuous. Stigmas plumose.—Perennials, with rigid leaves and a narrow raceme or panicle. Spikelets greenish, rather large. (Name composed of ὄρυζα, rice, and ὄψις, likeness, from a fancied resemblance to that grain.)

[*] Styles distinct, short; culm leafy to the summit; leaves broad and flat.

1. O. melanocárpa, Muhl. Leaves lanceolate, taper-pointed; sheaths bearded in the throat; panicle simple or sparingly branched; awn thrice the length of the blackish glume (nearly 1´ long).—Rocky woods, N. Eng. to Penn., Minn., Mo., and westward. Aug.—Culm 2–3° high.

[*][*] Styles united below, slender; culms tufted, naked; leaves concave or involute.

2. O. asperifòlia, Michx. (Pl. 8, fig. 1, 2.) Culms (9–18´ high), with sheaths bearing a mere rudimentary blade, overtopped by the long and rigid linear leaf from the base; very simple panicle or raceme few-flowered; awn 2–3 times the length of the rather hairy whitish glume.—Hillsides, etc., in rich woods; common, N. Eng. to Minn., and northward. May.—Leaves without keels, rough-edged, pale beneath, lasting through the winter. Squamulæ lanceolate, almost as long as the palet!

3. O. Canadénsis, Torr. Culms slender (6–15´ high), the lowest sheaths leaf-bearing; leaves involute-thread-shaped; panicle contracted (1–2´ long), the branches usually in pairs; glume pubescent, whitish; awn short and very deciduous, or wanting.—Rocky hills and dry plains, Maine to W. New Eng., the mountains of Penn., Wisc., Minn., and northward; rare. May.—Glumes 1–2´´ long, sometimes purplish.

22. MÍLIUM, Tourn. Millet-Grass. (Pl. 13.)

Spikelets 1-flowered, diffusely panicled, not jointed with their pedicels, consisting of 2 equal membranaceous convex and awnless persistent glumes, with a coriaceous awnless flowering glume and narrow palet. Stamens 3. Stigmas branched-plumose. Grain not grooved, enclosed in its glume and palet, all deciduous together. (The ancient Latin name of the Millet, which however belongs to a different genus, of uncertain meaning.)

1. M. effùsum, L. Smooth perennial, 3–6° high; leaves broad and flat, thin; panicle spreading (6–9´ long); flower ovoid-oblong.—Cold damp woods and mountain meadows, N. Eng. to Ill., and northward. June. (Eu.)

23. MUHLENBÉRGIA, Schreber. Drop-seed G. (Pl. 8.)

Spikelets 1-flowered, in contracted or rarely in open panicles. Empty glumes mostly acute or bristle-pointed, persistent, usually thin; the lower rather smaller or minute. Flower very short-stalked or sessile, the glume and palet usually minutely bearded at base, herbaceous, deciduous with the enclosed grain, often equal, the glume 3-nerved, mucronate or awned at the apex. Stamens 3. (Dedicated to the Rev. Dr. Henry Muhlenberg, a distinguished American botanist of the early part of this century.)

§ 1. MUHLENBERGIA proper. Panicles contracted or glomerate, on branching rigid culms from scaly creeping rootstocks; leaves short and narrow.

[*] Flowering glume barely mucronate or sharp-pointed.

1. M. sobolífera, Trin. Culms ascending (1–2° high), rarely branching; the simple contracted panicle very slender or filiform; lower glumes barely pointed, almost equal, one third shorter than the flower; flowering glume abruptly short-mucronate, equalling the palet.—Open rocky woods, Mass. to Mich., Minn., and southward. Aug.—Spikelets less than 1´´ long.

2. M. glomeràta, Trin. Culms upright (1–3° high), sparingly branched or simple; panicle (2–3´ long) oblong-linear, contracted into an interrupted glomerate spike, long-peduncled, the branches sessile; glumes awned, nearly equal, and (with the bristle-like awn) about twice the length of the unequal very acute flowering glume and palet.—Bogs and wet rocks, common, especially northward. Aug.—Var. ramòsa, Vasey. A stout strict much-branched leafy form, the lower glumes but little longer than the flower. Ill. to Dak.

3. M. Mexicàna, Trin. Culms ascending, much branched (2–3° high); panicles lateral and terminal, often included at the base, contracted, the branches densely spiked-clustered, linear (green and purplish); lower glumes awnless, sharp-pointed, unequal, the upper about the length of the very acute flowering one.—Low grounds; common. Aug. Varies with more slender panicles.

[*][*] Flowering glume bristle-awned from the tip; flowers short-pedicelled.

[+] Lower glumes long and bristle-pointed.

4. M. sylvática, Torr. & Gray. (Pl. 8, fig. 1, 2.) Culms ascending, much branched and diffusely spreading (2–4° long); contracted panicles densely many-flowered; lower glumes almost equal, bristle-pointed, nearly as long as the flowering one, which bears an awn twice or thrice the length of the spikelet.—Low or rocky woods; common. Aug., Sept.

5. M. ambígua, Torr. Culms ascending, clustered and branching, 1° high; panicles contracted, densely many-flowered; spikelet 2-flowered, the upper flower like the lower and perfect, or more frequently reduced to a mere awn at the base of the lower flower; lower glumes nearly equal, long-pointed; flowering glume villous, as long as the lower and equalling the palet, its awn nearly twice longer.—Minn. (shore of Elysian Lake, Waseca Co., Geyer).—A remarkable species, approaching Brachyelytrum in the structure of the spikelet, but with wholly the habit of Muhlenbergia.

[+][+] Lower glumes short or minute, not or scarcely pointed.

6. M. Willdenòvii, Trin. Culms upright (3° high), slender, simple or sparingly branched; contracted panicle slender, loosely flowered; lower glumes slightly unequal, short-pointed, half the length of the flowering one, which bears an awn 3–4 times the length of the spikelet.—Rocky woods; rather common. Aug.

7. M. diffùsa, Schreber. (Drop-seed. Nimble Will.) (Pl. 8, fig. 3–5.) Culms diffusely much branched (8–18´ high); contracted panicles slender, rather loosely many-flowered, terminal and lateral; empty glumes extremely minute, the lower obsolete, the upper truncate; awn once or twice longer than the flowering glume.—Dry hills and woods, from S. New Eng. to Mich., Iowa, and southward. Aug., Sept.—Spikelets only 1´´ long.

§ 2. TRICHÓCHLOA. Panicle very loose and open, the long branches and pedicels capillary; leaves narrow, often convolute-bristle-form.

8. M. capillàris, Kunth. (Hair-Grass.) Culm simple, upright (2° high) from a fibrous root; panicle capillary, expanding (6–20´ long, purple); empty glumes unequal, the lower mostly pointless, the upper more or less bristle-pointed, one third or half the length of the long-awned flowering glume.—Sandy soil, W. New Eng. to N. J., Ky., Mo., and southward. Sept.—Pedicels 1–2´ long, scarcely thicker than the awns, which are about 1´ long.

24. BRACHYÉLYTRUM, Beauv. (Pl. 8.)

Spikelets 1-flowered, with a conspicuous filiform pedicel of an abortive second flower about half its length, nearly terete, few, in a simple appressed racemed panicle. Lower glumes unequal, persistent, usually minute, or the lower one almost obsolete. Flowering glume and palet chartaceo-herbaceous, involute, enclosing the linear-oblong grain, somewhat equal, rough with scattered short bristles, the first 5-nerved, extended into a long straight awn, the palet 2-pointed; the awn-like sterile pedicel partly lodged in the groove on its back. Stamens 2; anthers and stigmas very long.—Perennial, with simple culms (1–3° high) from creeping rootstocks, downy sheaths, broad and flat lanceolate pointed leaves, and spikelets ½´ long without the awn. (Name composed of βραχύς, short, and ἔλυτρον, husk, from the minute glumes.)

1. B. aristàtum, Beauv. Rocky woods; common. June.—Var. Engelmánni, Gray, is a western form, with the second glume awn-pointed, nearly half the length of the flowering one.

25. HELEÓCHLOA, Host. (Pl. 7.)

Spikelets 1-flowered, crowded in a dense spike or spike-like panicle. Lower glumes persistent, membranaceous, acute, ciliate-carinate, awnless; flowering glume similar, a little longer, and a little exceeding the palet. Stamens 3.—Low cespitose annuals; spike often scarcely exserted from the upper sheath. (Name from ἕλος, a meadow, and χλόα, grass.)

H. schœnoìdes, Host. Usually nearly prostrate and tufted; leaves rather rigid, tapering to a sharp point; spike oblong, thick, 7–20´´ long. (Crypsis schœnoides, Lam.)—Waste places, N. J. to Del. (Nat. from Eu.)

26. PHLÈUM, L. Cat's-tail Grass. (Pl. 7.)

Spikelets 1-flowered, in a very dense cylindrical spike-like panicle. Lower glumes persistent, membranaceous, folded-carinate, subtruncate, mucronate or short-awned; flowering glume hyaline, shorter, truncate. Stamens 3. Styles distinct.—Perennials. (From φλέως, a Greek name for a kind of reed.)

P. praténse, L. (Timothy. Herd's-Grass in New Eng. and N. Y.) Tall; spike long-cylindrical; lower glumes ciliate on the back, tipped with a short bristle.—Meadows, commonly cultivated for hay. (Nat. from Eu.)

1. P. alpìnum, L. Low; spike ovate-oblong; lower glumes strongly ciliate on the back, tipped with a rough awn about their own length.—Alpine tops of the White Mountains, N. H., and high northward. (Eu.)

27. ALOPECÙRUS, L. Foxtail Grass. (Pl. 7.)

Spikelets 1-flowered, jointed on the pedicel. Lower glumes boat-shaped, strongly compressed and keeled, nearly equal, united at base, equalling or exceeding the flowering glume, which is awned on the back below the middle; palet mostly wanting! Stamens 3. Styles mostly united. Stigmas long and feathered.—Clusters contracted into a cylindrical and soft dense spike; perennial. (Name from ἀλώπηξ, fox, and οὐρά, tail, from the shape of the spike.)

A. praténsis, L. (Meadow Foxtail.) Culm upright, smooth (2° high); the upper leaf much shorter than its inflated sheath; spike stout, 1½–2½´ long; flowering glume equalling the acute lower glumes; awn exserted more than half its length, twisted.—Meadows and pastures, eastward. May. (Nat. from Eu.)

A. geniculàtus, L. (Floating F.) (Pl. 7, fig. 1–4.) Culm ascending, often bent at the lower joints; upper leaf as long as its sheath; spike slender, 1–2´ long; flowering glume rather shorter than the obtuse lower glumes, the awn from near its base and projecting front half to twice its length beyond it.—Moist meadows, eastward. June–Aug. (Nat. from Eu.)

Var. aristulàtus, Torr. The awn very slender and scarcely exserted. (A. aristulatus, Michx.)—In water and wet places; common. June–Aug.

28. SPORÓBOLUS, R. Br. Drop-seed Grass. Rush-Grass. (Pl. 7.)

Spikelets small, 1- (rarely 2-) flowered, in an open or contracted or spiked panicle. Lower glumes persistent, 1–3-nerved, not awned or pointed, the lower smaller; flowering glume of the same texture as the lower ones (membranaceo-chartaceous) and usually longer than they, naked, awnless and mostly pointless, 1-nerved (rarely somewhat 3-nerved); palet similar, 2-nerved. Stamens chiefly 3. Stigmas simply feathery. Grain globular to oblong or cylindrical, deciduous, often very thin, containing the loose seed.—Culms wiry or rigid. Leaves involute, the throat usually bearded, and sheaths often enclosing the panicles. (Name from σπορά, seed, and βάλλω, to cast forth.)

[*] Panicle contracted, often simple; grain oval or oblong; perennial, except n. 2.

1. S. ásper, Kunth. Culms tufted (2–4° high); lowest leaves very long, rigid, rough on the edges, tapering to a long involute and thread-like point, the upper short, involute; sheaths partly or at first wholly enclosing the contracted panicle; flower much longer than the unequal lower glumes; grain oval or oblong. (Vilfa aspera, Beauv.)—Sandy fields and dry hills, especially southward. Sept.—Spikelets 2–3´´ long. Flowering glume and palet rough above, smooth or hairy below, the palet tapering upward, acute, and one half to twice longer than the glume, or else obtuse and equalled or even considerably exceeded by the glume!

2. S. vaginæflòrus, Vasey. (Pl. 7, fig. 4, 5.) Culms slender (6–12´ high), ascending; leaves involute-awl-shaped (1–4´ long); panicles simple and spiked, the lateral and often the terminal concealed in the sheaths; flowering glume and palet somewhat equal, acute, about the length of the nearly equal lower glumes, only {1/3} longer than the oval grain. (Vilfa vaginæflora, Torr.)—Barren and sandy dry fields; common, especially southward. Sept.

3. S. cuspidàtus, Torr. Erect culms and appressed leaves more slender than in the preceding; panicle exserted, very simple and narrow; spikelets smaller, the lower glumes acuminate, little shorter than the cuspidate upper one. (Vilfa cuspidata, Torr.)—Maine (on the St. John's River, G. L. Goodale); also Iowa, Minn., and common westward.

4. S. depauperàtus, Vasey. Resembling n. 3, but the culms decumbent at base and matted, the leaves short and usually widely spreading, and the lower glumes barely acute, not half the length of the upper one.—W. Minn. to Kan., and southwestward.

5. S. Virgínicus, Kunth. Culms tufted, slender (5–12´ long), often procumbent, branched; leaves convolute, rigid; palets rather shorter than the nearly equal acute glumes. (Vilfa Virginica, Beauv.)—Sandy seashore, Virginia (Clayton) and southward.—Spikelets much smaller and more numerous than in the others.

6. S. mìnor, Vasey. Culms tufted, very slender, geniculate and ascending, simple, 1° high; leaves short and narrow; peduncles little exserted from the sheaths; spikelets (1½–2´´ long) in a very narrow simple compressed panicle (1–2´ long), not crowded; glumes and palet nearly equal, acute or somewhat acuminate.—Va. to N. C., Tenn. and Tex.

S. Índicus, R. Br. Culms stout, erect, 2–3° high; leaves elongated, attenuate; panicle very narrow, 6–18´ long, the densely crowded spikelets ½´´ long.—On ballast, and naturalized southward. (From Trop. Am.)

[*][*] Panicle pyramidal, open; glumes very unequal; grain globose, utricular; perennials.

7. S. júnceus, Kunth. Leaves involute, narrow, rigid, the lowest elongated; culm (1–2° high) naked above, bearing a narrow loose panicle; empty glumes ovate, rather obtuse, the lower one half as long as, the upper equalling, the nearly equal flowering glume and palet.—Dry soil, Penn. to Wisc. and Minn., and (chiefly) south to Fla. Aug.—Spikelets 1–2´´ long, shining.

8. S. heterólepis, Gray. Leaves involute-thread-form, rigid, the lowest as long as the culm (1–2°) which is naked above; panicle very loose; empty glumes very unequal; the lower awl-shaped (or bristle-pointed from a broad base) and somewhat shorter, the upper ovate-oblong and taper-pointed and longer, than the equal flowering glume and palet.—Dry soil, Conn. and N. Y. to Minn., Neb., and Mo. Aug.—Plant exhaling an unpleasant scent (Sullivant), stouter than the last, the spikelets thrice larger. Utricle 1´´ in diameter, shining, thick and coriaceous!

9. S. cryptándrus, Gray. (Pl. 7, fig. 1–3.) Culm 2–3° high; leaves flat, pale (2´´ wide); the pyramidal lead-colored panicle bursting from the upper sheath which usually encloses its base, its spreading branches hairy in the axils; spikelets 1´´ long; upper empty glume lanceolate, rather acute, twice the length of the lower one, as long as the nearly equal flowering glume and palet; sheaths strongly bearded at the throat.—Sandy shores, coast of New Eng. and of the Great Lakes, Minn. to Kan., and westward. Aug., Sept.

10. S. airoìdes, Torr. Culm tufted, often stout, erect, ½–3° high; leaves strongly revolute and attenuate, rather rigid; panicle open and diffuse, broadly pyramidal, glabrous; spikelets solitary on slender pedicels, 1´´ long; lower glumes unequal, rather obtuse.—Neb. to Tex., and westward.

S. asperifòlus, Thurb., a similar but smaller species, with thinner and shorter leaves very rough on the margin, the inflorescence scabrous, and spikelets smaller, with the glumes nearly equal, is very common westward, and probably occurs within our limits—as also S. confùsus, Vasey (S. ramulosus of authors, not Kunth), a low slender annual, with very short culms and a delicate diffuse panicle, the very small spikelets (½´´ long) on filiform-clavate pedicels.

[*][*][*] Empty glumes almost equal; panicle racemose-elongated, open, the pedicels capillary; sheaths naked at the throat; spikelets not unfrequently two-flowered; perennial.

11. S. compréssus, Kunth. Very smooth, leafy to the top; culms tufted, stout, very flat; sheaths flattened, much longer than the internodes; leaves erect, narrow, conduplicate-channelled; empty glumes acutish, about one third shorter than the obtuse flowering one.—Bogs, on Long Island and in the pine-barrens of N. J. Sept.—Forming strong tussocks, 1–2° high. Panicle 8–12´ long; spikelets 1´´ long, purplish.

12. S. serótinus, Gray. Smooth; culms very slender, flattish (8–15´ high), few-leaved; leaves very slender, channelled; panicle soon much exserted, the diffuse capillary branches scattered; glumes ovate, obtuse, about half the length of the flower.—Sandy wet places, Maine to N. J. and Mich. Sept.— A very delicate grass; the spikelets half a line long.

29. AGRÓSTIS, L. Bent-Grass. (Pl. 7.)

Spikelets 1-flowered, in an open panicle. Empty glumes somewhat equal, or the lower rather longer, usually longer than the flowering one, pointless. Flowering glume and palet very thin, pointless, naked; the first 3–5-nerved, frequently awned on the back; the palet often minute or none. Stamens chiefly 3. Grain (caryopsis) free.—Culms usually tufted, slender; root commonly perennial. (Name from ἀγρός, a field, the place of growth.)

§ 1. AGROSTIS proper. Palet manifest, but shorter than the glume.

A. álba, L. (Fiorin or White Bent-Grass.) Rootstocks creeping or stoloniferous; culms 1–2° high, often decumbent at base; leaves short, flat, the ligule long and acute; panicle contracted after flowering, greenish, purplish or brownish, the branches slightly rough; flowering glume nearly equalling the empty ones, 3-nerved, rarely short-awned, the palet about half as long.—Meadows and fields, a valuable grass; naturalized from Eu. and cultivated, and perhaps native north and westward.

Var. vulgàris, Thurb. (Red Top. Herd's-Grass of Penn., etc.) (Pl. 7, fig. 1, 2.) Panicle more or less spreading after flowering; ligule short and truncate. (A. vulgaris, With.)—Low meadows and pastures; nat. from Eu. and cultivated, also perhaps indigenous.

1. A. arachnoìdes, Ell. Culms (1° high) and leaves very slender; panicle open, weak and drooping; glumes nearly equal, roughish on the keel and margins, the flowering glume shorter, with 2 minute bristles at the truncate apex and a long exceedingly delicate awn on the back above the middle; palet minute.—Mo. to Ky., Tenn., and S. Car.

2. A. exaràta, Trin. Culms erect, 1–2° high; leaves mostly erect; panicle narrow, crowded, greenish, the rays mostly flower-bearing to the base; spikelets 1½–2´´ long; glumes nearly equal, acute, the flowering ones shorter, sometimes awned above the middle.—Wisc. (Vasey) to Sask., and far westward.

§ 2. TRICHÒDIUM. Palet abortive, minute, or none.

3. A. elàta, Trin. Culms firm or stout (2–3° high); leaves flat (1–2´´ wide); upper ligules elongated (2–3´´ long); spikelets crowded on the branches of the spreading panicle above the middle (1½´´ long); flowering glume awnless, slightly shorter than the rather unequal lower ones; the palet wanting.—Swamps, N. J. and southward. Oct.

4. A. perénnans, Tuckerm. (Thin-Grass.) Culms slender, erect from a decumbent base (1–2° high); leaves flat (the upper 4–6´ long, 1–2´´ wide); panicle at length diffusely spreading, pale green; the branches short, divided and flower-bearing from or below the middle; flowering glume awnless (rarely short-awned), shorter than the unequal lower ones; the palet minute or obsolete.—Damp shaded places. July, Aug.—Spikelets, etc., as in n. 5, into which it seems to vary.

5. A. scàbra, Willd. (Hair-Grass.) (Pl. 7, fig. 3.) Culms very slender, erect (1–2° high); leaves short and narrow, the lower soon involute (the upper 1–3´ long, less than 1´´ wide); panicle very loose and divergent, purplish, the long capillary branches flower-bearing at and near the apex; flowering glume awnless or occasionally short-awned on the back, shorter than the rather unequal very acute empty ones; the palet minute or obsolete; root biennial?—Exsiccated places; common. June–Aug.—Remarkable for the long and divergent capillary branches of the extremely loose panicle; these are whorled, rough with very minute bristles (under a lens), as also the keel of the glumes. Spikelets 1´´ long. A dwarf mountain form occurs, growing in tufts in hollows of rocks, etc.—A variety (?) from about the White Mountains, etc. (var. montana, Tuckerm.), has a more or less exserted awn.

6. A. canìna, L. (Brown Bent-Grass.) Culms 8´–2° high; root-leaves involute-bristle-form, those of the culm flat and broader; panicle loose; lower glumes slightly unequal, ovate-lanceolate, very acute, the flowering one exsertly awned on the back at or below the middle; spikelets brownish or purplish, rarely pale or greenish (1–1½´´ long).—Meadows, sparingly naturalized eastward. A mountain form with shorter and more spreading panicle (A. Pickeríngii & A. concinna, Tuckerm., A. canina, var. alpina, Oakes, & Ed. 2, and essentially A. rubra, L. ex Wahl., and A. borealis, Hartm.) is indigenous on mountain-tops, Maine to N. Y.; also an ampler form in the Alleghanies of Penn. and southward (A. rupéstris, Chapman, etc.). July–Aug. (Eu.)

30. POLYPÒGON, Desf. Beard-Grass. (Pl. 8.)

Spikelets 1-flowered, in a contracted, mostly spike-like panicle. Empty glumes nearly equal, long-awned, much longer than the membranaceous flowering one which is commonly short-awned below the apex. Stamens 3. Grain free. (Name composed of πολύ, much, and πωγών, beard.)

P. Monspeliénsis, Desf. Panicle interrupted; lower glumes oblong, the awn from a notch at the summit, the flowering one also awned; root annual.—Isles of Shoals (Robbins), ballast heaps, and southward. (Nat. from Eu.)

31. CÍNNA, L. Wood Reed-Grass. (Pl. 8.)

Spikelets 1-flowered, much flattened, crowded in an open flaccid panicle. Empty glumes persistent, lanceolate, acute, strongly keeled, rough-serrulate on the keel; the lower rather smaller, the upper a little exceeding the flower, which is manifestly stalked, smooth and naked; flowering glume much like the lower, longer than the palet, usually short awned or mucronate on the back below the pointless apex. Stamen one, opposite the 1-nerved palet! Grain linear-oblong, free.—A perennial, rather sweet-scented grass, with simple and upright somewhat reed-like culms (2–7° high), bearing an ample compound terminal panicle, its branches in fours or fives; the broadly linear-lanceolate flat leaves (4–6´´ wide) with conspicuous ligules. Spikelets green, often purplish-tinged. (From κίννα, a name in Dioscorides for a kind of grass.)

1. C. arundinàcea, L. (Pl. 8, fig. 1, 2.) Panicle 6–15´ long, rather dense, the branches and pedicels spreading in flower, afterward erect; spikelets 2½–3´´ long.; awn of the glume either obsolete or manifest.—Moist woods and shaded swamps; rather common. July, Aug.

2. C. péndula, Trin. Panicle loose and more slender, the branches nearly capillary and drooping in flower; pedicels very rough; glumes thinner, the lower less unequal; spikelets 1½–2´´ long; palet obtuse. (C. arundinacea, var. pendula, Gray.)—Deep damp woods, N. New Eng. to Lake Superior and northward, and on mountains southward. (Eu.)

32. APÈRA, Adans.

With the characters of Agrostis; distinguished by the presence of a second rudimentary flower in the form of a short bristle, and by the 2-toothed palet little shorter than the flowering bifid glume, which is dorsally awned.—A rather late annual, with narrow flat leaves, and a contracted or spreading panicle with numerous filiform branches and very numerous small shining spikelets. (Name from ἄπηρος, unmaimed; application obscure.)

A. spìca-vénti, Beauv. Spikelets ½–1´´ long.—Sparingly naturalized. (Nat. from Eu.)

33. CALAMAGRÓSTIS, Adans. Reed Bent-G. (Pl. 8.)

Spikelets 1-flowered, and (in our species) often with a pedicel or rudiment of a second abortive flower (rarely 2-flowered), in an open or spiked panicle. Lower glumes mostly membranaceous, keeled or boat-shaped, often acute, commonly nearly equal, and exceeding the flower, which bears at the base copious white bristly hairs; flowering glume thin, bearing a slender awn on the back or below the tip, or sometimes awnless; the palet mostly shorter. Stamens 3. Grain free.—Perennials, with running rootstocks, and mostly tall and simple rigid culms. (Name compounded of κάλαμος, a reed, and ἀγρόστις, a grass.)

§ 1. DEYEÙXIA. Rudiment of a second flower present in the form of a plumose or hairy small pedicel behind the palet (very rarely more developed and having a glume or even stamens); glumes membranaceous, or the flowering one thin and delicate, the latter 3–5-nerved and awn-bearing.

[*] Panicle loose and open, even after flowering; the mostly purple-tinged or lead-colored strigose-scabrous glumes not closing in fruit; copious hairs of the rhachis about equalling the flowering glume, not surpassed by those of the rudiment; awn delicate, straight.

1. C. Canadénsis, Beauv. (Blue-Joint Grass.) (Pl. 8, fig. 1, 2.) Culm tall (3–5° high); leaves flat when fresh, glaucous; panicle oblong; glumes ovate-lanceolate, acute, 1¼–1½´´ long; awn from near the middle of the upper glume, not exceeding and scarcely stouter than the basal hairs. (Deyeuxia Canadensis, Hook. f.)—Wet grounds; common northward. July.

2. C. Langsdórffii, Trin. Spikelets larger, 2½–3´´ long; glumes lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate and gradually taper-pointed; awn stouter; otherwise like the preceding, (Deyeuxia Langsdorffii, Kunth.)—Mountains of N. New Eng., L. Superior, and northward. (Eu.)

[*][*] Panicle strict, its short branches appressed or erect after flowering, and the glumes mostly closed; flowering glume less delicate, roughish, sometimes of as firm texture as the lower; awn stouter.

[+] Leaves narrow, inclined to be involute; awn straight.

3. C. strícta, Trin. Panicle glomerate and lobed, strict, 2–4´ long; glumes 1½–2´´ long, ovate-oblong, not acuminate; hairs scarcely or little shorter than the flower, and as long as those of the rudiment; awn from the middle of the thin flowering glume or lower, and barely exceeding it. (Deyeuxia neglecta, Kunth?)—Mountains of N. New Eng., Lake Superior, and north and westward. (Eu.)

4. C. Lappónica, Trin. Culm and rootstocks stouter than in C. stricta; the narrow panicle less dense, and purplish spikelets larger; glumes fully 2´´ long, tapering to a point; awn from much below the middle of the glume, stout. (Deyeuxia Lapponica, Kunth.)—Isle Royale, Lake Superior, to Lab., north and westward. Aug. (Eu.)

[+][+] Leaves broader, flat; awn stouter, bent, divergent, or twisted when dry.

5. C. confìnis, Nutt. Tall; panicle elongated (4–6´), its rather slender branches spreading at flowering-time, afterward appressed; glumes lance-oblong, very acute, 2´´ long, pale; hairs of the flower copious, equal, slightly or one third shorter than the thin flowering glume and than those of the rudiment; awn borne much below the middle of the glume, somewhat surpassing it; grain glabrous. (Deyeuxia confinis, Kunth.)—Swamps, N. and W. New York (especially Penn Yan, Sartwell) and Penn.; Minn., and westward. July.

6. C. Nuttalliàna, Steud. Culm stout (3–5° high); panicle contracted and spike-like; glumes lanceolate and tapering into slender awl-shaped tips, 3´´ long; hairs on the lower side scanty and barely half the length of the firm and keeled flowering glume, on the other side longer and equalling the copious tuft on the summit of the rudiment; awn borne half-way between the middle and the tapering tip of the glume, stout, not twisted; grain bearded at the top. (Deyeuxia Nuttalliana, Vasey.)—Moist grounds, E. New Eng. to Penn., Va., and southward. Aug.

7. C. Pórteri, Gray. Culm slender (2–4° high); a woolly-bearded ring at the junction of the broadly linear leaves with the sheath; panicle long and narrow, with the branches appressed; glumes lanceolate, acute, pale, 2–2½´´ long; hairs of the flower and of the short rudiment scanty, and both reaching about to the middle of the flower behind the palet, but very short or none at the base of the firm-membranaceous flowering glume, which bears near its base a twisted awn of its own length. (Deyeuxia Porteri, Vasey.)—Dry woods, Pulpit Rocks and vicinity, Huntingdon Co., Penn., Prof. T. C. Porter.

8. C. Pickeríngii, Gray. Culm 1–1½° high; leaves short; panicle pyramidal, purplish; glumes ovate-oblong, bluntish or bluntly pointed (1½–2´´ long); hairs both of the flower and of the rudiment very short and scanty, one fourth or fifth the length of the flower, none behind the obtuse flowering glume, which bears between its middle and base a short stout (straight or bent, not twisted) awn. (Deyeuxia Pickeringii, Vasey.)—White Mts., in the alpine region of Mt. Washington, and a more luxuriant form with smaller spikelets at Echo Lake, Franconia; Andover, Mass. (J. Robinson); Cape Breton.

§ 2. CALAMOVÍLFA. Rudiment of second flower wanting; glumes and palet rather chartaceous, compressed-keeled; flowering glume 1-nerved, entirely awnless; palet strongly 2-keeled; panicle at length open and loose.

9. C. brevípilis, Gray. Branches of the diffuse pyramidal panicle capillary (purplish); empty glumes orate, mucronate; the upper slightly, the lower nearly one half shorter than the flowering glume and palet, which are more than twice the length of the hairs and bristly-bearded along the keels. (Ammophila brevipilis, Benth.)—Sandy swamps, pine-barrens of N. J.; rare. Sept.—Culm 2–4° high; leaves nearly flat; spikelets 2´´ long.

10. C. longifòlia, Hook. Culm (1–4° high) stout, from thick running rootstocks; leaves rigid, elongated, involute above and tapering into a long thread-like point; panicle at first close, becoming open and pyramidal, the branches smooth; glumes lanceolate, the upper as long as the flower, the lower ¼ shorter; the copious hairs more than half the length of the naked flower. (Ammophila longifolia, Benth.)—Sands, along the upper Great Lakes, from Ill. and Mich. to Dak., Kan., and westward. Aug.—Spikelets 2½–3´´ long.

34. AMMÓPHILA, Host. (Pl. 16.)

Spikelets large, in a contracted spike-like panicle, 1-flowered, with a pedicel-like rudiment of a second flower (plumose above), the flower hairy-tufted at base. Empty glumes scarious-chartaceous, lanceolate, compressed-keeled, nearly equal; flowering glume and palet similar, a little shorter, the glume 5-nerved, slightly mucronate or obscurely awned near the tip, the palet 2-keeled.—A coarse perennial maritime species, with running rootstocks. (Name from ἄμμος, sand, and φιλέω, to love.)

1. A. arundinàcea, Host. (Sea Sand-Reed.) Culm stout and rigid (2–3° high) from firm running rootstocks; leaves long, soon involute; panicle contracted into a dense cylindrical spike (5–9´ long); spikelets 5–6´´ long; hairs only one third of the length of the flower. (Calamagrostis arenaria, Roth.)—Sandy beaches, N. J. to Maine and northward, and on the Great Lakes. Aug. (Eu.)

35. ARRHENATHÈRUM, Beauv. Oat-Grass. (Pl. 12.)

Spikelets open-panicled, 2-flowered, with the rudiment of a third flower; the middle flower perfect, its glume barely bristle-pointed from near the tip; the lowest flower staminate only, bearing a long bent awn below the middle of the back (whence the name, from ἄῤῥην, masculine, and ἀθήρ, awn);—otherwise as in Avena, of which it is only a peculiar modification.

A. avenàceum, Beauv. Root perennial; culm 2–4° high; leaves broad, flat; panicle elongated; glumes scarious, very unequal.—Meadows and lots; absurdly called Grass of the Andes. May–July. (Nat from Eu.)

36. HÓLCUS, L. (partly). Meadow Soft-Grass. (Pl. 12.)

Spikelets crowded in an open panicle, 2-flowered; the boat-shaped membranaceous glumes enclosing and much exceeding the remotish flowers. Lower flower perfect, its papery or thin-coriaceous glume awnless and pointless; the upper flower staminate, otherwise similar, but bearing a stout bent awn below the apex. Stamens 3. Styles plumose to the base. Grain free. (A name in Pliny for a kind of grass, from ὁλκός, attractive, of obscure application.)

H. lanàtus, L. (Velvet-Grass.) Perennial, soft-downy and pale; panicle oblong; upper empty glume mucronate-awned under the apex; awn of the staminate flower curved.—Moist meadows. June. (Nat. from Eu.)

37. AÌRA, L. Hair-Grass.

Spikelets very small, in an open diffuse panicle, of 2 perfect contiguous flowers. Glumes thin-membranaceous, the two lower persistent, nearly equal, acute, keeled; the flowering ones obscurely nerved, acutely 2-cleft at the apex, bearing a slender twisted awn below the middle. Stamens 3. Styles plumose to the base. Grain oblong, adnate.—Low annuals, with short setaceous leaves. (An ancient Greek name for Darnel.)

A. caryophýllea, L. Culms 5–10´ high, bearing a very diffuse panicle of purplish and at length silvery scarious spikelets.—Dry fields, Nantucket; also Newcastle, Del., W. M. Canby. (Nat. from Eu.)

A. præ̀cox, L. Culms tufted, 3–4´ high; branches of the small and dense panicle appressed; awn from below the middle of the glume.—Sandy fields, N. J. to Va.; rare. (Nat. from Eu.)

38. DESCHÁMPSIA, Beauv. (Pl. 12.)

Spikelets small, panicled, of 2 perfect flowers and the hairy pedicel or rudiment of a third (rarely staminate); rhachis hairy. Empty glumes persistent, membranaceous and shining, carinate, acute, nearly equal; flowering glumes toothed or erose-denticulate at the truncate summit, usually delicately 3–5-nerved, with a slender twisted awn near or below the middle. Grain oblong, free.—Root perennial. (Named for Loiseleur-Deslongchamps, a French botanist.)

[*] Empty glumes somewhat shorter than the flowers.

1. D. flexuòsa, Trin. (Common Hair-Grass.) (Pl. 12, fig. 1–3.) Culms slender, nearly naked (1–3° high) above the small tufts of involute bristle-form root-leaves (1–6´ long); branches of the small spreading panicle capillary; awn longer than the palet, at length bent and twisted. (Aira flexuosa, L.)—Dry places; common. June. (Eu.)

2. D. cæspitòsa, Beauv. Culm tufted (2–4° high); leaves flat, linear; panicle pyramidal or oblong (6´ long); awn straight, barely equalling the glume. (Aira cæspitosa, L.)—Shores of lakes and streams; N. Eng. to Penn., Mich., and northward. June, July. (Eu.)

[*][*] Empty glumes longer than the flowers, 2–2½´´ long.

3. D. atropurpùrea, Scheele. Culms 8–15´ high, weak; leaves flat, rather wide; panicle of few spreading branches; awn stout, twice longer than the nerveless truncate ciliolate-denticulate glume. (Aira atropurpurea, Wahl.)—Alpine summits of N. H. and N. Y., to Lab. and northward. Aug. (Eu.)

39. TRISÈTUM, Persoon. (Pl. 12.)

Spikelets 2–several-flowered, often in a contracted panicle; the flowering glume compressed-keeled, of about the same thin-membranaceous texture as the empty glumes, bearing a bent or flexuous (rarely twisted) awn at or below the sharply 2-toothed or 2-pointed apex (whence the name, from tris, three, and seta, a bristle); otherwise nearly as in Avena. Ours are perennials.

1. T. subspicàtum, Beauv., var. mólle, Gray. (Pl. 12, fig. 1, 2.) Minutely soft-downy; panicle dense, much contracted, oblong or linear (2–3´ long); glumes about the length of the 2–3 smooth flowers; awn dorsal, diverging, much exserted.—Mountains and rocky river-banks, N. New Eng. to L. Superior, and northward. July.—About 1° high; leaves flat, short. (Eu.) (Addendum)—Trisetum subspicatum, var. molle, is reported from Roan Mt., N. C. (Scribner), and probably occurs on the higher Alleghanies northward.

2. T. palústre, Torr. Smooth; panicle rather long and narrow (5´ long), loose, the branches capillary; spikelets flat (3´´ long); lower glumes shorter than the two smooth lanceolate flowers; the upper flower on a slightly hairy joint of the rhachis, with a slender spreading or bent awn next the short 2-pointed tip, the lower commonly awnless or only mucronate-pointed.—Low grounds, southern N. Y. to Ill., and southward. June.—Culm slender, 2–3° high; leases flat, short; spikelets yellowish-white, tinged with green.

40. AVÈNA, Tourn. Oat. (Pl. 12.)

Spikelets 2–many-flowered, panicled; the flowers herbaceo-chartaceous, or becoming harder, of firmer texture than the large and mostly unequal empty glumes; the uppermost flower imperfect; rhachis and base of the flower often bearded. Flowering glume rounded on the back, mostly 5–11-nerved, bearing a long usually bent or twisted awn on the back or between the two acute teeth at the apex, proceeding from the mid-nerve only. Stamens 3. Grain oblong-linear, grooved on one side, usually hairy at least at the top, free, but invested by the palet. (The classical Latin name.)

[*] Spikelets large (1´ long); annual.

A. Fátua, L. Resembling the common oat (A. sativa), the few spikelets in a loose panicle, mostly pendulous; flowering glumes covered with long brownish hairs and bearing a bent awn 1–2´ long.—Wisc., Minn. (Nat. from Eu.)

[*][*] Smaller-flowered perennials.

1. A. striàta, Michx. (Pl. 12, fig. 1, 2.) Glabrous and smooth throughout, slender (1–2° high); leaves narrow; ligule short, truncate; panicle simple, loose; spikelets (6´´ long) on capillary pedicels, 3–6-flowered, much exceeding the scarious-margined purple acute empty glumes; lower glume 1-, upper 3-nerved; rhachis smooth; flowers short-bearded at base; flowering glume 7-nerved, much longer than the ciliate-fringed palet (4´´ long), mostly shorter than its soon bent or divergent awn, which rises just below the tapering very sharply cuspidate 2-cleft tip.—Rocky, shaded hills, N. New Eng., N. Y., and northwestward. June.

2. A. Smíthii, Porter. Taller (2½–4½° high), rather stout; leaves broadly linear (3–6´´ wide) and taper-pointed, flat, and with the sheaths and culm retrorsely scabrous; ligule elongated, acute; panicle larger (6–12´ long), the few branches at length spreading; empty glumes slightly purplish, the lower 3-nerved, the upper 5-nerved, scabrous on the nerves; rhachis minutely hispid; flowers (3–5) naked at base; awn straight, {1/3}–½ the length of the 7-nerved glume.—N. Mich. and Isle Royale, L. Superior. April, May.

41. DANTHÒNIA, DC. Wild Oat-Grass. (Pl. 12.)

Flowering glume (oblong or ovate, rounded-cylindraceous, 7–9-nerved) bearing between the sharp-pointed or awn-like teeth of the tip an awn usually composed of the 3 middle nerves, which is flattish and spirally twisting at base; otherwise nearly as in Avena. Empty glumes longer than the imbricated flowers. Ours perennials, 1–2° high, with narrow and soon involute leaves, hairy sheaths bearded at the throat, and a small simple panicle or raceme of about 7-flowered spikelets. (Named for Danthoine, a French botanist.)

1. D. spicàta, Beauv. (Pl. 12, fig. 1–3.) Culms tufted, low; leaves short, very narrow; spikelets few, 3–5´´ long, subspicate; flowering glume loosely hairy, its teeth short and pointless.—Dry and sterile or rocky soil.

2. D. serícea, Nutt. Culms taller and not tufted (1–3° high), terete; leaves larger, at least the sheaths silky-villous; spikelets more numerous and panicled, 6–9´´ long; flowering glume very silky-villous, tipped with slender awn-pointed teeth.—Dry or moist sandy soil, southern Mass., N. J., and southward; rare. June.

3. D. compréssa, Aust. Culms slender, 2° high, somewhat compressed, paler and subcaniculate on the narrower side; leaves elongated, very narrow, villous only at the summit of the sheath; spikelets 6–12, loosely panicled, 5´´ long; flowering glume loosely hairy or pubescent, the teeth very long-awned.—Dry banks; Vt. (Pringle); E. Mass., N. Y., Penn., and mountains of N. C.

42. CÝNODON, Richard. Bermuda or Scutch-Grass. (Pl. 9.)

Spikelets 1-flowered, with a mere naked short-pedicelled rudiment of a second flower, imbricate-spiked on one side of a flattish rhachis; the spikes usually digitate at the naked summit of the flowering culms. Empty glumes keeled, pointless, rather unequal; flowering glume and palet pointless and awnless, the glume larger, boat-shaped. Stamens 3.—Low diffusely branched and extensively creeping perennials, with short flattish leaves. (Name composed of κύων, a dog, and ὀδούς, a tooth.)

C. Dáctylon, Pers. Spikes 3–5; flowering glume smooth, longer than the blunt rudiment.—Penn., and southward, where it is cultivated for pasturage. (Nat. from Eu.)

43. CTÉNIUM, Panzer. Toothache-Grass. (Pl. 9.)

Spikelets densely imbricated in two rows on one side of the flat curved rhachis of the solitary terminal spike. Glumes persistent; the lower (interior) much smaller; the other concave below, bearing a stout recurved awn, like a horn, on the middle of the back. Flowers 4–6, all but one neutral; the one or two lower consisting of empty awned glumes, and the one or two uppermost of empty awnless glumes; the perfect flower intermediate, its glume membranaceous, awned or mucronate below the apex and densely ciliate toward the base, 3-nerved. Stamens 3. Stigmas plumose. (Name κτενίον, a small comb, from the pectinate appearance of the spike.)

1. C. Americànum, Spreng. Culm (3–4° high from a perennial root) simple, pubescent or roughish; larger glume warty-glandular outside, conspicuously awned.—Wet pine-barrens, S. Va. and southward.—Taste very pungent.

44. GYMNOPÒGON, Beauv. (Pl. 9.)

Spikelets of one perfect flower, and the rudiment of a second (consisting of an awn-like pedicel mostly bearing a naked bristle), sessile and remotely alternate on long filiform rays or spikes, which form a crowded naked raceme. Glumes lance-awl-shaped, keeled, almost equal, rather longer than the membranaceous flowering glume, which is cylindrical-involute, with the midrib produced from just below the 2-cleft apex into a straight and slender bristle-like awn; palet nearly as long, with the abortive rudiment at its base. Stamens 3. Stigmas pencil-form, purple.—Root perennial. Leaves short and flat, thickish, 1–3´ long. (Name composed of γυμνός, naked, and πώγων, a beard, alluding to the reduction of the abortive flower to a bare awn.)

1. G. racemòsus, Beauv. (Pl. 9, fig. 1, 2.) Culms clustered from a short rootstock (1° high), wiry, leafy; leaves oblong-lanceolate; spikes flower-bearing to the base (5–8´ long), soon divergent; awn of the abortive flower shorter than its stalk, equalling the pointed glumes, not more than half the length of the awn of the fertile flower.—Sandy pine-barrens, N. J. to Va., and southward. Aug., Sept.

2. G. brevifòlius, Trin. Filiform spikes long-peduncled, i.e. flower-bearing only above the middle; flowering glume ciliate near the base, short-awned; awn of the abortive flower obsolete or minute; glumes acute.—Sussex Co., Del., and southward.

45. SCHEDONNÁRDUS, Steud. (Pl. 11.)

Spikelets small, acuminate, 1-flowered, appressed-sessile and scattered along one side of the slender rhachis of the distant sessile and divaricately spreading spikes. Empty glumes persistent, narrow, acuminate, more or less unequal, the longer usually a little shorter than the rather rigid acuminate flowering one. Stamens 3. Styles distinct. Grain linear.—A low slender annual, branching from the base, with short narrow leaves. (Name from σχεδόν, near, and Nardus, from its resemblance to that genus.)

1. S. Texànus, Steud. Stem (6–20´ long) naked and curved above, bearing 3–9 racemosely disposed thread-like and triangular spikes 1–3´ long; spikelets 1½´´ long. (Lepturus paniculatus, Nutt.)—Open grounds and salt-licks, Ill. to Mont., Col., and Tex. Aug.

46. BOUTELOÙA, Lagasca. Muskít-Grass. (Pl. 9.)

Spikelets crowded and closely sessile in 2 rows on one side of a flattened rhachis, comprising one perfect flower below and one or more sterile (mostly neutral) or rudimentary flowers. Glumes convex-keeled, the lower one shorter. Perfect flower with the 3-nerved glume 3-toothed or cleft at the apex, the 2-nerved palet 2-toothed; the teeth, at least of the former, pointed or subulate-awned. Stamens 3; anthers orange-colored or red.—Rudimentary flowers mostly 1–3-awned. Spikes solitary, racemed or spiked; the rhachis somewhat extended beyond the spikelets. (Named for Claudius Boutelou, a Spanish writer upon floriculture and agriculture.)

§ 1. CHONDRÒSIUM. Spikes pectinate, of very many spikelets, oblong or linear, very dense, solitary and terminal or few in a raceme; sterile flowers 1–3 on a short pedicel, neutral, consisting of 1–3 scales and awns.

1. B. oligostàchya, Torr. Glabrous, perennial (6–12´ high); leaves very narrow; spikes 1–5, the rhachis glabrous; glumes all sparingly soft-hairy, the lobes awl-pointed; sterile flower copiously villous-tufted at the summit of the naked pedicel, its 3 awns equalling the larger glume.—N. W. Wisc. to Dak., and south to Tex. and Mex.—Glumes obscurely if at all papillose along the keel, the middle lobe of the flowering one 2-cleft at the tip. Sterile flowers often 2, the second mostly a large awnless scale, becoming hood-like and coriaceous.

2. B. hirsùta, Lag. Tufted (8–20´ high), perennial; leaves flat, lance-linear, papillose-hairy or glabrous; spikes 1–4; upper empty glume hispid with strong bristles from dark warty glands; flowering glume pubescent, 3-cleft into awl-pointed lobes; sterile flower and its pedicel glabrous, the 3 awns longer than the glumes and fertile flower.—Sandy plains, Ill., Wisc., Minn., and southwestward to Mex.

§ 2. ATHEROPÒGON. Spikes short, numerous in a long and virgate one-sided spike or raceme, spreading or reflexed, each of few (4–12) spikelets; sterile flowers neutral, rudimentary.

3. B. racemòsa, Lag. (Pl. 9, fig. 1, 2.) Culms tufted from perennial rootstocks (1–3° high); sheaths often hairy; leaves narrow; spikes ½´ or less in length, nearly sessile, 20–60 in number in a loose general spike (8–15´ long); flowers scabrous; glume of the fertile with 3 short awl pointed teeth; sterile flower reduced to a single small awn, or mostly to 3 awns shorter than the fertile flower, and 1 or 2 small or minute scales. (B. curtipendula, Gray.)—Dry hills and plains, southern N. Y. to Minn., and south to Tex. and Mex. July–Sept.—Passes by transitions into var. aristòsa, with spikes shorter; sterile flower of a large saccate glume, awned at the 2-cleft tip and from the lateral nerves, the middle awn exserted, and with a rudiment of a palet.—Ill. (Geyer), and southward.

47. ELEUSÌNE, Gaertn. Crab-Grass. Yard-Grass. (Pl. 9.)

Spikelets 2–6-flowered, with a terminal imperfect flower or naked rudiment, closely imbricate-spiked on one side of a flattish rhachis; the spikes digitate. Glumes membranaceous, shorter than the flowers; flowering glume and palet awnless, the glume ovate, keeled, larger than the palet. Stamens 3. Pericarp (utricle) containing a loose wrinkled seed.—Low annuals, with flat leaves, and flowers much as in Poa. (Name from Ἐλευσίν, the town where Ceres, the goddess of harvests, was worshipped.)

E. Índica, Gaertn. (Dog's-tail or Wire Grass.) (Pl. 9, fig. 1–6.) Culms ascending, flattened; spikes 2–5 (about 2´ long, greenish); glumes pointless; terminal flower a mere rudiment.—Yards, etc., chiefly southward. (Nat. from Ind.?)

E. Ægyptìaca, Pers. (Pl. 9, fig. 1–4, as Dactyloctenium.) Culms often creeping at base; leaves ciliate at base; spikes 4–5; lower glume awned and the flowering one pointed. (Dactyloctenium Ægyptiacum, Willd.)—Cultivated fields and yards, Va., Ill., and southward. (Adv. from Afr.?)

48. LEPTÓCHLOA, Beauv. (Pl. 16.)

Spikelets 3–many-flowered (the uppermost flower imperfect), loosely spiked on one side of a long filiform rhachis; the spikes racemed. Glumes menbranaceous, keeled, rarely awned, nearly equal; flowering glume 3-nerved, sometimes simply awned, larger than the palet. Stamens 2 or 3. Seed closely enclosed.—Ours annuals. Leaves flat. (Name composed of λεπτός, slender, and χλόα, grass, from the long attenuated spikes.)

1. L. mucronàta, Kunth. Sheaths hairy; spikes numerous (20–40, 2–4´ in length), in a long panicle-like raceme; spikelets small; glumes more or less mucronate, nearly equalling or exceeding the 3–4 awnless flowers.—Fields, Va. to Ill., Mo., and southward. Aug.

49. BÙCHLOË, Engelm. Buffalo Grass. (Pl. 16.)

Spikelets diœcious (rarely monœcious), very unlike; the staminate 2–3-flowered, sessile in 2 rows in short 1-sided spikes, the empty glumes blunt, 1-nerved, very unequal, the flowering larger, 3-nerved, a little exceeding the 2-nerved palet; fertile spikelets 1-flowered, in a contracted, capitate, 1-sided spike, the large outer glumes indurated, 3-fid at the apex, united at base and resembling an involucre, the inner (lower) much smaller and membranaceous, or in the lowest spikelet resembling the outer; flowering glume narrow, hyaline, bifid or nearly entire, enclosing the 2-nerved palet. Styles distinct. Grain ovate, free.—A perennial, creeping or stoloniferous, with narrow flat leaves; staminate spikes (2–3) in a pedunculate spike, the pistillate pair sessile in the broad sheaths of the upper leaves. (Name a contraction of Bubalochloë, from βούβαλος, buffalo, and χλόη, grass.)

1. B. dactyloìdes, Engelm. Low (3–8´ high) and broadly tufted; sterile spikes 3–6´´ long, the fertile heads 3´´ long.—Plains of the Sask. to Minn., Kan., and Tex. One of the most valuable grasses of the plains.

50. TRIÒDIA, R. Br. (Pl. 10.)

Spikelets 3–12-flowered, somewhat terete, the rhachis with bearded joints; terminal flower abortive. Empty glumes unequal; flowering glumes membranaceous or somewhat chartaceous, much larger than the 2-toothed palet, convex, 2–3-toothed or cleft at the apex, conspicuously hairy-bearded or villous on the 3 strong nerves, of which the lateral are marginal or nearly so and usually excurrent, as is the mid-nerve especially, into a short cusp or awn. Stamens 3. Stigmas dark purple, plumose. Grain oblong, nearly gibbous.—Leaves taper-pointed; sheaths bearded at the throat. Panicle simple or compound; the spikelets often racemose, purplish. (Name from τρι-, three, and ὀδούς, a tooth, alluding to the flowering glume.)

§ 1. TRIODIA proper. Glumes shorter than the crowded flowers, the flowering one 3-cuspidate by the projection of the nerves, and usually with intermediate membranaceous teeth; palet naked.

1. T. cùprea, Jacq. (Tall Red-top.) Perennial; culm upright (3–5° high), very smooth, as are the flat leaves; panicle large and compound, the rigid capillary branches spreading, naked below; spikelets very numerous, 5–7-flowered, shining, purple (4´´ long); the flowering glumes hairy toward the base, their points almost equal, scarcely exceeding the intermediate teeth, thus appearing 5-toothed. (Tricuspis seslerioides, Torr.)—Dry or sandy fields, southern N. Y. to Mo., and southward. Aug.—A showy grass, with the spreading panicle sometimes 1° wide.

§ 2. TRIPLÀSIS. Glumes much shorter than the somewhat remote flowers; flowering glume and palet strongly fringe-bearded, the glume 2-cleft at the summit, its mid-nerve produced into an awn between the truncate or awn-pointed divisions.

2. T. purpùrea, Hack. (Sand-Grass.) Culms many in a tuft from the same annual root, ascending (6–12´ high), with numerous bearded joints; leaves involute-awl-shaped, mostly short; panicles very simple, bearing few 2–5-flowered spikelets, the terminal one usually exserted, the axillary ones included in the commonly hairy sheaths; awn much shorter than the glume, seldom exceeding its eroded-truncate or obtuse lateral lobes. (Tricuspis purpurea, Gray.)—In sand, Mass. to Va. along the coast, and southward; also L. Erie, near Buffalo, and Ill. Aug., Sept.—Plant acid to the taste.

51. DIPLÁCHNE, Beauv. (Pl. 9.)

Spikelets several-flowered, narrow, erect and scattered along the slender rhachis of the long spicate spikes; flowers all perfect or the uppermost staminate. Empty glumes membranaceous, carinate, acute, unequal; flowering glume slightly longer, 1–3-nerved, 2-toothed, and mucronate or shortly awned between the teeth. Stamens 3. Styles distinct. Grain free.—Coarse grasses, with narrow flat leaves, and several or many slender spikes sessile upon an elongated peduncle. (Name from διπλόος, double, and ἄχνη, in the sense of chaff, with reference to the 2-lobed glume.)

1. D. fasciculàris, Beauv. Smooth; leaves longer than the geniculate-decumbent and branching culms, the upper sheathing the base of the panicle-like spike, which is composed of many strict spikes (3–5´ long); spikelets slightly pedicelled, 7–11-flowered, much longer than the lanceolate glumes; flowers hairy-margined toward the base, the glume with 2 small lateral teeth and a short awn in the cleft of the apex. (Leptochloa fascicularis, Gray.)— Brackish meadows, from R. I. southward along the coast, and from Ill. southward on the Mississippi. Aug.–Sept.

52. PHRAGMÌTES, Trin. Reed. (Pl. 11.)

Spikelets 3–7-flowered; the flowers rather distant, silky-villous at base, and with a conspicuous silky-bearded rhachis, all perfect and 3-androus, except the lowest, which is either neutral or with 1–3 stamens, and naked. Glumes membranaceous, shorter than the flowers, lanceolate, keeled, sharp-pointed, very unequal; flowering glume and palet membranaceous, slender, the glume narrowly awl-shaped, thrice the length of the palet. Squamulæ 2, large. Styles long. Grain free.—Tall and stout perennials, with long running root-stocks, numerous broad leaves, and a large terminal panicle. (Φραγμίτες, growing in hedges, which this aquatic grass does not.)

1. P. commùnis, Trin. Panicle loose, nodding; spikelets 3–5-flowered; flowers equalling the beard.—Edges of ponds. Sept.—Looks like Broom-Corn at a distance, 5–12° high; leaves 2´ wide. (Eu.)

53. ARÚNDO, L.

Flowers all perfect; flowering glume bifid, short-awned between the teeth. Otherwise as Phragmites. (The Latin name of the species.)

A. Dònax, L. Very tall (10–18°); spikelets 3–4-flowered.—Closely resembling Phragmites communis. Cultivated for ornament, and naturalized in Bedford Co., Va. (A. H. Curtiss.) (Nat. from Eu.)

54. MÚNROA, Torr. (Pl. 16.)

Spikelets usually 3-flowered, few (2–4) and nearly sessile in the axils of floral leaves; flowers perfect, or the uppermost abortive. Empty glumes lanceolate, acute, hyaline and 1-nerved; flowering glumes larger, 3-nerved, rather rigid, the mid-nerve stout, excurrent, the lateral ones scarcely so.—Low or prostrate many-stemmed annuals, fasciculately branched, with crowded short flat rigid or pungent leaves, the short sheaths strongly striate. (Named for the English agrostologist, Maj.-Gen. William Munro.)

1. M. squarròsa, Torr. Glaucous, somewhat pubescent and villous at the nodes or glabrous; leaves 3–12´´ long.—Dry plains, central Kan. to Dak., west to Mont., Utah, and New Mex.

55. KŒLÈRIA, Pers. (Pl. 10.)

Spikelets 3–7-flowered, crowded in a dense and narrow spike-like panicle. Glumes membranaceous, compressed-keeled, obscurely 3-nerved, barely acute, or the flowering glume often mucronate or bristle-pointed; the empty ones moderately unequal, nearly as long as the spikelet. Stamens 3. Grain free.—Tufted with simple upright culms, the sheaths often downy; allied to Dactylis and Poa. (Named for Prof. G. L. Koeler, an early writer on Grasses.)

1. K. cristàta, Pers. Culms 1–2° high; leaves flat, the lower sparingly hairy or ciliate; panicle narrowly spiked, interrupted or lobed at base; spikelets 2–4-flowered; flowering glume acute or mucronate.—Var. grácilis, Gray, with a long and narrow spike, the flowers usually barely acute.—Dry hills, Penn. to Ill. and Kan., thence north and westward. (Eu.)

56. EATÒNIA, Raf. (Pl. 10.)

Spikelets usually 2-flowered, with an abortive rudiment or pedicel, numerous, in a contracted or slender panicle, very smooth. Empty glumes somewhat equal in length, but very dissimilar, a little shorter than the flowers; the lower narrowly linear, keeled, 1-nerved; the upper broadly obovate, folded round the flowers, 3-nerved on the back, not keeled, scarious-margined. Flowering glume oblong, obtuse, compressed-boat-shaped, naked, chartaceous; the palet very thin and hyaline. Stamens 3. Grain linear-oblong, not grooved.—Perennial, tall and slender grasses, with simple tufted culms, and often sparsely downy sheaths, flat lower leaves, and small greenish (rarely purplish) spikelets. (Named for Prof. Amos Eaton, author of a popular Manual of the Botany of the United States, which was for a long time the only general work available for students in this country, and of other popular treatises.)

[*] Upper empty glume rounded-obovate and very obtuse; panicle usually dense.

1. E. obtusàta, Gray. (Pl. 10.) Panicle dense and contracted, somewhat interrupted, rarely slender; the spikelets crowded on the short erect branches; upper glume rough on the back; flowers lance-oblong.—Dry soil, N. Penn. to Fla., Mich., and far westward. June, July.

[*][*] Glume narrower, sometimes acutish; panicle more loose and slender.

2. E. Pennsylvánica, Gray. Leaves mostly 3–6´ long; panicle long and slender, loose, the racemose branches lax and somewhat elongated; glumes thin and broadly scarious, the lowest half the length of the flower, very narrow, the upper obtuse or bluntly somewhat pointed; the 2 (rarely 3) flowers lanceolate, with pointed glumes.—Varies, with a fuller panicle, 6–8´ long, with the aspect of Cinna (var. màjor, Torr.); and, rarely, with the lower palet minutely mucronate-pointed!—Moist woods and meadows; common.

3. E. Dudlèyi, Vasey. Culms very slender; leaves shorter, 1–2´ long; panicle very slender, the branches few, short and mostly appressed; empty glumes nearly equal, the lower oblong, the upper broadly elliptical, apiculate; flowering glumes shorter than in n. 2, acutish.—Long Island to central N. Y., south to S. C.

57. ERAGRÓSTIS, Beauv. (Pl. 10.)

Spikelets 2–70-flowered, nearly as in Poa, except that the flowering glume is but 3- (rarely 1-) nerved, not webby-haired at the base, and is deciduous; palet persistent on the rhachis after the rest of the flower has fallen.—Culms often branching. Leaves linear, frequently involute, and the ligule or throat of the sheath bearded with long villous hairs. Panicle various. (Name from ἦρ, spring, and ἄγροστις, a grass.)

[*] Prostrate and creeping, much branched; root annual; spikelets flat, imperfectly diœcious, clustered, almost sessile, in the more fertile plant almost capitate.

1. E. réptans, Nees. Spikelets linear-lanceolate, 10–30-flowered; flowers lance-ovate, acute; leaves short, almost awl-shaped.—Gravelly river-borders; common. Aug.—Flowering branches 2–5´ high.

[*][*] Diffusely spreading, or the flowering culms ascending, low (6–15´ high), annual; spikelets often large, flat, forming a narrow crowded panicle.

E. mìnor, Host. Sheaths often hairy; leaves flat, smooth; spikelets short-pedicelled, lance- or oblong-linear, 8–20-flowered, lead-colored (2–5´´ long); flowers ovate, obtuse, the lateral nerves becoming evident, and keel smooth. (E. poæoides, Beauv.)—Sandy waste places, eastward; rare. (Nat. from Eu.)

E. màjor, Host. Sheaths mostly glabrous; spikelets larger (3–10´´ long), becoming linear, whitish when old, 10–50-flowered; flowers more spreading, their glumes larger, with very strong lateral nerves and rough on the keel. (E. poæoides, var. megastachya, Gray.)—Similar situations, and more common. Aug.—Emits a sharp, unpleasant odor. (Nat. from Eu.)

[*][*][*] Erect, or in group [+] diffusely spreading and ascending; panicle open, its branches capillary; spikelets proportionally small, sometimes minute. (Number of flowers in the spikelet very variable, according to age, etc.)

[+] Annual; culms slender, branching and decumbent or spreading at base; leaves narrow, flat, soft; branches of the narrow panicle rather short and thickly-flowered, not bearded in the axils, or sometimes the lowest sparingly.

E. pilòsa, Beauv. (Pl. 10, fig. 1–4.) Panicle elongated-oblong, with rather erect branches (except at flowering-time); spikelets 5–12-flowered (2–4´´ long, purplish-lead-color), becoming linear, about equalling their pedicels; empty glumes (small) and flowering ones obtuse, the latter broadly ovate, 1-nerved (lateral nerves obsolete).—Sandy or gravelly waste places, S. New Eng. to Ill., and southward. Aug.—Plant 6–12´ high. (Nat. from Eu.)

2. E. Fránkii, Meyer. Much branched and diffuse (3–8´ high); panicle ovate-oblong, rather dense, spreading; spikelets 2–5-flowered (1–1½´´ long), on slender pedicels; glumes very acute; the flowering one ovate, acute, rather obscurely 3-nerved.—Low or sandy ground, S. Penn. to Kan., and southwestward. Aug.

3. E. Púrshii, Schrader. Sparingly branched at the decumbent base, then erect (½–2° high); panicle elongated, the branches widely spreading, very loose; spikelets 5–18-flowered, oblong-lanceolate, at length linear (2–4½´´ long), mostly much shorter than their capillary pedicels; glumes all ovate and acute, or the flowering ones acutish, 3-nerved.—Sandy or sterile open grounds, Penn. to Mo., and southwestward; also introduced northward.

[++] Culms simple, or branching only at the very base, firm, erect, mostly forming thick tufts; leaves very long; panicle very large, compound, often longer than the culm, with elongated loosely-flowered branches, their axils often bearded. (Doubtful perennials, or n. 5 annual.)

4. E. ténuis, Gray. Panicle virgately elongated (1–2½° long), very loose, the spreading branches bearded in some of the lower axils, their remote divisions and long diverging pedicels capillary; spikelets 2–6- (sometimes 7–12-) flowered, pale or greenish; lower glumes lanceolate or awl-shaped, very acute (1½–2´´ long), membranaceous, as are the oblong-lanceolate acute flowers; flowering glume distinctly 3-nerved; the upper ciliate-scabrous.—Sandy soil, Ohio to Ill., Kan., and southward. Aug.–Oct.—Leaves rather rigid, 1½–2° long, glabrous or sparingly hairy; the sheaths hairy or glabrous; the throat strongly bearded; flowers much larger than in the next, fully 1½´´ long.

5. E. capillàris, Nees. Panicle widely expanding, usually much longer than the culm, its spreading branches (mostly naked in the axils) and long diverging pedicels capillary; spikelets rather terete, very small, 2–4-flowered, greenish or purplish; glumes and flowers ovate, acute (less than 1´´ long); flowering glume obscurely 3-nerved, scarcely keeled; the palet rough-ciliate.—Sandy dry soil and fields; common, especially southward. Aug., Sept.—Leaves and sheaths very hairy, or nearly glabrous; the former about 1° long, not rigid; panicle 1–2° long, soon diffuse.

6. E. pectinàcea, Gray. Panicle widely diffuse, its rigid divergent main branches bearded in the axils; the capillary pedicels more or less appressed on the secondary branches; spikelets flat, 5–15-flowered, becoming linear, purple or purplish; glumes and flowers ovate or oblong-ovate, acutish; flowering glume strongly 3-nerved; palet hirsute-ciliate.—Leaves long, rigid, mostly hairy, the sheaths especially so; plant 1–3° high; spikelets 2–3´´ long, 1´´ wide, closely flowered.—Var. spectábilis, Gray. Leaves and sheaths mostly glabrous; branches of the panicle (the lower reflexed with age) and pedicels shorter; spikelets rather larger.—Sandy dry ground, from E. Mass. near the coast, and from Ohio and Ill., southward. Aug.–Oct.

7. E. campéstris, Trin. Glabrous or the sheaths villous at the throat; culm short, bearing an elongated and very open panicle with divaricate branches bearded at base; spikelets linear, flat, 8–12-flowered, sessile or nearly so along the branchlets; glumes very acute or acuminate, 3-nerved, roughish on the keel; palet minutely ciliate. (E. pectinacea, var. refracta, Chapm. Poa refracta, Ell.)—Del. and Md. to Fla. and Ala.

58. MÉLICA, L. Melic-Grass. (Pl. 10.)

Spikelets 2–8-flowered; the 1–3 upper flowers imperfect and dissimilar, convolute around each other, and enwrapped by the upper fertile flower. Empty glumes usually large, scarious-margined, convex, obtuse; the upper 7–9-nerved. Flowering glume papery-membranaceous, dry and sometimes indurating with age, rounded or flattish on the back, 5–many-nerved, scarious at the entire blunt summit. Stamens 3.—Perennials with soft flat leaves. Panicle simple or sparingly branched; the rather large spikelets racemose-one-sided. (An old Italian name for Sorghum, from mel, honey.)