Chapter C: LEPORINA, L. Distinguished from C. straminea, var. brevior, as (1)

follows:--Usually lower; spikes rusty-brown, ovoid or oblong, erect or appressed, more or less contracted both above and below, contiguous in an interrupted head 1' long or less; perigynium lance-ovate, thin, very narrowly margined, erect and appressed, obscurely nerved.--About Boston (_W. Boott, Morong_). (Adv. from Eu.)

[*] 12.--[+] 3. _Cyperoideae_.

133. C. sychnocephala, Carey. Erect, 3--18' high, leafy; head 1/2--1' long; perigynium very slender, faintly nerved, 5--6 times longer than the exceedingly small achene, mostly a little longer than the sharp scale.--Glades, central N. Y. to Minn., and far westward; rare.

ORDER 129. GRAMINEAE. (GRASS FAMILY.)

_Grasses, with usually hollow stems_ (culms) _closed at the joints, alternate 2-ranked leaves, their sheaths split or open on the side opposite the blade; the hypogynous flowers solitary in the axils of imbricated 2-ranked glumes_, forming a 1--many-flowered _spikelet_; the lower glumes (1 or usually 2) empty, the succeeding _flowering glumes_ enclosing each a somewhat smaller and usually thinner scale (called the _palet_) and 2 or 3 very minute hyaline scales (_lodicules_) at the base of the flower. Stamens 1--6, commonly 3; anthers versatile, 2-celled, the cells distinct. Styles mostly 2 or 2-parted; stigmas hairy or feathery. Ovary 1-celled, 1-ovuled, forming a seed-like grain (_caryopsis_) in fruit. Embryo small, on the outside and at the base of the floury albumen.--Roots fibrous. Sheath of the leaves usually more or less extended above the base of the blade into a scarious appendage (_ligule_). Spikelets panicled or spiked. Palet usually 2-nerved or 2-keeled, enclosed or partly covered by the glume. Grain sometimes free from, sometimes permanently adherent to, the palet.--A vast and most important family, as it furnishes the cereal grains, and the principal food of cattle, etc. The terms _flowering glume_ and _palet_ are now adopted in place of the _outer_ and _inner palets_ of previous editions, while for convenience the term flower is often retained for the flower proper together with the enclosing flowering glume. (See Plates 7--15.)

SERIES A. Spikelets jointed upon the pedicel below the glumes, of one terminal perfect flower (sometimes a lower staminate or neutral flower in n. 5), or some or all of the 1-flowered spikelets unisexual in n. 10--12. Glumes 4 (rarely only 2 or 3).

Tribe I. PANICEAE. Spikelets of one perfect flower, in spikes or panicles. Flowering glume awnless, in fruit more rigid than the empty glumes.

[*] Spikelets in 2--4 ranks on a more or less flattened rhachis.--See also n. 5 (Sec. Digitaria).

[+] Rhachis produced beyond the upper spikelet; glumes 3.

1. Spartina. Spikelets much flattened laterally in 2 close ranks.

[+][+] Rhachis not produced above the upper spikelet (rarely in n. 3).

2. Beckmannia. Spikelets obovate, in 2 close rows. Glumes 3 (or 4), strongly concave, carinate.

3. Paspalum. Spikelets plano-convex, sessile or nearly so. Glumes 3 (rarely 2).

4. Eriochloa. Spikelets plano-convex, lanceolate, with a basal callus, short-pedicelled.

[*][*] Spikelets irregularly paniculate or spicate.

5. Panicum. Spikelets ovate, not involucrate nor the pedicels bristly. Glumes 4, the lowest usually small or minute.

6. Setaria. Spikelets in dense cylindrical spikes or panicles, the pedicels bristle-bearing.

7. Cenchrus. Spikelets (1--5) enclosed in a globular spiny bur-like involucre.

8. Amphicarpum. Spikelets of 2 kinds, one in a terminal panicle, the other subterranean on radical peduncles.

Tribe II. ORYZEAE. Spikelets unisexual or perfect, in loose panicles, with only 2 glumes (in our genera) and palet none. Stamens often 6.

9. Leersia. Flowers perfect. Spikelets much flattened. Glumes carinate.

10. Zizania. Spikelets unisexual. Glumes convex, narrow.

Tribe III. MAYDEAE. Spikelets of a single perfect or unisexual or rudimentary flower, in jointed spikes, in pairs at each joint, mostly imbedded in the thick rhachis.

11. Tripsacum. Spikelets monoecious, the staminate above in the spike.

12. Rottboellia. One spikelet of each pair sterile and shortly pedicelled, the other fertile, sessile and sunk in the rhachis.

Tribe IV. ANDROPOGONEAE. Spikelets in pairs or threes on the (usually jointed and bearded) rhachis of a spike or branches of a panicle, one sessile and fertile, the lateral pedicelled and often sterile or rudimentary; 2 upper glumes smaller and hyaline, that of the fertile flower mostly awned.

13. Erianthus. Spikelets in pairs, spicate, all alike fertile, involucrate with a silky tuft.

14. Andropogon. Spikelets spicate, in pairs, the pedicellate sterile or rudimentary; rhachis bearded.

15. Chrysopogon. Spikelets in open panicles, in pairs or threes, only the sessile fertile.

SERIES B. Rhachis of the spikelet usually jointed above the persistent lower glumes (jointed below the glumes only in n. 19, 31, and 36). Spikelets 1--many-flowered, the uppermost flowers often imperfect or rudimentary.

Tribe V. PHALARIDEAE. Glumes 5, only the uppermost fertile, the 2 middle ones rudimentary or empty or staminate; palet 1-nerved. Panicle mostly contracted and spike-like.

16. Phalaris. Middle glumes mere rudiments each side of the shining triandrous flower.

17. Anthoxanthum. Middle glumes empty, awned on the back. Stamens 2.

18. Hierochloe. Middle glumes triandrous. Fertile flower diandrous.

Tribe VI. AGROSTIDEAE. Glumes 3; flower solitary, perfect (rarely a rudimentary or perfect second flower in n. 23 and 32--34), palet 2-nerved.

[*] Flowering glume with a terminal awn (none in n. 22), closely embracing the grain in fruit; spikelets in panicles or loose spikes, the rhachis not produced beyond the flower (except in n. 24 and a single species of n. 23).--STIPEAE.

[+] Fruiting glume firm and indurated, with a callus at base (none in n. 22).

19. Aristida. Awn 3-fid, the branches divaricate. Callus acute.

20. Stipa. Awn simple, twisted. Callus mostly acute.

21. Oryzopsis. Awn simple, straight, deciduous. Flower oblong; callus short, obtuse.

22. Milium. Awn none. Flower small, ovoid, without callus.

[+][+] Fruiting glume thin and membranous; outer glume smaller or minute.

23. Muhlenbergia. Flower mostly hairy at base, the glume mucronate or awned.

24. Brachyelytrum. Rhachis produced into a bristle above. Outer glumes very small, the flowering one long-awned. Stamens 2.

[*][*] Flowering glume awnless or short-awned, loosely embracing the grain, thin, the lower glumes complicate carinate; spikelets in dense spike-like panicles, the rhachis not produced.--PHLEOIDEAE.

25. Heleochloa. Awns none. Spikes short and scarcely exserted.

26. Phleum. Glumes somewhat truncate, mucronate or short awned. Spike cylindric.

27. Alopecurus. Lower glumes united at base, the flowering awned on the back. Palet none. Spike cylindric.

[*][*][*] Glumes membranous, the lower rarely strongly complicate, the flowering with a dorsal awn or awnless; spikelets variously panicled.--AGROSTEAE.

[+] Flowering glume 1- (rarely 3-) nerved, awnless; grain loosely enclosed or naked.

28. Sporobolus. Culms wiry or rigid. Leaves involute.

[+][+] Flowering glume 3--5 nerved, mostly awned; grain enclosed.

[++] Rhachis not reduced above the single flower.

29. Agrostis. Spikelets in an open panicle.

30. Polypogon. Empty glumes long-awned. Panicle spike-like.

31. Cinna. Spikelets flattened, in a loose panicle. Palet 1-nerved. Stamen 1

[++][++] Rhachis bearing a rudimentary second flower or short bristle (except in species of n. 33).

32. Apera. Flowering glume bifid, awned. Panicle very loose and delicate.

33. Calamagrostis. Flowers hairy-tufted at base. Glumes membranaceous. Palet thin.

34. Ammophila. Spikelets large. Flowers hairy tufted at base. Glumes and palet chartaceous.

Tribe VII. AVENEAE. Spikelets 2--several-flowered, panicled, the rhachis or base of the flowers often bearded; upper flower imperfect or rudimentary (except in n. 37). Flowering glume bearing a twisted, bent or straight awn on its back or below the apex.

[*] One of the flowers staminate only.

35. Arrhenatherum. Lower flower staminate, long awned; middle flower perfect, nearly awnless; the upper rudimentary.

36. Holcus. Flowers 2, the lower perfect, awnless, the upper staminate, awned.

[*][*] Flowers all perfect or the uppermost usually rudimentary.

37. Aira. Spikelets very small, in a diffuse panicle. Flowers 2, perfect, awned toward the base.

38. Deschampsia. Spikelets 2-flowered, with a hairy rudiment. Glumes thin-scarious, the flowering one erose-truncate awned near the middle.

39. Trisetum. Spikelets 2--several-flowered. Flowering glume thin, compressed, carinate, 2-toothed, awned above by the excurrent mid nerve.

40. Avena. Spikelets 2--several-flowered. Flowering glume hard and firm, rounded on the back, 5--9 nerved, the mid-nerve long-excurrent at or below the 2-toothed apex.

41. Danthonia. As Avena, but the 3 middle nerves of the flowering glume running into a flattish twisted awn from between the teeth.

Tribe VIII. CHLORIDEAE. Spikelets 2--several-flowered with one or more of the upper flowers imperfect (flower 1 and perfect in n. 45) arranged in 2 rows upon the rhachis of a 1-sided spike.

[*] Spikelets with one perfect flower.

42. Cynodon. Spikes 3--5, slender, digitate. Flower and the rudiment awnless.

43. Ctenium. Spike solitary, terminal. Flowers 4--6, the middle one perfect.

44. Gymnopogon. Spikes filiform, racemose. Spikelets remote, of a perfect flower and an awned rudiment.

45. Schedonnardus. Spikes 3--9, slender, scattered, distant. Spikelets small, 1-flowered awnless.

46. Bouteloua. Spikes scattered (rarely 1 and terminal), dense. Glume of perfect flower 3-toothed. Rudimentary flowers 1--3 awned.

[*][*] Spikelets with two or more perfect flowers; awns none.

47. Eleusine. Spikes digitate, dense.

48. Leptochloa. Spikes racemose, slender. Spikelets small, alternate.

[*][*][*] Spikelets dioecious; spikes small, very dissimilar.

49. Buchloe. Pistillate spikes capitate, sessile, the spikelets 1-flowered; staminate spikes (2 or 3) on a peduncle, the spikelets 2--3-flowered.

Tribe IX. FESTUCEAE. Spikelets few--many-flowered, panicled, the uppermost flowers often imperfect or abortive. Glumes pointless or the flowering ones tipped with a straight awn or bristle.

[*] Flowering glume 1--3 nerved, 2--3-toothed. Rhachis short-bearded or glabrous.

50. Triodia. Rhachis of the spikelet bearded. Nerves of the flowering glume 3, villous, at least the middle one more or less excurrent.

51. Diplachne. Rhachis glabrous. Glume 1--3-nerved, with 2 small teeth, and a short awn in the cleft.

[*][*] Glume 3-nerved, entire or 2-toothed and mucronate between the teeth. Rhachis and flowers long-villous. Tall reeds with ample panicles.

52. Phragmites. Spikelets 3--7-flowered, lowest flower naked, staminate or neutral. Glume entire.

53. Arundo. As n. 52, but flowers all perfect. Glume bifid.

[*][*][*] Glume 3-nerved, the nerves (at least the mid-nerve) excurrent; spikelets few, in the axils of floral leaves.

54. Munroa. Low or prostrate much-branched annual.

[*][*][*][*] Glume 3- (rarely 1-) nerved, obtuse or acute, awnless; rhachis and flower naked.

55. Koeleria. Panicle contracted. Spikelets 2--4-flowered. Glumes compressed-keeled, acute or mucronate.

56. Eatonia. Panicle slender, more or less dense. Spikelets 2-flowered. Glumes very dissimilar, usually obtuse, the upper empty one enclosing the flowers.

57. Eragrostis. Spikelets flattened, 2--many-flowered. Glumes acute or acutish. Palet persistent.

[*][*][*][*][*] Glume 3--5-nerved, obtuse or abrupt-cuspidate; spikelet 3--5-flowered; upper sterile flowers convolute around each other.

58. Melica. Glumes 5-nerved or more, scarious, obtuse. Panicle simple or nearly so.

59. Diarrhena. Glumes 3-nerved, coriaceous, the flowering one abruptly cuspidate. Panicle loosely few-flowered.

[*][*][*][*][*][*] Flowering glume 5-nerved or more (sometimes obscurely so). Only the terminal flower abortive, or none.

[+] Glumes more or less strongly compressed and carinate (ventricose in n. 63).

60. Uniola. Spikelets broad, flat and 2-edged, in usually loose panicles. Glumes coriaceous, acute, the 3--6 lower ones empty.

61. Distichlis. Dioecious. Spikelets large, flattened, in a close panicle. Empty glumes 2, acute.

62. Dactylis. Panicle contracted in 1-sided clusters. Glumes herbaceous, awn-pointed, rough-ciliate on the keel.

63. Briza. Spikelets heart-shaped, in lax panicles. Glumes roundish, ventricose, scarious-margined.

64. Poa. Spikelets small, flattened, ovate to lance-ovate, in a loose panicle. Flowering glumes membranous and scarious-margined, pointless, usually webby or pubescent toward the base.

65. Graphephorum. Spikelets compressed, in a loose panicle, the hairy jointed rhachis produced into a hairy pedicel. Glumes thin-membranous, faintly nerved, entire.

[+][+] Glumes convex on the back, not carinate (or somewhat so in n. 70).

66. Scolochloa. Spikelets subterete, in a lax panicle, the rhachis villous at the base of the flowers, ending in a naked pedicel. Glumes coriaceous, prominently 7-nerved, toothed at the apex. In water.

67. Glyceria. Spikelets terete or flattish. Flowering glumes scarious at the usually blunt summit, prominently 5--7-nerved.

68. Puccinellia. Mainly as Glyceria, but the glumes obsoletely 5-nerved.

69. Festuca. Spikelets terete or flattish. Flowering glume acute, pointed or awned at the tip, few-nerved. Styles terminal.

70. Bromus. Glume rounded or keeled on the back, mostly awned below the 2-cleft tip, 5--9-nerved. Styles scarcely terminal.

Tribe X. HORDEAE. Spikelets 1--several-flowered, sessile on opposite sides of a zigzag jointed channelled rhachis, forming a spike. Empty glumes sometimes abortive or wanting. Uppermost flower imperfect or abortive.

[*] Spikelets single at each joint of the solitary spike.

71. Lolium. Spikelets many-flowered, placed edgewise on the rhachis of the spike, with one empty glume.

72. Agropyrum. Spikelets 3--several-flowered, placed flatwise on the rhachis. Empty glumes 2, right and left.

73. Lepturus. Spikelets small, 1--2-flowered; empty glumes 1 or 2. Spike very slender.

[*][*] Spikelets 2 or more at each joint of the solitary spike; the empty glumes side by side in front of the spikelets (none or rudimentary in n. 76.)

74. Hordeum. Spikelets 1-flowered, 3 at each joint, the lateral ones usually sterile.

75. Elymus. Spikelets 1--several-flowered, all perfect and similar.

76. Asprella. Spikelets few-flowered, somewhat pedicelled, 1--3 at each joint. Glumes none or small and deciduous.

Tribe XI. BAMBUSEAE. Tall woody reeds, the flat leaves with a short petiole jointed upon the sheath. Spikelets few--many-flowered, flattened, in panicles or racemes.

77. Arundinaria. Flowering glumes rounded on the back, many-nerved, acuminate or bristle-pointed; empty glumes very small.

1. SPARTINA, Schreber. CORD or MARSH GRASS. (Pl. 9.)

Spikelets 1-flowered, very much flattened laterally, jointed and sessile in 2 ranks on the outer side of a triangular rhachis. Glumes 3, unequal, lanceolate, strongly compressed-keeled, acute or bristle-pointed, mostly rough-bristly on the keel; palet thin, equalling or longer than the flowering glume. Stamens 3. Styles long, more or less united.--Perennials, with simple and rigid often reed-like culms, from extensively creeping scaly rootstocks, racemed spikes, very smooth sheaths, and long tough leaves (whence the name, from [Greek: sparti/ne], _a cord_, such as was made from the bark of the _Spartium_ or Broom).

[*] _Spikelets compactly imbricated, very rough-hispid on the keels; spikes (2--4' long) more or less peduncled; culm and elongated leaves rigid._

1. S. cynosuroides, Willd. (FRESH-WATER CORD-GRASS.) _Culm rather slender_ (2--6 deg. high); _leaves narrow_ (2--4 deg. long, 1/2' wide below or less), tapering to a very slender point, keeled, flat, but quickly involute in drying, smooth except the margins; _spikes_ 5--20, scattered, spreading; rhachis rough on the margins; _glumes awn-pointed_, especially the middle one (its awn about 1/4' long), strongly serrulate-hispid on the keel, _the lower equalling the upper_, whose strong midrib abruptly terminates below the membranous apex.--Banks of rivers and lakes, or in rich soil, especially northward. Aug.

2. S. polystachya, Willd. (SALT REED-GRASS.) _Culm tall and stout_ (4--9 deg. high, often 1' in diameter near the base); _leaves broad (1/2--1'), roughish underneath_, as well as the margins; _spikes 20--50, forming a dense oblong raceme_ (purplish); _glumes barely mucronate, the lower half the length of the flowering one_, of which the rough-hispid midrib reaches to the apex.--Salt or brackish marshes, within tide-water, especially southward.

3. S. juncea, Willd. (RUSH SALT-GRASS.) _Culms low_ (1--2 deg. high) _and slender; leaves narrow and rush-like, strongly involute, very smooth; spikes_ 1--5, on very short peduncles, the rhachis smooth; _glumes acute_, the lower scarcely half the length of the middle one, not half the length of the upper.--Salt marshes and sea-beaches. Aug. (Eu.)

[*][*] _Spikelets loosely imbricated, or somewhat remote and alternate, the keels only slightly hairy or roughish under a lens; spikes sessile and erect, soft; leaves, rhachis, etc., very smooth; culm rather succulent._

4. S. stricta, Roth. (SALT MARSH-GRASS.) (Pl. 9, fig. 1--3.) Culm 1--4 deg. high, leafy to the top; leaves soon convolute, narrow; spikes few (2--4), the rhachis slightly projecting beyond the crowded or imbricated spikelets; glumes acute, very unequal, the larger 1-nerved, a little longer than the flower.--Salt marshes, Penn., etc.--Odor strong and rancid. (Eu.)

Var. glabra, Gray. Culm and leaves longer; spikes 5--12 (2--3' long); Spikelets imbricate-crowded.--Common on the coast.

Var. alterniflora, Gray. Spikes more slender (3--5' long), and the spikelets remotish, barely overlapping, the rhachis continued into a more conspicuous bract-like appendage; larger glume indistinctly 5-nerved; otherwise as in the preceding form, into which it passes.--Common with the last; also Onondaga Lake, _J. A. Paine_.

2. BECKMANNIA, Host. (Pl. 16.)

Spikelets jointed upon the pedicels, 1--2-flowered (only one fertile), obovate and laterally compressed, imbricated in 2 rows upon one side of the angled rhachis of a spike. Glumes 3 or 4, the 2 lower strongly concave and carinate, obtuse or acutish, the 1 or 2 flowering glumes narrower, lanceolate, acute or acuminate and a little exserted, becoming rather rigid and with the thin palet enclosing the oblong grain.--A stout erect subaquatic perennial, with the short spikes erect and simply spicate or in a strict narrow panicle. (Named for _John Beckmann_, professor of botany at Goettingen.)

1. B. erucaeformis, Host, var. uniflora, Scribn. Glumes 3 and spikelets 1-flowered; spikes (6'' long or less) panicled.--N. W. Iowa, W. Minn., and westward. The Old World form, which also is found in the far northwest, has 2-flowered spikelets.

3. PASPALUM, L. (Pl. 13.)

Spikelets spiked or somewhat racemed, in 2--4 rows on one side of a flattened or filiform continuous rhachis, jointed upon very short pedicels, plano-convex, awnless, 1-flowered. Glumes 3 (rarely only 2), the terminal one flowering. Flower coriaceous, mostly orbicular or ovate, flat on the inner side, convex on the outer. Stamens 3. Spikes one or more, at or toward the summit of an elongated peduncle. ([Greek: Paspa/los], a Greek name for Millet.)

[*] _Spikes with a (1'') broad and thin membranaceous or foliaceous and keeled rhachis, the incurved margins partly enclosing the small two-rowed spikelets. (Smooth, aquatic, or nearly so, decumbent or floating.)_

1. P. fluitans, Kunth. Annual; _leaves lanceolate, flat_ (3--8''), broad; _spikes numerous in a raceme_, the rhachis somewhat projecting beyond the minute and slightly pubescent spikelets into a tapering point, scabrous on the back.--River-swamps, Va. to S. Ill., Mo., and southward. Sept., Oct.

2. P. Walterianum, Schultes. Perennial; _leaves linear, short; spikes_ 3--7, the lowest partly included in the sheath of the uppermost leaf, the rhachis blunt; spikelets glabrous.--Low or wet grounds, N. J. (Cape May, _Nuttall_), Del., and southward.

[*][*] _Spikes with a narrow wingless rhachis; perennials, or mostly so._

[+] _Spikelets very obtuse, orbicular; spikes one terminal and often 1--5 lateral._

3. P. setaceum, Michx. Culm ascending or decumbent (1--2 deg. 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_ (1/2'' wide) _narrowly 2-rowed_.--Sandy fields; common from E. Mass. to Ill., and southward. Aug.

4. P. laeve, 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. Floridanum, Michx. Stout, erect, 3--6 deg. 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. dilatatum, Poir. Stout, erect, 2--5 deg. 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. distichum, L. (JOINT-GRASS.) Nearly glabrous, rather glaucous; culms ascending (about 1 deg. 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 11/2'' long), _approximate on one side of the rhachis_.--Wet fields, Va. and southward. July--Sept.

8. P. Elliottii, Watson. Culms ascending (1--21/2 deg. 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 paspalodes, _Ell._ P. Digitaria, _Chapm._; not _Poir._)--Va. and southward.

4. ERIOCHLOA, 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 [Greek: e)/rion], _wool_, and [Greek: chlo/a], _grass_).

1. E. polystachya, HBK. Culms erect or decumbent, 2 deg. 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. PANICUM, 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 Sec. 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.)

Sec. 1. DIGITARIA. _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. filiforme, L. Culms very slender (1--2 deg. high), upright; lower sheaths hairy; spikes 2--8, alternate, approximate, filiform; spikelets oblong, acute (1/2'' 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. GLABRUM, 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. SANGUINALE, L. (COMMON CRAB- or FINGER-GRASS.) (Pl. 13, fig. 1--3.) Culms erect or spreading (1--2 deg. high); leaves and sheaths glabrous or hairy; _spikes 4--15, spreading_, digitate; spikelets oblong (11/2'' long); _second glume half the length of the flower, the lower one small_.--Cultivated and waste grounds. Aug.--Oct. (Nat. from Eu.)

Sec. 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 1/2--11/2'' long; annuals except_ n. 4; _leaves flat; sheaths flattened._

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

2. P. proliferum, 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 1/4 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. capillare, 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 3/4'', in the larger forms 11/2'' in length.

4. P. autumnale, 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 11/2'' long); root perennial._

5. P. anceps, Michx. _Culms flat, upright_ (2--4 deg. high); leaves rather broadly linear (1--2 deg. 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. agrostoides, Muhl. _Culms flattened, upright_ (2--4 deg. 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. Curtisii, Chapm. Culms stout, 3--4 deg. 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--21/2'' long), ovate, pointed, as are the glumes, etc.; perennials, glabrous, with tall or stout and rigid upright culms._

8. P. virgatum, L. (Pl. 13, fig. 8, 9.) Tall (3--5 deg. high); _leaves very long, flat_; ligule silky-bearded; _branches of the compound loose and large panicle_ (9'--2 deg. long) _at length spreading or drooping_; spikelets scattered, usually purplish.--Moist sandy soil; common. Aug.

9. P. amarum, Ell. Culms (11/2 deg. 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. MINUS, Vasey & Scribn.) somewhat smaller than the southern.

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

[+] _Sterile flower none; spikelets warty roughened._

10. P. verrucosum, Muhl. Smooth; culms branching and spreading, very slender (1--2 deg. long), naked above; leaves linear-lanceolate (2--3'' wide), shining; branches of the diffuse panicle capillary, few-flowered; spikelets dark green, oval, acute, 3/4'' long; lower glume 1/4 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--11/2'' long._

11. P. xanthophysum, Gray. Culm simple, or at length branched near the base (9--15' high); _sheaths hairy; leaves lanceolate, very acute_ (4--6' long by 1/2' 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 11/2'' long); lower glume ovate, acutish, {1/3}--1/2 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. latifolium, L. Culm (1--2 deg. 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, 11/2'' 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. clandestinum, L. (Pl. 13, fig. 6, 7.) Culm rigid (1--3 deg. high), very leafy to the top, at length producing appressed branches, the _joints naked_; _sheaths rough with papillae 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. viscidum, 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 (1/2' wide), 11--13-nerved; panicle spreading, the lateral ones included; _spikelets obovate_, 1 or 11/2'' _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. scoparium, Lam. _Culms_ upright, at length much branched and reclining (1--2 deg. long), _roughish; leaves lanceolate_ (3--5' long by {1/3}--1/2' 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 11/2'' 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. commutatum, Schultes. Rather slender, erect, 1--2 deg. 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. nitidum, 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. sphaerocarpon, _Ell._)--N. Y. to Ga., and westward.

18. P. microcarpon, 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 {1/2}'' 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. depauperatum, 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 3/4--11/2'' 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. consanguineum, Kunth. Culms slender, 1--2 deg. 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--11/2'' long, _oblong-obovate, acutish_.--Dry woods, Norfolk, Va., and south to Fl. and Tex.

21. P. dichotomum, L.! Culms (8'--2 deg. 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_ 1/2--{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_) _commune_, with simple culms erect or ascending, and leaves suberect, usually pale green--(_b_) _fasciculatum_, with clustered leafy branches and short peduncles, a common autumnal state--and (_c_) _gracile_, the culms lax, very slender and elongated, with rather distant spreading leaves (usually bright green), and mostly long-pedunculate panicles.

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

Sec. 3. ECHINOCHLOA. _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-GALLI, L. (BARNYARD-GRASS.) Root annual; culms stout, branching from the base (1--4 deg. high); leaves lanceolate (1/2' 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. HISPIDUM, 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. SETARIA, 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. VERTICILLATA, 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. GLAUCA, 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. VIRIDIS, 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. ITALICA, 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. CENCHRUS, 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. tribuloides, L. Annual; culms branched and ascending (1 deg. 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. AMPHICARPUM, 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 [Greek: a)mphi/karpos], _doubly fruit-bearing_.)

1. A. Purshii, Kunth. Annual or biennial(?), erect, 1--4 deg. 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. LEERSIA, 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. Virginica, Willd. (WHITE GRASS.) _Panicle simple; the spikelets closely appressed_ on the slender branches, around which they are partly curved (11/2'' long); stamens 2 (a third imperfect or wanting); glumes sparingly ciliate (greenish-white).--Wet woods; Maine to Minn., and southward. Aug.

2. L. oryzoides, Swartz. (RICE CUT-GRASS.) (Pl. 7, fig. 1--3.) _Panicle diffusely branched; spikelets flat, rather spreading_ (21/2--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 (21/2--3'' long)._

3. L. lenticularis, 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. ZIZANIA, Gronov. WATER or INDIAN RICE. (Pl. 7.)

Flowers monoecious; 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 [Greek: ziza/nion], the ancient name of some wild grain.)

1. Z. aquatica, L. (INDIAN RICE. WATER OATS.) (Pl. 7, fig. 1--4.) Annual; culms 3--9 deg. high; leaves flat, 2--3 deg. 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. miliacea, 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. TRIPSACUM, L. GAMA-GRASS. SESAME-GRASS. (Pl. 14.)

Spikelets monoecious, 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 [Greek: tri/bo], _to rub_, perhaps in allusion to the polished fertile spike.)

1. T. dactyloides, 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. MONOSTACHYUM, the terminal spike also solitary.--Moist soil, from Conn. to Penn. and Fla., near the coast, and from Ill. southward. Aug.--Culm 4--7 deg. 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. ROTTBOELLIA, 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 Gramineae, Cyperaceae, etc.)

1. R. rugosa, Nutt. Culm flattish, 2--4 deg. 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. ERIANTHUS, 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 [Greek: e)/rion], _wool_, and [Greek: a)/nthos], _flower_).

1. E. saccharoides, Michx. (Pl. 14, fig. 1, 2.) Culm (4--6 deg. 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. brevibarbis, Michx. Culm (2--5 deg. high), somewhat bearded at the upper joints; _panicle rather open_; silky hairs shorter than the spikelets.--Low grounds, Va., and southward.

14. ANDROPOGON, 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 [Greek: a)ne/r], _man_, and [Greek: po/gon], _beard_).

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

1. A. furcatus, Muhl. (Pl. 14, fig. 1--3.) Tall, 3--4 deg. 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. scoparius, Michx. Culms slender (1--3 deg. 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. maritimus, Chapm. Smooth and glaucous; culms ascending from creeping rootstocks, 1--11/2 deg. 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. argenteus, Ell. Smooth; culms rather slender (1--3 deg. 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. argyraeus, _Schultes._)--Md. to Va., near the coast, and southward.

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

6. A. Virginicus, L. Culm flattish below, slender (2--3 deg. 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. vaginatus, _Ell._, a form with larger and inflated sheaths.)--Sandy soil, E. Mass. to Va., Ill., and southward. Sept., Oct.

7. A. macrourus, Michx. Culm stout (2--3 deg. 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. laguroides, 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. Hallii, Hackel. Culm stout, 2--3 deg. 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. CHRYSOPOGON, 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 [Greek: chryso/s], _gold_, and [Greek: po/gon], _beard_.)

1. C. nutans, Benth. (INDIAN GRASS. WOOD-GRASS.) Root perennial; culm simple (3--5 deg. 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. PHALARIS, 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 [Greek: phalo/s], _shining_, alluding to the shining seed.)

Sec. 1. PHALARIS proper. _Panicle very dense, spike-like; glumes wing-keeled._

P. CANARIENSIS, L. (CANARY-GRASS.) Annual, 1--2 deg. high; spike oval; empty glumes white with green veins, the rudimentary ones small lanceolate scales.--Waste places and roadsides; rare. (Adv. from Eu.)

Sec. 2. DIGRAPHIS. _Panicle branched, the clusters open in anthesis; glumes not winged on the back._

1. P. arundinacea, L. (REED C.) (Pl. 13, fig. 1, 2.) Perennial, 2--4 deg. 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. PICTA, the leaves striped with white, is the familiar RIBBON-GRASS of the gardens. (Eu.)

17. ANTHOXANTHUM, 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. Squamulae none. Stamens 2. Grain ovate, adherent. (Name compounded of [Greek: a)/nthos], _flower_, and [Greek: a)/nthon], _of flowers_. _L._)

A. ODORATUM, 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. HIEROCHLOE, 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 [Greek: i(ero/s], _sacred_, and [Greek: chlo/e], _grass_; these sweet-scented grasses being strewn before the church-doors on saints' days, in the North of Europe.)

1. H. borealis, 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 deg. 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. alpina, 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. ARISTIDA, 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. ramosissima, 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. UNIARISTATA, Engelm., with the lateral awns wanting.

2. A. basiramea, 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. dichotoma, 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. CURTISSII, 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. gracilis, 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. DEPAUPERATA, 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. stricta, Michx. Culms (2--3 deg. high) densely tufted from a _perennial_ root, bearing a (1 deg.) 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. oligantha, 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_, 11/2--3' long, much exceeding the slender spikelet.--Va. to Ill., and common southwestward.

7. A. purpurea, Nutt. Perennial; culms (1 deg. 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 deg. high._