Part 201 (1/2)

3. M. Mexicana, Trin. Culms ascending, much branched (2--3 high); _panicles_ lateral and terminal, often included at the base, _contracted, the branches densely spiked-cl.u.s.tered_, 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. sylvatica, 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. ambigua, Torr. Culms ascending, cl.u.s.tered 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. (sh.o.r.e 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. Willdenvii, 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. diffusa, 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. TRICHoCHLOA. _Panicle very loose and open, the long branches and pedicels capillary; leaves narrow, often convolute-bristle-form._

8. M. capillaris, Kunth. (HAIR-GRa.s.s.) 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. BRACHYeLYTRUM, 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 ' long without the awn. (Name composed of ?a???, _short_, and ???t???, _husk_, from the minute glumes.)

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

25. HELEoCHLOA, 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 ????, _a meadow_, and ???a, _gra.s.s_.)

H. SCHNODES, Host. Usually nearly prostrate and tufted; leaves rather rigid, tapering to a sharp point; spike oblong, thick, 7--20” long.

(Crypsis schnoides, _Lam._)--Waste places, N. J. to Del. (Nat. from Eu.)

26. PHLeUM, L. CAT'S-TAIL GRa.s.s. (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 f????, a Greek name for a kind of reed.)

P. PRATeNSE, L. (TIMOTHY. HERD'S-GRa.s.s 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. alpnum, 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. ALOPECuRUS, L. FOXTAIL GRa.s.s. (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.--Cl.u.s.ters contracted into a cylindrical and soft dense spike; perennial. (Name from ???p??, _fox_, and ????, _tail_, from the shape of the spike.)

A. PRATeNSIS, L. (MEADOW FOXTAIL.) Culm upright, smooth (2 high); the upper leaf much shorter than its inflated sheath; spike stout, 1--2'