548 
6-flowered, 8 to 11 mm. long; floral glume acute, smooth, nearly equaled by the 
palet.—River banks and ravines, centrai and western Texas. 
+ + florets oblong or obovate, subacute or obtuse. 
4. F. nutans Willd. (NoppiING FESCUE.) Culms 5 to 8 din. high: branches of the 
panicle few-flowered near the extremities: spikelets 6 to 8 mm, long, 3 to 5-flowered; 
second empty glume broader above with membranaceous margins; floral glumes sub- 
acute, slightly exceeding the palet.—Rocky woods and hills, central Texas to Illinois 
and Pennsylvania. Var, JONNSONTI Vasey, of northern Texas, is tall (about 1m. 
high), with leaves nearly 1 cm. wide and 2 to 4 dm. long, and florets and empty glumes 
long and narrow, the second empty glume with no membranaceous margin. 
5. F. Shortii Vasey. Culms 5 to 10 dm. high, leafy: leaves 3 to 6 mm. broad: 
panicle somewhat contracted; branches ascending, subdivided and rather densely 
flowered beyond the middle: spikelets 3 to 6-flowered, 4 to 8 mm. long; empty 
glumes narrow, scabrous; floral glumes smooth, broadly obleng, obtuse, slightly 
exceeded by the palets.—Central Texas to Illinois. 
70. BROMUS L. 
Spikelets 5 to 15-tlowered, large, perfect except the upper florets, in 
open panicles, the triquetrous pedicels thickened upward, at length 
drooping: empty glumes subequal, two-thirds as long as the adjacent 
florets, acute or subacute, the first 1 to 3-nerved, the second 3 to 
9-nerved; floral glumes herbaceous, rather rigid, convex or carinate, 
acute, denticulate or obtuse, short-awned or awnless; palets ciliate on 
the two keels, at length adhering to the prominent groove in the linear 
smooth amber-colored grain.—Rather coarse grasses with flat leaves. 
* Floral glumes smooth; first empty glume 3-nerved; second empty glume 6 to 9-nerved. 
. Ys ply gf 
+ Glumes all convex, obtuse. 
1. B. secalinus L. (Curss, Cueat.) Culms 4 to 8 dm. high: panicle 1 to 2 dm. 
long, pyramidal; branches mostly in fours or fives, verticillate, nearly smooth: 
spikelets 1 to 2c, long, 5 to 10-flowered ; florets turgid; empty glumes obtuse or sub- 
acute; floral glume obtuse, denticulate, mucronate or short-awned, smooth, 7-nerved; 
grain concavo-convex.—Introduced, too common in grain fields, 
+ + Glumes carinate, acute. 
2. B. unioloides Willd. (ReEscUE-GRAss, AUSTRALIAN BROME GRASS.) Culms 
6 to 12 dm. high with numerous rather broad flat leaves from the hase: panicle 
2to4dm. long; branches finally drooping: spikelets compressed, 2 to 4 em. long; 
glume acute or bristle-pointed, 9-nerved, one-third longer than the narrowly 
lanceolate palet: grain flattened laterally witha narrow deep channel.—Introduced, 
a va'siable grass in cultivation, 
** Floral glume pubescent; first empty glume t-nerved; second empty glume 3-nerved. 
3, B. ciliatus L. (Swamp cuss.) Culms 6 to 10 dm. high, leafy: leaves and 
sheaths pubescent or smooth: panicle open, erect or flexuous, 2 to 3 dm. long; 
branches hispid, at length drooping: spikelets 2 to 4 em. long, 6 tu 15-flowered ; 
empty glumes unequal, about two-thirds as long as the adjacent florets; floral glumes 
5 to 7-nerved, pubescent with appressed silky hairs, obtuse, mucronate or short- 
awned, equaled by the hispid ciliate palet.—Moist land, Texas and northward, 
Var, MINOR Munro, of northern Texas, is smaller throughout, with floral glumes 
nearly acute, 3-nerved, and very short-awned, 
