34 
conspicuous; panicle very effuse, one-third the length of the culm or more, the 
capillary branches long and sparingly divided, often reflexed at maturity, and some- 
what scabrous, the axils sometimes sparsely hairy, the branchlets or pedicles long, 
naked, and terminated by a single spikelet, spindle shaped or obovate, 1 to 14 
lines long, acute; the lower glume very minute (one-sixth to one eighth as long as 
the spikelet); second and third glumes acute, ciliate near the apex, or in southwestern 
specimens (var. pubiflorum) pubescent all over, but little longer than the acute flow- 
ering glume.—Illinois to Texas and the Southern States. , 
51. P. Hallii Vasey. Bull. Torr. Club, x1. p, 61, Culms slender, 1 to 2 feet high, 
branching; leaves slender, 4 to 6 inches long; sheaths sparsely pubescent or smvoth; 
panicle open, diffuse, 4 to 5 inches long, sparsely flowered ; spikelets 14 lines long, 
acute, smooth; lower glumes half as long as spikelets, perfect flower 4 little shorter. — 
Texas. More slender than P, capillare, with smoother culms, smaller panicles, stouter 
branches, and rather larger spikelets, 
This species has resemblance to P. capiliare on one side and to P proliferum on the 
other. From the first, it is distinguished by its more erect slender culms, never more 
than sparsely pubescent, smaller panicle, with erect-spreading stouter branches, and 
usually larger or thicker spikelets; from the second, by its smaller size, more erect 
culms, and smaller panicles, with shorter branches. 
o2. P. proliferum Lam. (Gray’s Manual, 6th ed., p.630.) Annual; culms usually 
thickish, often succulent, branching, geniculate at the decumbent or procumbent 
base, 14 to 3 feet long, glabrous; leaves linear, 6 to 12 inches long, sheaths flattened, 
glabrous, ligule ciliate; panicles terminal and lateral, 4 to 12 inches long, the long, 
slender primary branches at leugth spreading and diffuse; spikelets 1 to 14 lines 
long, pale green, sometimes purplish, appressed, short pediceled, lower glume broad, 
obtusish, about one-fourth as long asthe spikelet; perfect flower a little shorter than 
the spikelet.—Damp places, Maine to Texas. 
Var. GENICULATUM (P. geniculatum Ell.) Culms 3 to 6 feet high, succulent, some- 
times nearly an inch thick at the base, bent and branching at the joints, leaves 
sometimes 2 feet long and 6 to 10 lines wide; sheaths much inflated when young, 
sometimes a little hairy at the base; panicle sometimes 2 feet long, very diffuse. A 
valuable grass.—Southern States to Texas. 
53. P. miliaceum Linn. Sp. Plant, 86, Culms 2 to 4 feet high, erect, branched, 
pubescent ; sheaths loose, striate, hirsutely pubescent; leaves tlat, linear-lanceolate, 
6 to 10 inches long, 4 to 8 lines wide, smoothish above, sparsely pubescent below ; 
panicle oblong, nodding, 6 to 10 inches long, branches verticilate, erect-spreading (not 
diffuse), solitary or in pairs, angular, hispid, or scabrous; spikelets ovate, acuminate, 
glabrous, 2 lines long; lower glume broad, very acuminate, 5-nerved, about one- 
half as long as the spikelet; the third glume 7- to 9-nerved, a little longer than the 
oval, acute, biconvex, perfect flower.—Cultivated and rarely escaped from culti- 
vation. Valuable for forage. 
54, P. verrucosum Muh!. (Gray’s Manual, 6th ed., p.631.) Culms slender, 1 to 3 
feet long, somewhat branching, smooth; leaves linear-lanceolate, 3 to4 inches long, 2 
to 3 lines wide, and with the sheaths glabrous; panicles mostly terminal, 6 to 10 
inches long, diffusely-spreading, branches mostly single, capillary, rather few flow- 
ered; spikelets 3 to 1 line long, obovate or oval, obtuse or abruptly acute; the outer 
glumes roughened with fine warts, the lower one abont one-fourth as long as the 
spikelet; perfect flower acute, about equaling the spikelet.—New England to Florida 
and Mississippi. 
55. P. sparsiflorum Vasey. (P. angustifolium Chapm. non Ell: Chapm. FI. 8. 
States, p. 574.) Culms weak, slender, smooth, 1 to 2 feet long, diffusely branched 
from the base; leaves linear, 3 to 5 inches long, 1 to 2 lines wide; sheaths short ; 
nodes thickened ; panicles simple, terminal and lateral, 3 to 5 inches long, the few 
branches single, capillary, distant, 1 to 3 inches long, bearing each 2 to 6 spikelets, 
mostly in pairs at the end of the branchlets; spikelets oblong-obovate, acute, 1} lines 
