68 - ‘TRIANDRIA. DIGYNIA. 
28. reptans. Ambiguous species—29. melicoides.f. 30. 
Airoides.+ 
Of the 78 species of this genus in Persoon, there are 
, 28 in Europe, the rest in North America, Barbary, India, 
“the tropical islands of America, a few species at the Cape 
of Good Hope, and some in the isle of New Zealand. As 
yet there are only 2 species described as growing in the 
whole continent of South America. 
A genus of the utmost importance # agriculture. 
97. BRIZA. L. (Quaking-grass 
Calizx 2-valved, many-flo red. Spikelets 
: grostis, in which the larger valve of t e x is also 3-nerved, 
similar to the corolla. 
Has. Collected in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, by Dr. 
_ ‘W. Barton, professor of Botany. 
¢ Panicle small, composed off-a few simple racemes; calix 
enecpials obtuse, shorter than thé corolla, 2 or 3-flowered; flow- 
ers-oblong-obovate, obtuse, nerved, connected to the rachis by 
a tomentose villus; culm long and slender; leaf short, smooth, 
aos Picnueted 
_ Aira melicoides, Mich. A. triflora? Ex, 
$ Culm 4 or 5 feet high, erect, leaves with very long sheathes, 
; ute; panicle erect, attenuated; branches semiverti- 
capillary; spikelets oblong, obtuse, nearly ses- 
rt peduncles, 4 to 6-flowered; calix very un- 
.n the corolla; flowers distinct, somewhat cy- 
) shining, purplish, scariose, and often lacerate at 
int ‘obsoletely 5-neryed, inner valve scabrous on the 
AB: In depressed situations around the Mandan vi on 
the Missouri. v.v- 
Scarcely distinct from Poa distans, except in habit; being 4 
5 feet high igh; with leaves sometimes embracing the culm for 
‘inches, scabrous on the margin, acute, and scarcely more 
uated. the br capillary, loose, but erect, never re- 
= ich characters it differs from the P. 
, and does not at ali agree with Curtis’s figure. It is 
_ those ambiguous grasses, which, (like the P. distans 
ira aquatica now considered the same plant,) combines 
pe me ithas the artificial character of Paa, 
te Vetiucing © Sy? and a6 tows 
thas an inch, or an inch and # half long. The panicle is also* — a 
