GENUS 28. 



GRASS FAMILY. 



173 



4. Savastana alpina (Sw.) Scribn. Alpine Holy Grass. Fig. 411. 



Holcus alpinns Sw. ; Willd. Sp. PI. 4: 937. 1806. 

 Hicrochloa alpina R. & S. Syst. 2: 515. 1817. 

 Savastana alpina Scribn. Mem. Torr. Club, 5: 34. 1894. 



Glabrous and smooth, culms 6'-i8' tall, erect, 

 simple. Sheaths shorter than the internodes; ligule 

 less than i" long; lower blades elongated, 3'-6' long, 

 about i" wide, the upper much shorter, i'-2' long, 

 i"-2" wide; panicle f'-ii' long, contracted, branches 

 short, erect or ascending; occasionally the panicle is 

 larger with longer and spreading branches ; spikelets 

 2i"-3i" long, crowded; first and second scales gla- 

 brous, 2i"-3i" long; third and fourth shorter, sca- 

 brous, ciliate on the margins, the former bearing an 

 awn about i" long, the latter with a more or less 

 bent awn about 3" long; fifth scale shorter than the 

 others, acute, usually awn-pointed, villous at the apex. 



Greenland to Alaska, south to the high mountains of 

 New England and New York. Also in northern Europe 

 and Asia. July-Aug. 



29. MILIUM L. Sp. PI. 61. 1753. 



Annual or perennial grasses, with flat leaf-blades and terminal lax panicles. Spikelets 

 i-flowered. Scales 3, obtuse, not awned; the outer about equal; the third thin-membranous, 

 at length rigid, glabrous or pubescent, awnless, and with the margins inrolled; palet scarcely 

 shorter. Stamens 3. Styles short, distinct. Stigmas plumose. Grain ovoid or oblong, free, 

 tightly enclosed in the rigid and shining scale and palet. [Latin name for Millet.] 



Species 5 or 6, chiefly in Europe and Asia. Type species : Milium effusum L. 



i. Milium effusum L. Tall Millet-grass. 

 Fig. 412. 



Milium effusum L. Sp. PI. 61. 1753. 



Glabrous throughout, culms 2-6 tall, erect, 

 simple, smooth. Sheaths shorter than the in- 

 ternodes; ligule ii"-3" long, truncate, erose- 

 dentate ; blades 3'-o/ long, 3"-8" wide, narrowed 

 toward the base, acuminate, smooth or scabrous; 

 panicle 3'-io' in length, lax, its branches 2'-$' 

 long, slender, somewhat flexuous, naked at base 

 and dividing above the middle, at length widely 

 spreading; spikelets ii"-ii" long; outer scales 

 equal, smooth or scabrous, the third scale shorter, 

 smooth, white. 



In woods, Cape Breton Island to Ontario, south 

 to Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Illinois. Also 

 in northern Europe and Asia. June- July. 



30. ERIOCOMA Nutt. Gen. i : 40. 1818. 



Perennial tufted grasses, with usually involute leaves and a contracted or open panicle. 

 Spikelets i-flowered. Scales 3; outer 2 membranous, glabrous; third scale firmer, becoming 

 hard in fruit, densely pubescent with long silky hairs, and bearing a terminal readily deciduous 

 awn, the callus at the base of the scale short and obtuse. Stamens 3. Stigmas plumose. 

 Grain free, enclosed in the scale. [Greek, referring to the copious silky hairs of the flower- 

 ing scale.] 



A small genus of 2 or possibly more species, natives of western North America. Type species : 

 Stipa membranacea Pursh. 



