GENUS 18. 



GRASS FAMILY. 



163 



18. SACCIOLEPIS Nash, in Britt. Man. 89. 1901. 



Perennial grasses with flat leaf-blades and terminal contracted panicles. Spikelets 

 numerous, i -flowered, articulated to the pedicels below the empty scales, readily deciduous 

 when mature. Scales 4, the outer 3 membranous, the first scale small, the second one much 

 larger than the rest, many-nerved, strongly saccate at the base, the fourth scale much 

 shorter than the third, chartaceous, enclosing a palet of similar texture and a perfect flower. 

 Stamens 3. Styles distinct. Stigmas plumose. Grain free. [Greek, in reference to the 

 large saccate scale of the spikelet.] 



Species 6 or 7, in both the Old World and the New. Type species : Panicum gibbum Ell. 



i. Sacciolepis striata (L.) >^ash. Gibbous Panic- 

 grass. Fig. '387. 



Holcus striatus L. Sp. PI. 1048. 1753. 

 Panicum striatum Lam. 111. i: 172. 1791. 

 Panicum gibbum Ell. Bot. S. C. & Ga. i : 116. 1817. 

 Sacciolepis gibba Nash, in Britt. Man. 89. 1901. 

 S. striata Nash, Bull. Torr. Club, 30: 383. 1903. 



Culms erect from a creeping base, 2-6 tall, dicho- 

 tomously branched below. Lower sheaths densely hirsute, 

 the upper generally glabrous; blades 3' -7' long, 2"-io" 

 wide, usually spreading, more of less pubescent; panicle 

 3'-o/ long, dense and contracted; branches i'-i' long, 

 erect; spikelets il"-2" long, elliptic, somewhat acute; first 

 scale about one-quarter as long as the spikelet ; second 

 scale gibbous at base, n-nerved; third scale about equalling 

 the second, 7-nerved, empty, the fourth one shorter than 

 the second. 



Swamps, New Jersey to Oklahoma, south to Florida and 

 Texas. Also in the West Indies. July-Sept. 



19. STEINCHISMA Raf. in Bull. Bot. Seringe 220. 1830. 

 Perennial tufted grasses, with flat leaf-blades, and loose open panicles. Spikelets 



i-flowered, articulated to the pedicels below the empty scales, the outer 3 scales mem- 

 branous, the first scale short, the second about as long as the spikelet, the third scale bearing 

 in its axil a much enlarged and inflated papery palet which exceeds in length the fourth 

 scale, the fourth scale indurated in fruit and enclosing a palet of similar texture and a 

 perfect flower. Stamens 3. Styles long, united only at the base. Stigmas plumose. 

 [Derivation unknown.] 



Species 2. Type species: Panicum hians Ell. 



i. Steinchisma hians (Ell.) Nash. Gaping Panic- 

 grass. Fig. 388. 



S. hians Nash, in Small, FI. SE. U. S. 105. 1903. 

 Panicum hians Ell. Bot. S. C. & Ga. i: 118. 1817. 



Glabrous, culms erect, i-2$ tall, generally simple, some- 

 times creeping at base, smooth. Blades 3'-$' long, i"-3" 

 wide, acuminate, generally erect; panicle 3'-8' long; 

 branches few, generally spreading, the longer ones often 

 drooping, the lower naked below the middle ; spikelets 

 about i" long; fourth scale exceeded by the third and its 

 usually empty palet which is much enlarged, generally forc- 

 ing the spikelet wide open. 



In moist ground, North Carolina to Missouri and Okla- 

 homa, south to Florida and Texas. Aug.-Sept. 



20. AMPHICARPON Raf. Am. Month. Mag. 2: 175. 1818. 



Erect perennial grasses, with flat leaf-blades and spikelets of two kinds ; one kind borne 

 in terminal panicles, deciduous without perfecting fruit ; the other solitary, terminating sub- 

 terranean peduncles, and maturing seed. Scales 3, membranous, the innermost subtending 



