compressed; spikelets 4- to 20-flowered; second (only) glume 6-10 (-14) mm. 

 long, from less than a third to nearly as long as the rest of the spikelet; lemmas 

 awnless or short-awned. L. multiflonim Lam. 



Scattered in lawns and other disturbed areas, in mud and shallow water of 

 ponds and lakes, in Okla. (McCurtain Co.), over most of Tex. except the Rio 

 Grande Plains, N. M. (San Juan Co.) and Ariz. (Coconino, Pinal, Cochise, Santa 

 Cruz and Pima cos.), spring; nat. of Eur., now widely introd. in temp, parts of 

 N. A. and S. A. 



20. Parapholis C. E. Hubb. 



A genus of 4 species in the Old World. 



1. Parapholis incurva (L.) C. E. Hubb. Sicklegrass. Fig. 100. 



Tufted annual; culms 1-3 dm. long, decumbent most of their length, terminally 

 arcuate upward; internodes short; sheaths loose, departing from and revealing 

 the internodes which they only slightly exceed in length; blades of upper leaves 

 shorter than their sheaths; inflorescences not fully exserted, arcuate, terminal, 

 lax, nearly terete or somewhat compressed-cylindrical; spikes 3-10 cm. long and 

 only about 3 mm. thick; rachis of spikes eventually abscising at the lower part 

 of each node, the internodes sculptured, each with a niche for a spikelet; spikelets 

 2-ranked, solitary at each node, 1 -flowered, the only parts visible being the halves 

 of the 2 strongly nerved lanceolate-acute glumes; lemma adaxial, flattened, fitting 

 into the niche of the internode, 4-7 mm. long. Pholiurus incurvus (L.) Schinz & 

 Thell. 



Brackish shores and ditches, salt marshes and tidal mud flats along the coast 

 of s.e. Tex., s.w. to San Patricio Co., spring; nat. of Eur., now established in 

 many coastal areas of N. A. 



21. Sphenopholis Scribn. Wedgegrass 



Soft tufted perennials; culms ascending, inflorescence a terminal panicle with 

 much-branched main branches, these usually appressed or at least ascending; 

 pedicels abscising just below the spikelets; spikelets slightly laterally compressed, 

 2- or 3-flowered, all flowers perfect (?); rachilla extended beyond the last lemmas 

 as a bristle; first glume linear-filiform, green; second glume usually slightly exceed- 

 ing the first in length, broadly obovate, truncate to slightly acute apically, mar- 

 ginally broadly hyaline or at least thin, medially green and obscurely 3- to 5-nerved, 

 the median nervate portion in some species coriaceous or even thickly verrucose 

 and scabrous along the veins, clasping the second lemma; first lemma lanceolate, 

 thin-chartaceous or marginally hyaline, shiny, in almost all species perfectly 

 glabrous; second lemma shorter than the first, similar in texture but in several 

 species scabrous (at least toward the tip), often cellulose under high magnification; 

 paleae hyaline, as long as the lemmas, shiny. 



A North American genus of about a dozen species. 



1. Panicle dense, often spikelike, erect; second glume very broad, obtuse 



1.5. obtiisata. 



1. Panicle rather loose, nodding, never spikelike; second glume subacute 



2. S. intermedia. 



1. Sphenopholis obtusata (Michx.) Scribn. Prairie wedgescale. Fig. 101. 



Perennial; culms leafy, 1-10 dm. long, basally 1-2.5 mm. thick, shortly de- 

 cumbent, geniculate at the lower nodes, mostly ascending or erect; blades 3-12 mm. 

 broad, flat; panicle dense, usually interrupted-spiciform or slightly more open, 

 3-18 cm. long, 5-20 mm. broad, with pedicels about 0.5 mm. long, a 1-cm. 

 transection through the middle enclosing about (20) 30 to 75 spikelets; spikelets 

 rarely gaping, usually yellowish; first glume 1.3-2.3 mm. long; second glume very 



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