and Rio Grande Plains, spring-fall and in the extreme s. in winter; nat. of Euras., 

 introd. and ubiquitous in disturbed areas, warmer parts of Am. n. to N. E., 

 Mich., la., Colo., Ut., Nev. and Ore. 



Very important as a forage in tame pastures, and as a lawngrass. 



37. Beckmannia Host. 



Two species confined to the North Temperate Zone. 



1. Beckmannia Sysigachne (Steud.) Fern. American slough grass. Fig. 123. 



Annual; culms light green, erect, rather stout, 3-10 dm. tall; blades flat; panicle 

 10-25 cm. long, narrow, more or less interrupted; spikes crowded, 1-2 cm. 

 long, appressed or ascending; spikelets 1 -flowered, laterally compressed, subcir- 

 cular, nearly sessile and closely imbricate, in 2 rows along one side of a slender 

 continuous rachis, disarticulating below the glumes, falling entire, 3 mm. long; 

 glumes equal in size, inflated, obovate, 3-nerved, transversely wrinkled and with 

 a deep keel; lemma narrow, 5-nerved, acuminate with the apex protruding beyond 

 the glumes; palea nearly as long as the lemma. 



Marshy flats, ditches, swampy grounds, wet meadows, in mud of irrigated fields 

 and edge of lakes and ponds, in N. M. (Rio Arriba, San Juan and Taos cos); 

 Man. to Alas.; N. Y. and O. to Pac. Coast, s. to Kan. and N.M.; Asia. 



38. Spartina Schreb. Cordgrass 



Perennials; ligule a fringe of cilia; panicle of several spikes; zone of abscission 

 at the base of the spikelet; spikelet strongly laterally compressed, very closely 

 imbricate, arranged in 2 rows on the abaxial side of the flattened rachis of the 

 spike, 1 -flowered, firm; glumes very unequal, the first shorter than the lemma, 

 the second longer than the lemma; palea often longer than the lemma but shorter 

 than the second glume. 



A genus of about 16 species, mostly American but a few on the coasts of 

 Europe and Africa. 



These plants afford protection for wildlife in coastal and inland marshes. Their 

 seeds are eaten by some species of ducks, marsh birds and songbirds, and the 

 rootstocks also provide valuable winter food for geese. Muskrats are also known 

 to feed on their underground parts. 



1. Spikelets 15-25 mm. long, including the awn; second glume with an awnlike 

 tip a third to a half its entire length; keels of second glume and 

 lemma with bristles 0.2-0.4 mm. long 6. S. pectinata. 



1. Spikelets 5-15 mm. long, awnless; keel of second glume and lemma often 



minutely pubescent but not pectinate (2) 



2(1). Spikes numbering only 2 to 7 (to 10) per panicle, often remote (the panicle 

 axis being 9-20 cm. long); culms only 2-4 mm. thick and rhizomes 

 present (3) 



2. Spikes more numerous per panicle and more crowded or if few then culms 



thicker and/ or rhizomes absent (4) 



3(2). Blades usually flat but becoming involute; glumes conspicuously hispid- 

 ciliate on the keels; spikes 4 to 8, appressed 4. 5. gracilis. 



3. Blades usually involute; glumes scabrous on the keels; spikes 2 to several, 



ascending to spreading 5. S. patens. 



4(2). Spikes 1-3.5 cm. long; panicle spikelike, 5-10 mm. thick; rhizomes absent; 



leaf blades nearly wholly involute, 2-5 mm. broad at base 



1. S. spartinae. 



4. Spikes 4-15 cm. long; panicles 7-70 mm. broad; rhizomes present; leaf blades 



4-25 mm. broad at base, mosfly flat (5) 



259 



