4. Spartina gracilis Trin. Alkali cordgrass. Fig. 127. 



Culms 3-10 dm. tall; ligules about 1 mm. long; blades flat, becoming involute, 

 15-20 cm. long, very scabrous above, mostly less than 5 mm. wide; spikes 4 to 8, 

 closely appressed, 2-4 cm. long; spikelets 6-8 mm. long; glumes long-ciliate on 

 the keel, acute, the first 5-6 mm. long, about half as long as the second; lemma 

 nearly as long as second glume, ciliate on the keel; palea as long as lemma, obtuse. 



Alkaline meadows and saline marshes and ditches, plains, in Ariz. (Apache and 

 Navajo cos.); B. C. to Wash., s. to Kan., N.M. {Hitchcock) and Ariz. 



5. Spartina patens (Ait.) Muhl. Saltmeadow cordgrass. Fig. 128. 



Perennial from creeping rhizomes 2-4 mm. thick; aerial culms 25-29 cm. long, 

 1-3 mm. thick, erect, unbranched; ligule about 0.5 mm. long; blades 15-40 cm. 

 long, 1.5-3 mm. broad, mostly involute, the tip subspinose; panicle 9-20 cm. long, 

 about 1 cm. broad; spikes 2 to 7 per panicle, 1-7 cm. long. 2-3 mm. thick, 

 usually diverging at angles of 5°-45°, remote; spikelets 24 to 50 per spike, 7-12 

 mm. long; first glume 3-8 mm, long; second glume 7-12 mm. long; lemma shorter 

 than second glume; glumes and lemma hispid on keel, at least distally, 



Sandy seasonally moist soil near the coast, salt marshes and wet sandy mea- 

 dows, in s.e. Tex. and Rio Grande Plains, common, summer-fall; shores of Great 

 Lakes, Atl. and Gulf coasts, cont. N.A. and W.I.; also s. Fr., Corsica and It. 



6. Spartina pectinata Link. Prairie cordgrass. Fig. 127. 



Perennial from firm creeping rhizomes 3-8 mm. thick; aerial culms 75-200 cm. 

 long, 3-10 mm. thick, erect, unbranched, leafy; ligule 1-3 mm. long; blades 2-6 

 dm. long. 5-10 mm. broad at base and flat, involute toward the tip and more 

 extensively involute on drying; panicle 1-3 dm. long. 2-6 cm. broad; spikes 5 to 

 20 (rarely more) per panicle, 2-15 cm. long, 3-7 mm. thick, appressed or usually 

 diverging at angles of 10°-20°, overlapping; spikelets 40 to 80 (rarely fewer) per 

 spike; first glume 5-10 mm. long including an awnlike tip, the keel minutely 

 hispid; second glume 15-25 mm. long including an awn-tip about a third to half 

 the entire length, the keel pectinate with erect bristles 0.2-0.4 mm. long; lemma 

 much shorter than the second glume, apically narrowed and bidentate, on the 

 upper half of the dorsal keel pectinate. Incl. var. Suttiei (Farw.) Fern. 



In wet meadows, swampy ground, fresh-water or saline marshes, seepage areas, 

 edge of ponds and streams, in Okla. (Ottawa and Alfalfa cos.) and n.-cen. and e. 

 Tex., Plains Country and Trans-Pecos, scattered or rare, summer; s. Can., s. to 

 N.C., Tenn., Ark., Tex., N.M. {Hitchcock), Ut. and Ore. 



39. Trichloris Fourn. 

 A very small American genus, included by some authors in Chloris. 



1. Trichloris crinita (Lag.) Parodi. Fig. 129. 



Tufted coarse perennial; culms 4-12 dm. long; blades elongate, 2-4 mm. broad, 

 pilose near the ligule; spikes digitate, 8 to 25 per panicle, 5-12 cm. long, feathery, 

 nearly straight, strictly ascending; spikelets each with one fertile floret and one 

 staminate or neutral; fertile lemma about 3 mm. long, both lemmas with 3 awns 

 about 1 cm. long. 



Deep alluvial silty soil along or near intermittent creeks and along ditc'' 

 infrequent in the Tex. Trans-Pecos and rare in w. Rio Grande Plains, N. - 

 (Dona Ana Co.) and Ariz. (Graham, Pinal, Maricopa, Cochise and Pima cos. 

 spring-fall; Tex. to Ariz, and s. to Dgo. and Coah.; also arid-temp, areas in 

 S. A. 



