HOW TO KNOW THE GRASSES 



52a. Nerves of the lemma without silky hairs 53 



52b. Lemma 3-nerved, the nerves densely covered 

 with short silky hairs. Fig. 237. 



PINE DROPSEED Blepharoneuron iricholepis (Torr.) Nash 



Perennial; tufted; culms slender, almost 

 leafless, 20—60 cm. tall. The leaf blades 

 are crowded in a basal tuft about a third 

 as long as the culms. The panicles are 

 loosely cylindrical, somewhat grayish in 

 color. This species is a good forage grass, 

 especially in early season. Open parks 

 and thin woods, ponderosa pine, spruce, 

 and fir forests. July — October. 



Figure 237 



53a. Lemmas with 3 — 5 nerves, awned or ownless; grain remaining 

 inclosed by the lemma and palea; ovary wall not separable from 

 the seed go back to 42 



53b. Lemmas with one nerve, awnless; grain falling free of the lemma 

 and palea at maturity; ovary wall when wet usually swelling 

 into a jelly-like material which can be peeled from the seed. . .54 



54a. Glumes plainly unequal in length 55 



54b. Glumes equal in length, nearly as long as the floret; plants an- 

 nual, in small tufts with very shallow roots. Fig. 238. 



Sporoboius vaginae/iorus (Torr.) Wood 



Annual; culms thin, wiry, 10 — 40 

 cm. tall, in small tufts; panicles 

 mostly concealed within the up- 

 per leaf sheaths, or only the tips 

 protruding. The lemmas are usu- 

 ally blackish-spotted, and the pa- 

 lea is often longer than the lem- 

 ma. Both lemma and palea are 

 covered sparsely with appressed 

 hairs. Dry sterile open ground. 

 August — October. 

 ^,o Sporoboius neglectus Nash is 



Figure 238 , , i i 



similgr, but has shorter, plumper 

 spikelets with glabrous lemmas. Northeastern and midwestern United 

 States. 



126 



