HOW TO KNOW THE GRASSES 



17a. Spikes very long cmd slender (10 — 20 cm. long), the widely-spaced 

 spikelets parallel to the rachis; spikes numerous, forming an open, 

 dome-shaped panicle. Fig. 262. 



Gymnopogon ambiguus (Michx.) B. S. P. 



Perennial; tufted or with short rhi- 

 zomes; culms 30 — 60 cm. tall, stiff and 

 erect, with overlapping sheaths and 

 short, broad, spreading leaf blades. The 

 slender spikes may reach 15 — 20 cm. in 

 length, and the whole panicle may be 

 half the total height of the plant. Pine 

 woods, mostly on the Atlantic and Gulf 

 coastal plains. September — November, 

 also in the spring. 



Figure 262 



17b. Spikes thicker, less than 5 cm. long, the closely overlapping spike- 

 lets placed at an angle to the rachis; spikes 1 — many 21 



18a. Lenmias light colored, awned. 



19 



18b. Lemmas dark brown, nearly awnless; spikelets 2 mm. long. Fig. 

 263. 



Chloris peiraea Swartz 



Perennial; tufted or with short stolons; 

 plants up to 100 cm. tall; spikes 4 — 10 

 cm. long; lemmas chocolate brown; leaf 

 sheaths and culms strongly keeled; leaf 

 blades pale in color and with rounded 

 tips. This species grows in the pine 

 woods of the southern Atlantic and Gulf 

 coastal plains. August — May. 



Figure 263 



139 



