GRASS FAMILY 



175 



1. Spartina foliosa Trin. 



California Cord-grass. 



Fig. 396. 



spartina foliosa Trin. Mem. Acad. St. Petersb. VI. Sci. Nat. 

 4': 114. 1840. 



Culms stout, as much as 1 cm. thick at base, usually 

 rooting from the lower nodes, 30-120 cm. tall, somewhat 

 spongy in texture ; blades 8-12 mm. broad at the flat 

 base, gradually narrowed to a long involute tip, 

 smooth on surface and margin ; inflorescence dense, 

 spikelike, about 15 cm. long; spikes approximate, 

 numerous, close-appressed, 3-5 cm. long; spikelets in- 

 durate, very flat, about 12 mm. long ; glumes ciliate on 

 keel, acute but not awned, the first narrow, about % 

 as long as second, smooth, the second sparingly his- 

 pidulous and striate-nerved ; lemma hispidulous on 

 sides, smooth on keel, a little shorter than the second 

 glume; palea thin, longer than the lemma. 



Salt marshes along the coast from San Francisco Bay south- 

 ward. July-Nov. Type locality: California. 



2. Spartina michauxiana Hitchc. 

 Cord-grass. Fig. 397. 



spartina niicluui.viana Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 153. 

 1908. 



Spartina cynosnroidcs of authors not L. 



Culms 1-2 meters tall ; blades 60-120 cm. long, as 

 much as 15 mm. wide, tapering to a slender point, flat 

 but soon involute in drying, smooth except the margins ; 

 spikes usually numerous (5-20), scattered, ascending 

 or spreading, usually 5-10 cm. long; glumes serrulate- 

 hispid on the keel, the first acuminate and equaling the 

 floret, the second tapering into an awn 7 mm. long; 

 lemma 7-9 mm. long, glabrous except the serrulate- 

 scabrous midnerve, this abruptly terminating below the 

 cmarginate or 2-toothed apex. 



Banks of rivers and lakes. Nova Scotia to Oklahoma and 

 eastern Washington. July-Sept. Type locality: Illinois. 



3. Spartina gracilis Trin. 



Alkali Cord-grass. 



Fig. 



398. 



spartina gracilis Trin. iMem. Acad. St. Petersb. VI Sci. Nat. 4': 

 110. 1840. 



Culms 60-100 cm. tall ; blades flat, becoming involute, 

 15-20 cm. long, very scabrous above; spikes few, 4-8, 

 closely appressed to the axis, 1-1.5 cm. long; spikelets 

 about 6 mm. long; glumes smooth, except the ciliate 

 1-eel, 1-nerved, acute but not awned. the first about half 

 as long as the second ; lemma aliout as long as second 

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



Alkaline meadows, Great Plains to eastern Washington, ex- 

 tending southward east of the Sierra Nevada. June-Aug. Type 

 locality: North America, probably Saskatchewan. 



