174 



GRAMINEAE. 



VOL. I. 



i. Eriocoma cuspidata Xutt. Wild or Indian Millet. Silky Grass. Fig. 413. 



1814. Not 



Stipa membranacea Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 728. 



L. 1753- 



Eriocoma cuspidata Nutt. Gen. i : 40. 1818. 

 Oryzopsis cuspidata Benth. ; Vasey, Special Rep. U. S. 



Dept. Agric. 63: 23. 1883. 

 O. membranacea Vasey, Grasses S. W. Part 2, pi. 10. 1891. 



Culms glabrous, i -2 tall, erect, rigid, simple, smooth. 

 Sheaths usually shorter than the internodes, smooth or 

 somewhat rough; ligule i"-2" long, acute; leaves 6'-i2 r 

 long, less than i" wide, involute, stiff, smooth or some- 

 what scabrous; panicle 6'-i long, diffuse, generally 

 partially included in the upper sheath, its branches 

 widely spreading and many times forked, the ultimate 

 divisions flexuous ; outer scales of the spikelet 3" -4" in 

 length, long-acuminate, glabrous ; third scale about one- 

 half as long, acute, densely pubescent with long silky 

 erect hairs nearly twice its own length, the awn 2 "-3" 

 long. 

 On prairies, Saskatchewan to Washington, Iowa, Texas and Mexico. Bunch-grass. May-July. 



31. ORYZOPSIS Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i: 51. 1803. 

 [URACHNE Trin. Fund. Agrost. 109. iSiS.] 



Usually tufted grasses, with flat or convolute leaves and paniculate inflorescence. Spike- 

 lets i-flowered, broad. Scales 3; the two lower about equal, obtuse or acuminate; the third 

 scale shorter or a little longer, broad, bearing a terminal awn which is early deciduous, the 

 callus at the base of the scale short and obtuse, or a mere scar. Stamens 3. Styles distinct. 

 Stigmas plumose. Grain oblong, free, tightly enclosed in the convolute scale. [Greek, in 

 allusion to the supposed resemblance of these grasses to rice.] 



About 24 species, distributed through temperate and subtropical regions, rarely extending into 

 the tropics. Besides the following, some 7 others occur in the western parts of North America. 

 Type species : Oryzopsis asperifolia Michx. 



Spikelet, exclusive of awn, \Y^"-2." long. 



Awn not i" long, shorter than the scale; outer scales i l /2"-2". i. O. pnngcns. 



Awn 3" -4" long, more than twice as long as the scale; outer scales about i/4" in length. 



2. O. micrantha. 

 Spikelet, exclusive of awn, 3 "-4" long. 



Culms nearly naked, leaves all crowded at the base ; panicle 2' 3' long, its branches i' in 

 length or less, erect. 3. O. asperifolia. 



Culms leafy to the top; panicle 6' 12', branches 2 '-4' long, spreading. 4. O. racemosa. 



i. Oryzopsis pungens (Torr.) Hitchc. Slender 

 Mountain-rice. Fig. 414. 



M ilium pungens Torr.; Spreng. Neue Entd. 2: 102. 1821. 

 Oryzopsis canadensis Torr. Fl. N. Y. 2: 433. 1843. 

 Oryzopsis juncea B.S.P. Prel. Cat. N. Y. 67. 1888. 

 Orysopsis pungens Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 151. 

 1908. 



Culms glabrous, 6'-2 tall, erect, slender, simple, smooth. 

 Sheaths shorter than the internodes, usually crowded at 

 the base of the culm; ligule about i" long, decurrent; 

 blades smooth or scabrous, erect, involute, the basal about 

 one-half the length of the culm, occasionally equalling it, 

 filiform, those of the culm i'-^' long, the uppermost often 

 very small or reduced to the sheath only; panicle i'-2*' 

 long, the branches i'-i' in length, erect or ascending, the 

 lower half naked; spikelets \\"-2" long, the outer scales 

 about equal, glabrous, whitish ; third scale about the same 

 length or a little longer, pubescent with short appressed 

 silky hairs, the awn less than i" long. 



In dry rocky places, Pennsylvania to Labrador and British 



Columbia. May-June. 



