268 



GRAMINEAE. 



VOL. I 



3. Puccinellia distans ( L. ) Parl. Spread- 

 ing Meadow-grass. Sweet-grass. Fig. 645. 



Poa distans L. Mant. 32. 1767. 



Glycerin distans Wahl. Fl. Ups. 36. 1820. 



Puccinellia distans Parl. Fl. Ital. i: 367. 1848. 



Culms i -2 tall, decumbent at the base, tufted, 

 smooth and glabrous. Sheaths often shorter 

 than the internodes, smooth and glabrous ; ligule 

 \"-\" long; blades up to 4' long, i"-2" wide, 

 flat or folded, usually stiff and erect, smooth 

 beneath; panicle 3'-? in length, open, the 

 branches finally spreading, whorled, the lower 

 up to A,\' long, sometimes reflexed, naked below; 

 spikelets crowded, 3-6-flowered, ii"-2i" long; 

 empty scales obtuse or acute, i-nerved, the second 

 exceeding the first and less than half the length 

 of the first flowering scale, the truncate flowering 

 scales l"-i" long. 



On salt meadows, sea beaches and in waste places, 

 Nova Scotia to Delaware. Probably naturalized 

 from Europe. Sea-meadow-grass. July-Aug. 



4. Puccinellia fasciculata (Torr.) Bicknell. 

 Torrey's Meadow-grass. Fig. 646. 



Poa fasciculata Torr. Fl. U. S. i : 107. 1824. 



P. fasciculata Bicknell. Bull. Torr. Club 35: 197. 1908. 



Culms i-2 tall; sheaths smooth and glabrous; 

 ligule about i" long, truncate; blades erect, up to 5' 

 long, ii"-3" wide, smooth beneath, rough above; 

 panicle 3'-$' long, its branches spikelet-bearing to the 

 base, usually ascending; spikelets about 2" long, the 

 empty scales obtuse or acute, the second one less than 

 one-half as long as the first flowering scale, the 

 flowering scales i"-ii" long, obtuse or acutish, gla- 

 brous or nearly so. 



Salt marshes, Nantucket to New Jersey. May and June. 



5. Puccinellia airoides (Nutt.) Wats. &Coult. 

 Slender Meadow-grass. Fig. 647. 



Poa airoides Nutt. Gen. i : 68. 1818. 



Panicularia distans airoides Scribn. Mem. Torr. Club 



5 : 54. 1894. 

 Puccinellia airoides Wats. & Coult. in A. Gray, Man. Ed. 



6, 668. 1890. 



Culms i-4 tall, erect, simple, smooth and gla- 

 brous. Sheaths usually longer than the internodes; 

 ligule i" long; blades 2'-6' long, li" wide or less, 

 flat or involute, usually erect, smooth beneath, 

 rough above ; panicle open, its branches slender, 

 spreading or ascending, rarely erect, the lower 2'-3*' 

 long and often reflexed ; spikelets scattered, i-7-flow- 

 ered, ii"-3" long; empty scales unequal, the first 

 acute, i-nerved, the second obtuse or acute, 3-nerved, 

 more than half the length of the obtuse flowering 

 scales, which are i"-rl" long. 



In saline soil, southwestern Ontario to the Northwest 

 Territory, south to Kansas and Nevada. July-Aug. 

 Puccinellia Borreri (Bab.) Hitchc. is reported 1 as growing on ballast and in waste places from 

 Delaware to Nova Scotia. It is related to P. fasciculata (Torr.) Bicknell. 



98. FESTUCA L. Sp. PI. 73. 1753- 



Mostly tufted perennial grasses, with flat or convolute leaf-blades and paniculate inflores- 

 cence. Spikelets 2-several-flowered. Two lower scales empty, more or less unequal, acute, 



