GEXUS 89. 



GRASS FAMILY. 



2. Briza minor L. Lesser or Smaller 

 Quaking-grass. Fig. 601. 



Briza minor L. Sp. PI. 70. 1733. 



Smooth and glabrous, culms -|'-I5' tall, erect 

 from an annual root, simple. Sheaths shorter 

 than the internodes; ligule i"-3" long, acute; 

 blades I '-5' long, i "-4" wide, sometimes scabrous; 

 panicle 2 '-5' in length, open, the capillary branches 

 spreading or ascending, i'-2i' long; spikelets 

 3-6-flowered, i"-i$" long, about 2" broad, trun- 

 cate at the base; scales scarious-margined, the 

 lower ones about i" long; flowering scales much 

 broader and deeply saccate, about 3" long. 



In ballast and waste places, New Jersey to Vir- 

 ginia ; common in California, and widely distributed 

 in tropical America. 

 Europe. June-July. 



Adventive or naturalized from 



90. DACTYLIS L. Sp. PL 71. 1753. 



Tall perennial grasses, with flat leaf-blades and paniculate inflorescence. Spikelets 

 3-5-flowered, short-pedicelled, in dense capitate clusters, the flowers perfect or the upper 

 staminate. Two lower scales empty, thin-membranous, keeled, unequal, mucronate ; flowering 

 scales larger than the empty ones, rigid, 5-nerved, keeled, the midnerve extended into a point 

 or short awn ; palets shorter than the scales, 2-keeled. Stamens 3. Styles distinct. Stigmas 

 plumose. Grain free, enclosed in the scale and palet. [Name used by Pliny for some grass 

 with finger-like spikes.] 



A genus of several species, natives of Europe and Asia. Type species : Dactylis glomerata L. 



i. Dactylis glomerata L. Orchard-grass. 

 Cock's-foot. Fig. 602. 



Dactylis glomerata L. Sp. PI. 71. 1753. 



Culms 2-4 tall, tufted, erect, simple, smooth 

 and glabrous. Sheaths shorter than the internodes, 

 smooth or rough; ligule i"-2" long; blades 3' -9' 

 long, i "-3" wide, flat, scabrous; panicle 3'-8' in 

 length, the branches spreading or ascending in 

 flower, erect in fruit, the lower i'-2r>' long, spikelet- 

 bearing from above or below the 'middle ; spikelets 

 in dense capitate clusters, 3-5-flowered; lower 

 scales i-3-nerved, the first shorter than the second ; 

 flowering scales 2"-3" long, rough, pointed or short- 

 awned, ciliate on the keel. 



In fields and waste places. New Brunswick to 

 British Columbia, south to Florida and California. 

 Naturalized from Europe and cultivated for fodder. 

 Dew- or Hard-grass. June-July. 



91. CYNOSURUS L. Sp. PI. 72. 1753. 



Annual or perennial tufted grasses, with flat leaf-blades and dense spike-like inflorescence. 

 Spikelets of two kinds, in small clusters ; lower spikelets of the clusters consisting of narrow 

 empty scales, with a continuous rachilla, the terminal spikelets of 2-4 broader scales, with an 

 articulated rachilla and subtending perfect flowers. Two lower scales in the fertile spikelets 

 empty, i -nerved, the flowering scales broader, i-3-neryed, pointed or short-awned ; upper 

 scales narrower, usually empty. Scales of the sterile spikelets pectinate, spreading, all empty, 

 linear-subulate, i-nerved. Stamens 3. Styles distinct, short. Stigmas loosely plumose. Grain 

 finally adherent to the palet. [Greek, signifying dog's tail, referring to the spike.] 



About 5 species, natives of the Old World. Type species : Cynosnrus cristatits L. 



