MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



177 



1. Distichlis spicata (L.) Greene. Seashore saltgrass. (Fig. 

 349.) Culms 10 to 40 cm tall, sometimes taller; leaves numerous, 

 the sheaths closely overlapping, the spreading blades conspicuously 

 distichous, flat to involute, sharp-pointed, mostly less than 10 cm 

 long; panicle usually pale or 

 greenish, 1 to 6 cm long, rarely 

 longer; spikelets mostly 5- to 9- 

 flowered, mostly 6 to 10 mm 

 long, compressed; lemmas 3 to 

 6 mm long, the pistillate more 

 coriaceous and more closely im- 

 bricate than the staminate ; palea 

 rather soft, narrow, the keels 

 narrowly winged, entire ; anthers 

 about 2 mm long. % — 

 Seashores, forming dense col- 

 onies, Nova Scotia to Florida and 

 Texas ; British Columbia to Cal- 

 ifornia, Mexico and Cuba ; Pacific 

 slope of South America (fig. 350). 



2. Distichlis stricta (Torr.) 

 Rydb. Desert saltgrass. 

 (Fig. 351.) Resembling D. 

 spicata; panicles less congested, 

 the individual spikelets easily 

 distinguished ; spikelets, espe- 

 cially the staminate, with more 

 florets. % — Alkaline soil of 

 the interior, Saskatchewan to 

 eastern Washington, south to 

 Texas and California; Mexico 

 (fig. 352). Staminate spikelets 

 usually stramineous. 



3. Distichlis dentata Rydb. 

 (Fig. 353.) Culms usually low, 

 10 to 20 cm, much-branched, 

 rather stout ; blades on the aver- 

 age wider than in D. spicata; 

 panicles usually overtopped by 

 the leaves; spikelets usually many-flowered, the florets firm, closely 

 imbricate ; palea about as long as the lemma, firm, much broader below, 



the keels with wide finely dentate wings. % 

 — Alkaline soil in the interior, western Colorado 

 (Delta) to Washington, northern Arizona, and 

 California (fig. 354). This and the two preced- 

 ing species appear to be distinct for the most part 

 but some specimens are intermediate. 



4. Distichlis texana (Vasey) Scribn. (Fig. 

 355.) Culms erect from a decumbent base, 30 

 to 60 cm tall, producing extensively creeping 

 rhizomes and long stout stolons; blades flat, firm, glabrous beneath, 

 scabrous on the upper surface, mostly 20 to 40 cm long, 2 to 



Figure 349.— Distichlis spicata. Plant, X 1; floret, X 5. 

 (Hitchcock 2826, Oreg.) 



Figure 350.— Distribution of 

 Distichlis spicata. 



