MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



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appressed to the rachis, the sessile spikelet fitting closely against the 

 rachis (sometimes partly adnate in M. altissima), forming a cylindric 

 or flattened raceme; glumes mostly obtuse, the first coriaceous, fitting 

 over the hollow containing the spikelet, the keels winged at the sum- 

 mit, the second less coriaceous than the first; sterile lemma, fertile 

 lemma, and palea thin and hyaline. Perennial slender, moderately 

 tall, or tall grasses, with usually numerous glabrous cylindric or 

 flattened solitary racemes. Type species, Manisuris myuros L. 

 Name from Greek manos, necklace, and oura, tail, alluding to the 

 jointed racemes, presumably. The species probably have some forage 

 value but they are nowhere abundant. 

 Racemes flattened, tardily disarticulating; first glume of sessile spikelet smooth. 



1. M. ALTISSIMA. 



Racemes cvlindric, readilv disarticulating at maturity; first glume of sessile 

 spikelet marked with pits or wrinkles (sometimes smooth in M. tuberculosa). 

 Sheaths not compressed-keeled; first glume more or less pitted. 



2. M. CYLINDRICA. 



Sheaths compressed-keeled; first glume tessellated, wrinkled, tubercled, or 

 smooth. 



First glume tessellated, the depressions rectangular 3. M. tessellata. 



First glume with prominent transverse wrinkles 4. M. rugosa. 



First glume with a few low tubercles or smooth 5. M. tuberculosa. 



1. Manisuris altissima (Poir.) Hitchc. (Fig. 1682.) Perennial; 

 culms ascending from a long creeping base, compressed and 2-edged, 

 40 to 80 cm long, freely branching toward the ends; blades 

 flat, 3 to 8 mm wide; flowering branches often short and 

 fascicled, the racemes 3 to 5 cm, sometimes 10 cm long, 

 compressed; pedicel free or partly adnate to the rachis 

 joint; sessile spikelet 5 to 7 mm long, the keels of the first 

 glume very narrowly winged toward the apex; pedicellate 

 spikelet 5 to 6 mm long, acute. % (M. fasciculata 

 Hitchc.) — Ponds and ditches, southern Texas; warm tem- 

 perate and tropical regions of both hemispheres; introduced 

 in America. 



2. Manisuris cylindrica (Michx.) Kuntze. (Fig. 1683, 

 A) Culms tufted, with short rhizomes, erect, rather slen- 

 der, 30 to 100 cm tall, simple or with a few branches; 

 sheaths not compressed-keeled ; blades flat or folded, 2 to 

 3 mm wide; raceme cylindric, 5 to 15 cm long, slightly 

 curved; sessile spikelet 4 to 5 mm long, the first glume 

 pitted along the nerves. QI — Pine woods and prairies, 

 Coastal Plain, South Carolina to Florida and Texas, north 

 to Missouri and Oklahoma (fig. 1684). 



3. Manisuris tessellata (Steud.) Scribn. (Fig. 1683, B.) 

 Culms 80 to 120 cm tall, rather stout, branching; sheaths, 

 especially the basal ones, compressed-keeled; blades elon- 

 gate, flat, mostly 5 to 8 mm wide; raceme 5 to 12 cm long; sessile 

 spikelets 4 to 5 mm long; first glume tessellated with rectangular 

 depressions, the keels narrowly winged at the apex. Qi — Moist 

 pine woods, Coastal Plain, Florida to Louisiana (fig. 1685). 



4. Manisuris rugosa (Nutt.) Kuntze. (Fig. 1686.) Culms mostly 

 rather stout, 70 to 120 cm tall, freely branching; sheaths compressed- 

 keeled; blades commonly folded, 3 to 8 mm wide; flowering branches 

 often numerous, the racemes 4 to 8 cm long, partly included in 

 brownish sheaths; rachis joint and pedicel contracted in the middle; 



< 



Figure 1682.— 

 Man isuris 

 altissima, X 1. 

 (Hitchcock, 

 Tex.) 



