jPHALARis. TRTANDRTA. DIGYNIA. iOi 



Sfc. I. p. 326. Smith FL Brit. I. ^. 62. E'lg. Bot, 

 t. 1310. Roem. 4^ Schu/t, 11. p. 402. 

 Hoot annual. Cizlm about a foot and a half iii-^h, simple, nearly 

 terete. Leaves br )ad-linear. Shea'/is infl-Ared. Calyx nearly 

 twice the length i)f the corolla. Corolla smooth ; valves lan- 

 ceolate, acute. Rudiments very bhort, entire. Siam-^ns 3. 

 Seed ovate. 

 Hab. In pastures a:vl cultivated i^rovuvls near New-York ; not 

 uncommon. Juiv, Introduced from Earope. 



21. ANTHOXANTHUM. L, 



Gdijx 2-valvecl, 1 -flowered. Corolla 2-valved, with 

 2 abortive l-valvcd rudiments at the base; one of them 

 awned from near die base, the other froiu near the tip. 

 Stamens 2. Gm. pi 58. Nutt, Gen. I. p. 47. 

 Juss. p. 29. Roem. ^ Sahiilt. Gen, 115. F. 

 de Beauv. Agrost. p. 64. t. XII. f. 8. Trin, 

 Agrost. 4. Panicle contracted. 



A. odoratum L. : spike ovate-oblong ; flowers pubescent, 

 subpeduncled, shorter than their awns. IVilld. Spec, f. 

 p. 15G. Mich. FL 1. p. 39. Big. Bost. p. 8. Pursh 

 Fl. I. p. 65. Elliott Sk.\.\>. 31. M uh I, Gram. p. 2. 

 Eng. Bot. t. 647. Roem. ^ Schult. I. p. 287. 



Root fibrous, perennial. Culm about a foot high, erect. Leaves 

 pubescent, flat, 2 — 3 lines broad. S/ifiule elongated, mem- 

 branaceous. Flowers in a terminal s/ii/ce, or spiked panicle, 

 crowded, fascicled on short peduncles. Glumes of the calyx 

 very unequal, membranaceous, pubescent ; the inferior glume 

 shorter, subovate ; the superior lanceolate. Corolla of the 

 perfect flower included, very short; one of the abortive florets 

 with a geniculate awn at the base, of the length of tlie valve ; 

 the otiier with a shorter, straight awn a little below the tip. 

 Stamens 2; anthers very large. Styles 2, short; stigmas 

 much exserted, plumose, white. Seed oblong, black and 

 shining. 

 Hab. Common in meadows, fields, dry woods, &c. May — 

 August. In shady situations the spike is frequently large and 

 loose. Introduced from Europe. Sioeet-scentcd Vernal- grass. 

 What have usually been called t!\e two valves of the corolla 

 in this plant, are considered by Beauv o is, and some of the 

 best modern botanists, as abortive florets, and the two interior 

 scales which surround the stamens and styles, as a perfect 

 flower. This we thmk is the correct view of the genus. It 

 is thus defined in the Jgrostogra/ihia oiBeauvois : — " An- 

 THOXANTHUM. Cat. glumsB membranaces, triflorae, flosculis 

 longiores. Flosculi laterales neutri uniglumes, alio basi iiitra 

 medium arista tonili plicataj alio versus apicem arista recta. 



