TRIANDllIA. MONOGYNIA. 51 



*'anstis brevlbus, subdivaricatis." Desfontaines remarks 

 in l>is ' Flora Atlantica' of the same plant as growing in 

 Northern \tV.ca "g-lunije — mucronatx, mucrone brevissi- 

 mo, horizontaliter conniventes;" — 2. *racemoaam,\ {.igros. 

 tis racemosa, Mich.) Of tb.is genus tliere are now 5 spe- 

 cies described. Tlie P. manspeliense (oi- ahiiit/m) on ihe 

 sea-coasts of Fi-ance and England, and probably in the 

 Vnited States; 2 the P. maritimum discovered by Bon- 

 pland, near liochelle in France, 3 t!ie P. vaginatum 

 found by Pallas in tlie Crimea, and lastly, the P. fascicu- 

 latuin near Estremadura in Spain. 



78. ALOPECURUS. L. (Fox-tail Grass.) 



Calioc 2-valved, 1 fi jwered. Corolla 1-vaIved, 

 awned from the base. 



Culm generally simple, terminating in a dense and usu- 

 ally cylindric, simple or lobed spike, in the A. pratensis 

 and the A. agresUSy the glumes of the call:; are connate 



I Culm veiy tall, compressed, branched, and somewhat de- 

 cumbent; panicles interruptedly spiked, both axillary and ter- 

 minal; many-flowered; flowers conglomerated in approxi- 

 mating lobes; calix glumes nearly equal, narrow lance olaie, 1- 

 nerved, each nerve terminating in a very long scabrous seta 

 (after the manner of Festuca); corolla glumes nearly equal, al- 

 most terete, much sliorter than the calix (the exterior valve 

 terminating m a straight awn, nearly its length) pilose below; 

 seed cylindric. 



Habitat. On the alluvions of the Missisippi and Missou- 

 ri; abundant around St. Louis, (Louisiana.) 



Obs. Arista of the calix more than its length; leaves smooth 

 and linear, culm much branched, often 8 feet high, and decum- 

 bent upon the neighbouring plants. Pubescence of the corolla 

 hairy, principally near ihe base, but not as long as the roroila; 

 the awn of the flower appears to be ofien \vanting. 'I'his spe- 

 cies seems to be somewhat allied to the P. fascictiUitnm of 

 Spain, but differs very essentially in the nearly equal length of 

 the calix valves, and indeed from the genus ira the rather rigid 

 structure of the awns, and the entire but membranaceous mar- 

 gins of the calix; (in P. JtlcnspeUe/ise the calix is cleft at the 

 point;) the pubescence also near the base of the cox'olla, but not 

 absolutely so, and much shorter than it in length, separates it 

 from CaiamagTostis; neither is this pubescence disposed in 2 

 lateral tufts as in Agrosti.i, at the same time it is in this genus 

 ail anomalous circumstance. 



