Festuca. CLXI. GRAMINE^. 611 



lower palea cordate, bifid at the apex, usually awned a little below 

 the tip, upper palea conduplicate, ciliate on the margin ; scales 

 ovate, smooth. 



1. B. SECALiNUs. Cheat. Chess. 



iS/. smooth, erect, 3f high ; Ivs. flat, rough at the edge and above; sheaths 

 veined, smooth ; slip, laciniate ; panicle spreading, the branches mostly simple, 

 each bearing 1 — 2 spikelets ; spikdets ovate, compressed, about 10-flowered, large, 

 2-ranked, oval, appearing not unlike short heads of wheat. Flowers distinct, 

 awn very short. — (I) A handsome grass in fields, often among wheat. June. § 



2. B. ARVENsis. (B. mollis of Am. auth.?) Soft Brome Grass. 



Root Q) ; St. erect, mostly pubescent, 1 — 2f high ; Ivs. and sheaths downy- 

 pubescent ; panicle erect, clo.se, compound, 3 — 4' long ; spikelets oblong-ovate, 

 slightly compressed, tomentose, 5 — lO-flowered; /s. elliptical; lower palea oh- 

 long-lanceolate, 7-veined, with a straight awn nearly its length. A coarse grass, 

 in fields and roadsides. June, July. § 



3. B. PURG.\Ns, (Canadensis, ciliatus and pubescens, oi Linn., Muhl., <^c.) 

 St. terete, rather slender, simple, erect, 2 — 4f high, nodes blackish ; Ivs. 



broadly linear, flat, rough-edged, more or less pubescent, striate, 6 — 12' by 3 — 5"; 

 sheaths more or less pilose with deflexed hairs; panicle large, erect, 5 — 8' long, 

 finally nodding, branches in 2s — 4s, compound, scabrous-pubescent ; spikelets 

 numerous, lance-ovoid, subterete, 7 — 11-flowered, pedicellate, 9 — 13" long, acute 

 at each end ; Jls. imbricated, lower palea pubescent, longer than its straight awn, 

 upper green at edge and beautifully ciliate. — % Fields and woods, U. S. and 

 Brit. Am. Jn., Jl. — Varies in size, pubescence, &c., but its forms can scarcely 

 be characterized even as varieties.— A coarse, showy grass, of little value. 



35. CERATOCHLOA. Palis. 

 Gl'. Kspai, TTcparoi, a horn, %Xoa, grass. 



Panicle simple ; spikelets lanceolate, compressed, many-flowered ; 

 glumes shorter than the flowers, paleai bifid-toothed, the lower one 

 mucronate between the teeth ; fruit coated, furrowed, 3-horned. 



C. UNiLoiDES. Palis. 



St. 1 — 2f high; Ivs. lance-linear, pubescent, veined; sheatlis bearded at the 

 throat ; slip, ovate ; panicle small, nodding, spreading, branches in pairs ; spike- 

 lets oblong-lanceolate, pedicels hairy ; glumes nearly equal, acuminate, striate ; 

 palecB unequal, lanceolate, acuminate, margined ; sta. 3. — River bottoms, Penn., 

 Car. 



3G. FESTUCA. 



A Latin name for the shoot or stalk of a plant. 



Spikelets oblong, acute at each end, subterete ; glumes 2, unequal, 

 shorter than the flowers ; paleoc lanceolate, lower one sharply acumi- 

 nate or awned at the extremity ; caryopsis coated. 



1. F. TENELLA. Willd. Slender Fesciw Grass. 



St. filiform, wiry, often growing in tufts and geniculate at base, 6—12' 

 high; Zi:s. erect, linear-setaceous, 2— 3' long; slieaths subpubescent, with lace- 

 rated stipules ; 'panicle simple, contracted, rather secund, branches alone or in 

 pairs; spikelets 5 — 7-flowered, with subulate, subequal glumes, at length brown- 

 ish ; fls. subulate, longer than their awns.—® Sandy fields, N. Eng. to 111., S. to 

 Car. June. 



2. F. ELATioR. Tall Fescue Grass. 



St. smooth, 3 — 4f high ; Ivs. lanceolate, smooth, rough-edged, a foot long, 

 on smooth, loose sheaths ; panicle drooping, very branching, loosely spreading, 

 branches in pairs; spikelets lance-ovate, acute, 4 — 6-flowered, 6—8" long, race- 

 mose on the branches; lower glume shorter; lower palece acuminate or mucro- 

 nate. — A fine grass, in meadows, U. S. and Can. June. 



3. F. PRATENRis. Huds. Mcadow Fescue Grass. 



St. smooth, 2— 3f high ; lis. lance-linear, veined, smooth, rough-edged, 

 52 



