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. sECALlNUs, Cheat. Chess. 



/S/-. smooth, erect, 3f high ; lis. flat, rough at the edge and above; sheaths 

 v^eined, smooth ; slip, laciniate ; paiucle spreading, the branches mostly simple, 

 each bearing 1 — 2spikelets; spikck/s ovate, compressed, about lO-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. aulh.?) Soft Brome Grass. 



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

 pubescent; panicle erect, close, compound, 3 — 4' long; splkelefs oblong-ovate, 

 slightly compressed, tomentose, 5 — lO-flov.'ered; /5. 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. PURGANs, (Canadensis, ciliatus and pubescens, of Linn., Muhl., dl-c.) 

 St. terete, rather slender, simple, erect, 2 — if 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 — 'Is, 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. 



Gr. Kcpai, TTcparoi, a horn, x^^*^' grass. 



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

 glumes shorter than the flowers, paleaa 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; sheaths bearded at the 

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

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

 palecB unequal, lanceolate, acuminate, margined ; s(a.3. — River bottoms, Penn., 

 Car. 



36. FESTtrCA. 



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



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

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

 nate or awned at the extremity ; caryopsis coated. 



1. F. TKNELLA. Willd. Slcudcr Fescue Grass. 



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

 high; /rs. erect, linear-setaceous, 2 — 3' long; sheaths subpubcscent, with lace- 

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

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

 ish ; Jls. subulate, longer than their awn.s. — (i) Sandy fields, N. Eng. to ill., 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; panirlr. drooping, very branching, loosely spreading, 

 branches in pairs; spikclds lance-ovate, acute, 4— G-flowcred, 6 — 8" long, race- 

 mose on the branches; lower i: In me shorter; lower palea acuminate or mucro- 

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



!{. F. PRATF.Nsi.s. Hiids. Mradtnr Fescue Grass. 



St. smooth, 2 — 3f high; Iva. lanrc-jinear, veitied, sniooili, rough-edged, 



