112 TRIANDRIA—DIGYNIA. Mellca. 



tufted. Seed ovate, loose, covered with the loose hardened 

 corolla. 

 Perennial harsh grasses, with slender oblong panicles, of 

 elegant, often drooping, ^ow^r^, greatly varied hi the dif- 

 ferent species. 



1. M. unijlora. Wood Melic-grass. 



Petals beardless. Panicle branched, drooping toward one 

 side. Flowers erect. Spikelet with only one perfect flo*- 

 ret. 



M. uniflora. Retz. Obs. fasc. 1 . 1 0. Willd. y . 1 . 383. Fl. Br. 91, 



Engl. Bot. V. 15. t. 1058. Curt. Lond.fasc. 5. 1. 10. Mart. Rust. 



t. 64. Knapp tA\. Graves Br. Or. f .49. Hook. Scot.Sl . Schrad. 



Germ. v.\. 269. FL Dan. 1. 1 144. 

 M. nutans. Huds. 37. Rel. Rudb. 18./ 2. 

 M. Lobeiii. FUlars Dauph. v. 2. 89. ^-3. _ 

 Gramen avenaceum nemorense, glumis rarioribus ex fusco xeram- 



pelinis. Raii Sijn. 403. 

 G. avenaceum locustis rarioribus. Bauh. Theatr. 155. Moris, v. 3, 



215. sect.8.t.7,f. 49, bad. 



In groves and thickets, frequent. 



Perennial, M«?/, Ju7ie. 



Root creeping. ^Stem 18 inches high, smooth, slender, unbranched, 

 leafy. Leaves deep green, flat, thin, taper-pointed, with fine 

 rough ribs and edges. Sheaths nearly or quite smooth, half as 

 long as the leaves. Stipula short, variable, usually elongated 

 into a point op])osite to the leaf, which, as Schrader remarks, is 

 a rare circumstance. Panicle branched ; the branches few, ca- 

 pillary, rough, leaning to one side. Fl. upright, tremulous, ele- 

 gant, variegated with green, white, and deep reddish brown, 

 quite smooth in every [)art, except the inner valve of the corolla, 

 which is finely downy. The only perfect floret is sessile ; neuter 

 one on a stout bent stalk, its glumes small, abrupt and shape- 

 less. Seed covered with the pale, polished, ribbed, hardened 

 outer valve of the corolla, but quite unconnected with it. 



2. M. nutans. Mountain Melic-grass. 



Petals beardless. Panicle close, drooping, nearly simple. 

 Flowers pendulous. Spikelet with two perfect florets. 



M. nutans. Linn. Sp.Fl.9'^. Willd. v.]. SS2. Fl. Br. 92. Engl. 



Bot. V. 15. t. 1059. Curt. Lond.fasc. 6. t.4. Mart. Rust. t. 65. 



Knapp t.42. Rel. Rudb. 18./. 1. Hook. Scot. SO. Graves Br. 



Gr. t.oO. Schrad. Germ. v. 1 . 267. Schreb. Gram. v. 2. 62. t.6. 



f. A. Host Gram. v. 2. 9. 1. 10. Leers 24. t. 3./ 4. 

 M. montana. Huds. 37. 



