GRAMINEJE. (GRASS FAMILY.) 563 
palea acutish, strongly nerved, hairy. (P. viridis and P. angustifolia, Ell.) — 
Rich soil, mostly around dwellings. Introduced. May.— Culm 19 - 2° high. 
5. P. compressa, L. Culms ascending from a creeping base, geniculate, 
and, like the sheaths, compressed ; panicle contracted, l-sided, the short erect 
branches 2 --4 in a cluster; spikelets 4 — 8-flowered ; lower palea rather obtuse, 
hairy below, faintly nerved. — With the preceding. May.— Culms 19 high. 
Leaves bluish green. 
32. ERAGROSTIS, Beauv. 
Spikelets few - many-flowered, compressed. Lower palea 3-nerved, not hairy 
nor woolly ; the upper one remaining after the rest of the flower has fallen. 
Otherwise as in Poa. — Culms often branched. Leaves and sheaths smooth or 
* Culms prostrate and creeping, diffusely branched. 
“1. E. reptans, Nees. Culms filiform, the flowering branches erect (4/-6! 
high), leaves short (1'—2' long), linear; sheaths downy at the base ; panicle small 
(2/—3? long), ovate or oblong, often contracted ; spikelets linear, 10 — 30-flowered, 
nearly sessile, imperfectly TATAEE paleæ acute. (Poa reptans, Michx.) — Low 
sandy places, Florida, and northward. Aug. and ‘Sept. (9 — Plant pale green. 
3 € Culms branching, erect or ascending: annuals. oer 
2. E. megastachya, Link. Culms prostrate and seiner oque 
aucendini’: leaves linear; sheaths smooth ; panicle oblong or pyramidal, con- 
tracted or spreading; spikelets oblong or at length linear (3” - 5" long), 10 — 30- 
flowered, often lead-color; lower palea ovate, obtuse. (Briza Eragrostis, L.) — 
Cultivated or waste grounds, Florida, and northward. July and Aug. 
3. E. ciliaris, Link. Culms slender, prostrate or ascending, geniculate; 
leaves (2/ - 3' long) linear, smooth ; sheaths smooth, bearded at the throat; panicle 
spiked, cylindrical, the minute (4” long) ovate spikelets densely crowded on the 
short appressed branches, 5 - 7-flowered ; lower palea obtuse, mucronate, rough or 
ciliate on the back ; the upper one fringed on the margins with long bristly hairs. 
— Varies with the culms nearly erect, open lanceolate or oblong panicle, dis- 
tinct pale spikelets, and flowers more scattered on the smooth rachis. — Waste 
places and along roads, Florida to South Carolina ; the var. at Key West. - mE 
Culms 6’-12' long. Spikelets purple. 
4. E. Purshii, Schrad. Culms slender, ascending, geniculate near 2 
base, 6-12' long; leaves narrowly linear, with the sheaths bearded at the 
throat; panicle 3-6! long, the lowest of the widely spreading branches whorled ; 
ikeli linear, 5 - 10-flowered, purple or pale, the lateral ones appressed, and 
mostly longer than their pedicels ; lower palea ovate, 3-nerved. (Poa pectinata, : 
and P. tenella, of authors. do aie pua and cultivated grounds, common. 
June - Sept. 
5. E. conferta, Trin. Qilns ee, son, 2°- 39 high; leaves Iinear; 
