PLIANTS OF SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY. 217 



The coastal strip seems to have a much later awakening in 

 spring time than the western part of the State, and when the 

 gray-green is beginning to tinge the landscape of the lower Dela- 

 ware valley the shore marshes are still wrapped in the dull brown 

 of winter. Even then, however, careful search will disclose the 

 little brownish spikes of the Holy Grass pushing through the 

 sod and unfurling their sprays of yellow anthers to the cold 

 winds that still sweep in from the ocean. The long narrow 

 glossy leaves come later and do not attain their full growth until 

 the flower stalk has dried up. 



The Lake Como specimen has been identified as S. fiashii, but 

 the form does not appear separable. 



Fl. — Late April to late May. Panicles appear in early April 

 and after flowering become dry and persist until midsummer. 



Maritime.—Sea Bright (C), Lake Como, Squan (C), Pt. Pleasant (KB), 

 Bay Head, Surf City (L), Barnegat City (L), Beach Haven Terrace (L), 

 Anglesea (H), Cape May Ct. House, Cape May, Salem. 



Also a specimen collected by J. H. Grove in a roadside near Lakehurst, July 

 23, 1808, perhaps introduced. 



ARISTIDA L. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Awns twisted together spirally below the middle. A. tuberculosa, p. 3l8 

 aa. Awns separate to the base. 



b. Middle awn coiled at the base, lateral awns very short. 



A. dichotoma, p. 217 

 bb. Middle awn not coiled at the base. 



c. Middle awn 35-70 mm. long, lateral awns not much shorter. 



A. oligantha, p. 218 

 cc. Middle awn less than 25 mm. long. 



d. Lower sheaths densely wooly. A. lanosa, p. 219 



dd. Sheaths glabrous. 



e. 3-8 dm. tall, panicle dense. A. purpurascens, p. 218 



ee. 1.5-5 dm. tall, panicle slender. A. gracilis, p. 218 



Aristida dichotoma Michx. Poverty Grass. 



PI. VHL, Fig. 9. 



Aristida dichotoma Michaux, Fl. Ber. Am. L 41. 1803 [Lincoln, N. Car.]. — 

 Knieskern 38. — Britton 286. 



Dry ground throughout the State. 

 Fl. — Late August to early October. 



