598 (iUAMiNK.i:. (grass fa.mily.) 



•^ ■*- Ptiniclcs s] liked. 



4. S. Indicus, IJrown. (S.MI T CjUass.) Culms erect; pauide elon- 

 gali'd, linear; kavos loiiy, Hat; tiorct twice ius long as the glmiics. — Waste 

 places. May -Sept. — C iilm.s 2° -3^ ''"K''* l-<eaves with liristic-like .suiiimils. 

 ranicle 6' -1 8' long, turning blackish. Sj)ikelets crowded on the short ap- 

 pressed laauchcs. 



5. S. VirginieUS, Kunlli. fulni.s creeping, shorl-jointed, tiie short and 

 mostly clustereil hranclies erect ; leaves 2-ranked, soou convolute, short and 

 rigid ; panicle small, lanceolate ; glumes nearly ecjual, acute, rather longer 

 tiian the floret. — Saline marshes along the coast. July - August. — Flower- 

 ing Immches G'- 12' high. Leaves 2'-4'long. I'anicle 1' - 2' long, jiale or 

 purjile. 



* * Grain lanceolute or oblon;i,aiUi('fiii(] to the investinrj jiericarji: jianicle spiked, 

 more or less included in the sheaths of the leaves. 



6. S. asper, Kunth. Perennial; culms tall and slender ; leaves elongated, 

 rough above, bristle-like at the summit ; panicles partly included in the ujiijer 

 sheaths ; floret hairy, pointed, 2 -.'3 times as long as the rough-keeled glumes 

 and linear grain. — Dry sandy soil. July-August. — Culms 2°-3° liigii. 

 Slieaths liairy at tiic throat. 



". S, vaginaeflorus, Vasey. Annual; culms low, clustered, bearing 

 partly concealed panicles at every upper joint ; leaves short, smoothish ; floret 

 smooth, one third longer than the smooth glumes aad oval grain. — Dry bar- 

 ren soil. North Carolina and Tennessee. Sept. — Culms G'- 12' high. Leaves 

 2' -4' long. 



Var. minor, Scribner. Culms more slender and less clustered ; panicles 

 less developed ; the lateral ones included ; spikelets and glumes narrower. — 

 With tlie type. 



8. S. cryptandrus, Gray. Culms rather rigid, 1°- 2° high ; leaves lin- 

 ear, flat, bearded at the throat, the ui)permost sheath dilated and enclosing the 

 base of the dense panicle ; glumes keeled, the upper as long as the floret, and 

 twice as long as the lower one. — Coast of North Carolina. 



31. AGROSTIS, L. Bent Grass. 



Tufted usually tender grasses, with flat and narrow leaves ; the small 1- 

 flowered spikelets racemose on the hair-like clustered i)ranches of the open 

 panicle, on thickened pedicels. Glumes 2, nearly equal, longer than the floret. 

 Flowering glume awnless, or awned on the back, .3-.5-nerved, the palet 2- 

 nerved, occasionally minute or wanting. Stamens 1 -3. Styles or stigmas 2. 

 Grain free. 



§ 1. Triciiodium. — Palet minute or wantinf). 



1. A. elata, Trin. Culms stout, strictly erect, 2°-3° high ; leaves 6'-8' 

 long, 1" - 2" wide ; panicle open, the clustered branches closely flower-bearing 

 above the middle; lower glumes H" long, rather longer than the flowering 

 one ; palet minute or wanting. — Low sandy pine barrens. Sept. 



2. A. perennans, Tuck. Culms slender, erect, or decumbent at the 

 base, l°-2^ high; leaves 2' -4' long; jjanicle at length widely spreading, the 



