GRAMIXE.^. (grass FAMILY.) 611 



4. B. Sterilis, L. Annual ; culms ascending ( 1° - 2° long) ; leaves downy ; 

 panicle ample, drooping ; spikelets thin, loosely 5 - 9-flowered, the long-awned 

 flowers linear-subulate. — Waste ground. Introduced. 



58. PESTUCA, L. Fescue Grass. 



Spikelets panicled, 3 -many-flowered, the rachis jointed. Glumes unequal, 

 mostly keeled. Flowering glumes naked, chartaceous, rounded on the back, 

 3 - 5-nerved, entire and mostly acute or bristle-awned at the tip. Stamens 

 1-3. Grain adherent. — Culms simple. Leaves linear or setaceous. Pan- 

 icles terminal. 



* Annual: panicles contracted: spikelets awned : leaves filiform or setaceous. 



1. F. Myurus, L. Culms erect, very slender, included in the sheaths of 

 the bristle-like leaves ; panicle elongated, linear, 1-sided, partly included in 

 the sheath of the uppermost leaf, the scattered branches appressed ; spike- 

 lets compressed, 4-6-flowered; awn 2-3 times the length of the subulate 

 sparsely hairy glume. Stamen 1 . — Dry sandy soil, Florida to North Carolina. 

 March - April. — Culms 6' - 1 2' high. Panicle pale, 4' - 6' long. 



2. P. seiurea, Nutt. Culms taller (10'-20') ; panicle long-exserted ; 

 spikelets 5 - 7-fiowered ; awn 3-4 times as long as the glume ; otherwise like 

 the preceding. — Dry sand}' soil, Florida, and westward. Feb. - March. 



3. P. tenella, Willd. Culms (2'- 12' high) erect or ascending; leaves 

 narrowly linear or filiform ; panicle exserted, simple, spiked, or the branches 

 slightly spreading, mostly purple ; spikelets crowded, compressed, oblong, 8 - 

 12-flowered; awn not longer than the subulate hispid glume. — Dry sandy 

 soil, Florida, and northward. Feb. - April. 



* * Perennial: panicles spreading: spikelets awnless : leaves mostly linear. 



4. P. ovina, L. Culms 1°-U° high; panicle contracted, spike-like; 

 spikelets mostly 4-flowered ; awns short or wanting. — Waste ground in the 

 upper districts. 



Var. duriuscula, Koch. Panicles often spreading, 1-sided; spikelets 

 larger, 6 - 8-flowered ; glumes smooth or scabrous. — Fields and roadsides. 

 Introduced. 



5. P. elatior, L. Culms 2°-4° high; leaves linear, smooth; panicle 

 long, narrow, erect, the erect branches bearing the loosely 5-10-flowered 

 spikelets throughout ; flowering glume oblong-lanceolate, barely pointed. — 

 Low ground in the upper districts. Introduced. 



6. P. nutans, Willd. Culms 2° -4° high, and like the broadly linear 

 leaves rough, or the latter hairy ; panicle 1-sided, simple, erect or bending, the 

 few*branches mostly in pairs, remote, bearing few ovate 5 - 6-flowered spike- 

 lets near their summits, at length reflexed ; glumes rough on the back, acute ; 

 flowering glume ovate, barely pointed. — Rich woods and banks. August. 



59. MELICA, L. Melic Grass. 



Spikelets in panicles, consisting of 2 - 8 awnless perfect flowers enclosing 

 1-3 imperfect ones. Glumes unequal, membranaceous, convex, scarious on 



