564 GRAMINE^E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



apprcssed , flowers minute, membranaceous, rather distant on the molds ; lower 

 palea obtuse, 3-nerved. (Poa conferta, Ell.) — River-banks, Florida to South 

 Carolina. Aug. and Sept. — Paniele whitish. Spikelets 1"- li" long. 

 * * * Culms sim/>le, erect, shorter than the huge and spreading panicle. 



6. E. tenuis, Gray. "Panicle rugately elongated (l°-2£° long), very 

 loose, the spreading branches bearded in some of the lower axils, their remote 

 divisions and long diverging pedicels capillary j spikelets 2 - 6- (sometimes 7- 

 12-) flowered, pale or greenish; glumes lanceolate or awl-shaped, very acute 

 (H"-2" long), membranaceous, as are the oblong-lanceolate acute flowers; 

 lower palea distinctly 3-nerved; the upper, ciliate-scabrous." Gray. (Poa te- 

 nuis, Ell.) — Greenville, South Carolina, Elliott; North Carolina, Curtis. Aug. 

 and Sept. 1J. ? — Leaves (H°-2° long) and sheaths smooth or hairy. 



7. E. eapillaris, Nees. Panicle widely expanding, the lower axils mostly 

 bearded; spikelets very small (1"- H" long), 2 -4-flowercd, mostly purple, on 

 long diverging capillary pedicels ; glumes and flowers ovate, acute ; lower palea 

 obscurely 3-nerved. (Poa, L. P. hirsuta, Michx.) — Dry uncultivated fields, 

 Florida, and northward. Aug. and Sept. — Leaves and sheaths smooth or 

 hairy. Panicle l°-2° long. 



8. E. nitida. Panicle (lp-3° long) reclining, the bristle-like or capil- 

 lary branches erect-spreading, naked in the axils ; spikelets linear, flat (3"-4" 

 long), 8 — 12-flowered, on erect-spreading pedicels l'-2' long; lower palea acute, 

 3-nerved, nearly smooth on the keel ; leaves and sheaths very smooth and shin- 

 ing. (Poa nitida, Ell.) — Low grassy places along the coast, West Florida to 

 South Carolina. Aug. and Sept. \ — Leaves narrowly linear, longer than 

 the short (6' -9' high) culm. 



"*r* 9- E. pectinacea, Gray. Panicle erect, widely spreading, or the rather 

 rigid and hairy branches at length reflexed ; spikelets purple, flat, about 8-flow- 

 ered, shorter than the erect or slightly spreading pedieels ; lower palea ovate, 

 acute, strongly 3-nerved, rough-keeled. (Poa pectinacea, Michx. P. hirsuta, 

 Ell., $c., not of Michx.) — Dry sterile soil, Florida, and northward. Aug. and 

 Sept. — Panicle 1°- l£° long. Leaves and sheaths mostly clothed with long 

 soft hairs. 



Var. refracta. Smooth throughout, or the sheaths of the short and rigid 

 [eaves bearded at the throat; panicle (6'- 12' long) with the branches reflexed ; 

 spikelets sessile or nearly so, 15 - 20-flowered ; lower palea faintly 3-ncrvcd. 

 (Poa refracta, Ell.) — Damp soil, Florida to North Carolina. — Spikelets about 

 5" long. 



33. DACTYL-IS, L. Obchabd-Grass. 



Perennial grasses, with simple culms, keeled leaves, and ii - 7-flowered spikelets 

 crowded in a i sided glomerate panicle. Glnmes and lower palea herbaceous, 

 keeled, awn-pointed, rongh-ciliate on the keel, the latter B nerved, Stamens :\. 

 Grain free. 



l. D. glomerata, L. — Near Charleston, Elliott, and northward. Intro- 

 duced. May and June. — Culms 2°-3° high. Leaves and sheaths scabrous. 



