650 GnAMiNE^. (grass family.) 



Tho MK.\t>ow FoxTAii. (A. iiiatciisis, /..), a taller species (20-30 Iiij:h), 

 with ncutt' glumes, is scari-ely s])oniaiieous at the Soiiili. The same observation 

 applies to the Timutiiv or liEUu's-Git.vsa (Phleuni pratense, L.), which differs 

 from Alopccunis in liavinj; two [laleai and awned glumes. 



5. SPOROBOLUS, Brown. ])itoi-si;i;n fiRASS. 



Tough wiry and tufted or crec])in<; perennial gra.sscs, with narrow leaves, and 

 1-flowered nwnless spikelets, disposed in open, or crowded in spiked panicles. 

 Glumes 2, membranaceous, unequal, the lower one shorter. Paleae 2. mostly 

 longer than the glumes, and of the same texture. Stamens .3. Styles 2. Grain 

 oval or globose, loose in the thin memb)anuceous jjeriearp, deciduous. Panicles 

 exsertcd. 



* Panicles open. 



1. S. junceus, Kunth. (Wiise-Grass.) Panicle narroAV, the short and 

 spreading luMnches whorled ; spikelets on one side of the branches, short-stalked ; 

 glumes smooth, the upper one acute, 2-3 times longer than the lower, and about 

 equal to the obtuse paletv ; culms (l°-^° high) erect; leaves chiefly radical, fili- 

 form and elongated, involute, tho;e of the culm short and remote. (Agrostis 

 juncea, Midix.) — Dry pine barrens, common. A\)n\ and May, and often in 

 October. 



2. S. Floridanus, n. sp. Panicle diffuse, large; spikelets (purplish) on 

 long hair-like stalks; glumes acute, the lower one barely shorter than the obtuse 

 paleae, the upper one a third longer ; leaves rather rigid, flat, pungent, very rough 

 on the edges. — Low ]nne l)arrens, Middle and West Florida. September. — 

 Culm 2° -4° high. Leaves l°-2° long. Panicle 1°- IP long. 



* * Panicles spiked. 



3. S. IndicUS, Brown. Culms erect; panicle elongated, linear; leaves 

 long, flat ; paleas twice as long as the glumes, the upper one truncated. (Agrostis 

 Indica, L.) — Waste places, Florida to North Carolina. May- Sept. — Culms 

 2° -3° high. Leaves with bristle-like summits. Panicle 6' -18' long, turning 

 blackish. Spikelets crowded on the short apprcsscd branches. 



4. S. Virginicus, Kunth. Culms creeping, sluna-jointed, the short and 

 mostly clustered branches erect; leaves 2-rankcd, soon convolute, short and 

 rigid; panicle small, lanceolate; glumes nearly equal, acute, rather longer than 

 the paletE. (Agrostis Virginica, L.) — Saline marshes and hanks along the 

 coast, Florida to North Carolina. July and Aug. — Flowering stems G'-la' 

 high. Leaves 2' -4' long. Panicle l'-2' long, pale or purple. 



6. VILFA, Adans. Rush-Grass. 



Panicles contracted or spiked, more or less included in the sheaths of the leaves. 

 Grain oblong or linear, adherent to the closely investing pericarp. Otherwise as 

 in Sporobolus. 



1. V. aspera, Bcauv. Perennial; culms tall and slender; leaves elon- 

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



