646 GRAMINE^. (grass FAMILY.) 



ing glume and palet somewhat equal, acute, about the length of the nearhj equal 

 lower glumes, only ^ longer than the oval grain. (Vilfa vagiuaeflora, Torr.) 

 — Barren and sandy dry fields ; common, especially southward. Sept. 



3. S- cuspidatus, Torr. Erect culms and appressed leaves more slen- 

 der than in the preceding; panicle exscrted, very simple and narrow; spike- 

 lets smaller, the lower glumes acuminate, little shorter than the cuspidate upper 

 one. (Vilfa cuspidata, Ton\) — Maine (on the St. John's Kiver, G. L. Good 

 ale) ; also Iowa, Minn., and common westAvard. 



4. S. depauperatus, Vasey. Resembling n. 3, but the culms decum- 

 bent at base and matted, the leaves short and usually widely spreading, and 

 the lower glumes barely acute, not half the length of the upper one. — W. 

 Minn, to Kan., and southwestward. 



5. S. Virginicus, Kunth. Culms tufted, slender (5-12' long), often 

 procumbent, branched ; leaves convolute, rigid ; palets rather shorter than the 

 nearly equal acute glumes. (Vilfa Virginica, Beauv.) — Sandy seashore, Vir- 

 ginia {Ckujton) and southward. — Spikelets much smaller and more numerous 

 than in the others. 



6. S. minor, Vasey. Culms tufted, very slender, geniculate and ascend- 

 ing, simple, 1° high; leaves short and narrow; peduncles little exserted from 

 the sheaths ; spikelets (1^-2" long) in a very narrow simple compressed pan- 

 icle (1-2' long), not crowded ; glumes and palet nearly equal, acute or some 

 what acuminate. — Va. to H C, Tenn. and Tex. 



S. txDicus, R. Br. Culms stout, erect, 2-3° high; leaves elongated, at- 

 tenuate; panicle very narroAV, 6-18' long, the densely crowded spikelets i" 

 long. — On ballast, and naturalized southward. (From Trop. Am.) 



* * Panicle pyramidal, open; glumes verji unequal; grain globose, utricular f 



perennials. 



7. S. jlinceTlS, Kunth. Leaves involute, narrow, rigid, the lowest elon- 

 gated; culm (1-2° high) naked above, bearing a narrow loose panicle; 

 empty glumes ovate, rather obtuse, the lower one half as long as, the upper 

 equalling, the nearlj/ equal flowering glume and palet. — Dry soil, Penn. to 

 Wise, and Minn., and (chiefly) south to Fla. Aug. — Spikelets 1-2" long, 

 shining. 



8. S. heterolepis, Gray. Leaves involute-thread -form, rigid, the lowest as 

 long as the culm (1-2°) which is naked above; panicle very loose; empty 

 glumes very unequal; the lower awl-shaped (or bristle-pointed from a broad 

 base) and somewhat shorter, the upper ovate-oblong and taper-pointed and longer, 

 than the equal flowering glume and palet. — Dry soil. Conn, and N. Y. to Minn., 

 Keb., and Mo. Aug. — Plant exhaling an unpleasant scent (SuUivant), stouter 

 than the last, the spikelets thrice larger. Utricle 1" in diameter, shining, 

 thick and coriaceous ! 



9. S. cryptandrus, Gray. (PI. 7, fig. l -3.) Culm 2-3° high ; leaves 

 fat, pale (2" wide) ; the pyramidal lead-colored 7>a??/c/e blasting from the up- 

 per sheath which usually encloses its base, its spreading branches hairy in the 

 axils; spikelets 1" long; upper empty glume lanceolate, rather acute, ticice the 

 length of the lower one, as long as the nearly equal flowering glume and palet; 

 sheaths strongly bearded at the throat, — Sandy shores, coast of New Eng. 

 and of the Great Lakes, Minn, to Kan., and westward. Aug., Sept. 



