ORAMINE^. (grass FAMILY.) 671 



B. tect6ritm, L. Leaves short; panicle lax, somewhat 1-sided, the more 

 numerous pubescent spikelets on very slender curving pedicels. — More com- 

 mon, N. Eng. to Penu. and N. Y. (Adv. from Eu.) 



71. LOLIUM, L. Darnel. (PI. 11.) 



Spikelets many-flowered, solitary on each joint of the continuous rhachis, 

 placed edgewise ; empty glumes, except in the terminal spikelet, only one 

 (tlie upper) and external. Otherwise nearly as in Agropyrum. (Ancient 

 Latin name.) 



L. PERENNE, L. (Common Darnel, Eay- or Rye-Grass.) Root peren 

 nial ; glume shorter than the spikelet ; flowers 8-1.5, awnless or sometimes short- 

 awned. — Fields and lots; eastward. June. (Nat. from Eu.) 



L. TEMULENTUM, L. (Bearded Darnel.) Root annual; culm taller; 

 outer glume full 11 equalling the 5-7-flowered spikelet; awn longer than the flower 

 (^' long). — Grain-fields; rare. (Adv. from Eu.) 



72. AGROPYRUM, Gaertn. (PI. 11.) 

 Spikelets 3 - many-flowered, compressed, 2-ranked, alternate on opposite 

 sides of a solitary terminal spike, single at each johit (the lowermost, or all, 

 rarely in pairs) and sessile with the side against the axis. Glumes trans- 

 verse (i. e. right and left), nearly equal and opposite, lanceolate, herbaceous, 

 nerved. Flowering glumes rigid, convex on the back, .5 - 7-nerved, pointed 

 or awned from the tip ; palet flattened, bristly-ciliate on the nerves, adherent 

 to the groove of the grain. Stamens 3. — Our species rather coarse perennials, 

 of difficult definition. (Xame from ayp65, afeld, and irvpos, icheat.) 

 * Multiplying hij long running rootstocks ; awn shorter than the flower or none. 



1. A. repens, Beauv. (Couch-, Quitch-, or Quick-Grass.) Spikelets 

 4-8-Jioicert(l, glabrous or nearly so; glumes 3 -7-nerved; rhachis glabrous, 

 but rough on the edges ; awns when present straight ; leaves flat and often 

 roughish or pubescent above. (Triticum repens, L.) — Nat. from pAirope in 

 cultivated grounds, fields, etc., and very troublesome ; indigenous in some of 

 its forms northwestward and on the coast. — Varies greatly. The ordinary 

 form has a narrow spike, with 3-5-flowered spikelets, the glumes merely 

 acute and rigid-cuspidate, or acuminate, or short-awned. A tall form, rather 

 bright green, bears awns nearly as long as the glumes. Other forms abound, 

 especially on or near the coast. A maritime variety, much resembling var. 

 glaucum, Boiss. (A. glaucum, R. ^' S.), with large crowded 5-10-flowered 

 spikelets and glumes very blunt or mucronate, glaucous and the leaves 

 rather rigid and pungent, occurs on the coast of Maine (Cape Elizabeth, 

 Tuckerman). In the more usual form of this variety, with the large spikes 

 often elongated (3-9') and the leaves less rigid, the glumes are acuminate 

 or rarely short-awned. The rhachis or the whole inflorescence and the lower 

 sheatlis are soraetimes very pubescent. The glabrous state, or a ver}' similar 

 glabrous variety, is also abundant in the western region, from Kan. and Neb. to 

 the Dakotas, and westward, where it is known as Blue-joint or Blue-stem. (Eu.) 



2. A. dasystachyum, Vasey. Resembling the last ; glaucous ; leaves 

 narrow and often in^■ulute ; the 5 - 9-flowered spikelets denseli/ downji-hairij all 

 over ; glumes thinner with scarious margins, mostly long-acuminate. (Triti- 

 cum dasystachyum, Gray.) — Sandy shores of Lake Huron and Superior, and 

 northward. Aug. 



