575 
GRAMINEjE. (GRASS FAMILY.) 
cous; culm decumbent below, at length bent and ascending; palea 
rather longer than the obtuse glumes , scarcely exceeded by the aicn which 
rises from just below its middle; anthers oblong. 1J. (A. subaris- 
t&tus, Pers .) — In water and wet meadows, common. June - August. 
Spike more slender and paler than in No. 2. 
4. PHLEUKfy L. Cat’s-tail Grass. 
Paleas both present, shorter than the mucronate or awned 
glumes ; the lower truncate and usually awnless; the upper 2- 
keeled. Styles distinct. Otherwise much as in Alopecurus.— 
Spike very dense, harsh. (An ancient Greek name, probably of 
the Cat-tail.) 
1. P. pratense, L. (Timothy. Hf.rd’s-Grass in New Eng¬ 
land and New York.) Spike cylindrical , elongated; glumes ciliate 
on the back, truncate, tipped with a bristle less than half their length. 
U — Meadows, &c., naturalized; esteemed very valuable for hay. 
Anthers purplish. 
2. P, alptniini, L. Spike ovate-oblong; glumes strongly cili- 
ate-fringed on the back, truncate, tipped with a rough or barbed awn- 
like bristle about their own length. —Summits of the White Moun¬ 
tains, New Hampshire. 
5. ViLFA, Adans., Beauv. Rush-Grass. 
Spikelets I-flowered, in a contracted or spiked panicle. Glumes 
1-nerved or nerveless, not awned or pointed, the lower smaller. 
Flower nearly sessile in the glumes. Paleae 2, much alike, of the 
same texture as the glumes (membranaceo-chartaceous) and usu¬ 
ally longer than they, naked, neither awned nor mucronate ; the 
lower 1-nerved (rarely somewhat 3-nerved). Stamens chiefly 3. 
Stigmas simply feathery. Grain (caryopsis) oblong or cylindri¬ 
cal, deciduous. — Culms wiry or rigid. Leaves involute, usually 
bearded at the throat; their sheaths often inclosing the lateral 
panicles. 
1. V# aspera, Beauv. Root perennial; culms tufted (29-4° 
high) ; lowest leaves very long, rigid, rough on the edges, tapering to 
a long involute and thread-like point; the upper short, involute; 
sheaths partly inclosing the contracted panicle ; palece much longer 
than the unequal glumes; grain oval or oblong. (Agrostis aspera, 
Michx. A. clandestina and A. involuta, Muhl. A. longifblia, Torr.) 
Sandy fields and dry hills, not rare. Sept. — Spikelets 2 ff -3" long. 
Paleae rough above, smooth or hairy below, of greatly varying proper- 
