576 
GRAMINE2E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 
tions; the upper one tapering upwards, acute, and one half to twice 
longer than the lower, or else obtuse and equalled or even considera¬ 
bly exceeded by the lower ! 
2. Y. vagimellora, Torr. Root annual; culms slender (6 f - 
12' high), ascending ; leaves involute-awl-shaped (U-4' long); pani¬ 
cles simple and spiked, the lateral and often the terminal concealed 
in the sheaths; pafece somewhat equal, about the length of the nearly 
equal glumes ; only one third longer than the linear grain. (Agroslis 
Virginica, Muhl ., not of L.)— Barren and sandy dry fields, New Eng¬ 
land to Ohio, common southward. September. 
6. SPOROBOiUS, R. Brown. Drop-seed Grass. 
Spikelets 1- (rarely 2-) flowered, in a contracted or open pani¬ 
cle. Flowers nearly as in Vilfa ; the pale® longer than the une¬ 
qual glumes. Stamens 2-3. Grain a globular utricle (hyaline 
or rarely coriaceous), containing a loose seed, deciduous (whence 
the name, from arropa, seed, and /3dXXct>, to cast forth). 
* Glumes very unequal: panicle pyramidal, open. 
1- S. jianccus, Kunth. Leaves involute , narrow, rigid, the 
lowest elongated ; culm (l°-2° high) naked above, bearing a narrow 
loose panicle ; glumes ovate , rather obtuse , the lower one half as long 
as, the upper equalling, the nearly equal palece . 1J. (Agrostis juncea, 
Michx. Vilfa juncea, Trin.) — Dry soil, Penn, and southward. Aug. 
— Spikelets long, shining. 
2. S. lieterolepis. Leaves involute-threadform , rigid, the low¬ 
est as long as the culm (l°-2°), which is naked above; panicle very 
loose ; 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 paleee. M (Vilfa beterolepis, 
Gray.) — Dry soil, New Haven, Connecticut; Watertown, New York, 
and Columbus, Ohio. Aug. — Plant exhaling an unpleasant scent 
( Sullivant ), stouter than the last, the spikelets thrice larger. Utricle 
spherical (1 ,; in diameter), shining, thick and coriaceous! 
3. S. cryptandrus. Leaves flat, pale (2" wide); the pyram¬ 
idal panicle bursting from the upper sheath which usually incloses its 
base, its spreading branches hairy in the axils ; upper glume lance¬ 
olate, acute, twice the length of the lower one , as long as the nearly 
equal paleae; sheaths strongly bearded at the throat. 1J. (Agr- an ^ 
Vilfa cryptandra, Torr.) — Sandy soil, Buffalo, New York, and west¬ 
ward. Ipswich, Massachusetts, Oakes. Aug. — Culm 2°-3° high- 
Panicle lead-color: spikelets small. 
* * Glumes almost equal, shorter than the broad palece: panicle race¬ 
mose-elongated, open, the pedicels capillary: sheaths naked at the 
throat: spikelets not unfrequently 2-flowcred. (Colpodium ?) 
