578 
GRAMINEJE. (GRASS FAMILY.) 
(the upper V f -2 n long, less than l f > wide); panicle very loose and 
divergent , purplish , the long capillary branches Jlower-bearing at and 
near the apex ; lower palea awnless or occasionally short-awned on the 
back, shorter than the rather unequal very acute glumes; the upper 
minute or obsolete. 1J. @ ? (A. laxifldra, Richard. A. Michauxii, 
Trin ., partly. Trich. Iaxifl6rum, Michx. T. monthnum, Torr.) — Ex¬ 
siccated places, common. June, July. — Remarkable for the long and 
divergent capillary branches of the extremely loose panicle; these 
are whorled, rough with very minute bristles (under a lens), as also 
the keel of the glumes. Spikelets V 1 long. — A variety ? from about 
the White Mountains, &c. (var. montana, Tuckerm .), has a more or 
less exserted awn, thus differing from the T. montanum, Torr. (A. 
oreophila, TVm.), which is a dwarfed form, growing in tufls in hol- 
. lows of rocks, &c. 
4. A. can ilia, L. (Brown Bent-Grass.) Culms slender 
(l°-2° high) ; root-leaves involute-bristle-form, those of the culm flat 
and broader, linear; branches of the short and loose erect-spreading 
panicle slender, branching above the middle; lower palea a little 
shorter than the almost equal glumes, bearing a long (at length bent 
or somewhat twisted) awn on the back a little below the middle , the up¬ 
per one minute and inconspicuous (only half the length of the ovary); 
spikelets greenish turning brown or purplish, about V 1 long. 1J. — 
Var. alpIna, Oakes, is a lower, often contracted mountain form, with 
spikelets often long. (A. canina, var. ? tenfella, Torr. A. canina, 
var. (A. rhbra, L. ed. 1), Trin. A. Pickeringii and A. concinna, 
Tuckerm .) Naturalized in E. New England (but awned varieties of 
No. 5 and No. 6 are sometimes mistaken for it) : the variety grows 
on grassy mountain-tops, Maine to New York, &c. July, Aug. 
§ 2. Agrostis proper. — Upper palea manifest. 
5. A. vulgaris, With. (Red-top. Herd’s-Grass of Penn., 
&c.) Rootstocks creeping; culm mostly upright (l°-2° high); pan¬ 
icle oblong , with spreading slightly rough short branches ( purple ); 
leaves linear; ligule very short , truncate; lower palea nearly equal¬ 
ling the glumes, chiefly awnless, 3-nerved ; the upper about one half 
its length. 1J. (A. polymdrpha, Huds. partly.) — Varies with a 
rougher panicle (A. hispida, Willd .), and rarely with the flower awn¬ 
ed (A. pumila, L .) — Low meadows, introduced, also native in N* 
New York. A valuable grass. July. 
6. A. alba, L. (White Bent-Grass.) Culm ascending, root¬ 
ing at the lower joints (l°-2° high); panicle narrow , contracted after 
flowering {greenish-white or barely tinged with purple), the branches 
rough; ligule oblong or linear; lower palea rather shorter than the 
glumes, 5-nerved, awnless, or rarely short-awned on the back; oth¬ 
erwise as in the last. 1J. —— \ aries with the panicle more contracted 
(A. stolonifera, L., Florin Grass) ; and var. aristXta, with the low- 
