597 
GRAMINEAE. (GRASS FAMILY.) 
7. P. Serdtiim, Ehrh. (False Red-top.) Culm terete , slen¬ 
der (2?-3° high), bearing narrowly linear leaves shorter than the in¬ 
ternodes, and a long-peduncled diffuse ample panicle; the branches 
mostly in fives, rough, naked at the base, compound above, bearing 
numerous short-pedicclled 2-4-flowered spikelels; glumes lanceolate , 
sharp-pointed; flowers oblong-lanceolate, acutish , obscurely nerved , 
hairy only next the base; ligules conspicuous. — Wet meadows and 
banks of streams, abundant everywhere northward. June, July.— 
Spikelets long, green, or often tinged with dull purple. 
Spikelets crowded on the branches of the panicle , almost sessile. 
8. P. trivialiS, L. (Rough Meadow-Grass.) Culms (1°- 
3° high) and sheaths usually rather rough ; branches of the pyramidal 
diffuse panicle mostly in fives; spikelets 2-3-flowered ; flowers lan¬ 
ceolate, acute, prominently nerved, a little hairy on the keel; ligule 
acute , long ; root tufted. — Moist meadows, naturalized, less common 
and less valuable than the next. July. 
9. P. pratensis, L. (Green, or Common Meadow-Grass.) 
Culms (l°-3° high, from a creeping base) and sheaths smooth ; branch¬ 
es of the pyramidal panicle commonly in fives, spreading; spikelets 
3—5-flowered; flowers elliptical-lanceolate, evidently nerved, acute, 
hairy on the lateral nerves and keel; ligule blunt , short.—Every¬ 
where naturalized in dry soil, prized as a pasture-grass. May-July. 
10. P. covnpressa, L. (Blue-Grass. Wire-Grass.) Culms 
much flattened , obliquely ascending (9 7 -18' high) from a creeping 
base, the uppermost joint near the middle; leaves short, bluish-green; 
panicle dense and contracted (expanding just at flowering), partly one¬ 
sided; the short branches 2-4 together, covered to near the base with 
the 4—9-flowered flattened spikelets; flowers linear-elliptical, rather 
obtuse, hairy below on the lateral nerves and keel; ligule short and 
blunt. — Dry fields and banks, rarely in woods : introduced ? Valua¬ 
ble for pasturage. June - August. 
3 2. ERAGROSTIS, Beauv. Eragrostis. 
Spikelets 2 -70-flowered, nearly as in Poa, except that the 
lower palea is but 3-nerved, not webby at the base, and the upper 
is persistent on the insoluble racliis for some time afteT the rest of 
the flower has fallen. — Culms often branching. Leaves linear, 
frequently involute, and the ligule bearded. Panicle various. 
(An early name, probably from epa , the earth , and Agrostis, in 
allusion to the procumbent habit of the original species.) _ 
* Prostrate and creeping: much-branched spikelets imperfectly dice 
cious , clustered , in the more fertile piant almost capitate. ^ ^ 
1. E. reptans, Nees. Spikelets linear-lanceolate, flat, 10-dU- 
