605 
GRAMINEJE. (GRASS FAMILY.) 
scarcely of a more rigid texture than they, hairy at the base. 
Lower palea 3-5-nerved, awned on the back below the middle. 
Stamens 3. Grain oblong, smooth. (An ancient Greek name for 
Darnel; which these Grasses are very unlike.) 
§ 1. Deschampsia, Beauv , Trin.— Grain free, not grooved glomes 
not exceeding the flowers. 
1. A. caespitdsa, L. Culms in close tufts (2°-4° high); 
leaves flat, linear, roughish ; panicle pyramidal or oblong (6 / long); 
lower palea eroded-A-toothed at the truncate apex, short-aimed above the 
base; awn straight, or when somewhat exserted often bent below. 
1J. — Shores of lakes and streams, not rare northward. June. 
2. A. flexudsa, L. (Common Hair-Grass.) Culms slender, 
nearly naked (l°-2° high), from the small tufts of involute-bristle - 
form often curved leaves (P-6 ; long); branches of the small spread¬ 
ing panicle capillary, mostly in pairs; lower palea slightly 2-toothed ; 
awn from near the base, bent in the middle, longer than ike glumes. 
1J. —Dry rocky or sandy places, very common. June. 
§ 2. Aira proper. — Grain grooved, adherent to the upper palea : 
glumes always longer than the flowers: awn bent. 
3. A. atropurpurea, Wahl. Culms 8'-15 f high, weak; 
leaves flat ; panicle of few spreading branches bearing spikelets near 
the summit; lower palea minutely fringe-toothed at the apex, bearing 
a stout awn from the middle , which equals the ovate-lanceolate and 
pointed ( purplish ) glumes (3 n long). 1J. — Alpine tops of the White 
Mountains, and those of N. New York. August. 
4. A. prsecox, L. Dwarf -4' high), tufted; leaves short, 
bristle-shaped; branches of the small oblong panicle appressed, bear¬ 
ing spikelets from near the base; lower palea with 2 awl-pointed 
tips ; awn from below the middle, longer than the acute glumes. Q) 
Sandy fields, naturalized in New Jersey and Penn. June. 
42. TBIStTlTM, Persoon. Trisetum. 
Spikelets 2 - several-flowered, usually in a contracted panicle; 
the lower palea compressed-keeled, awned below the sharply 2- 
cleft or 2-pointed apex (whence the name, from tris , three, and 
seta, a bristle) : — otherwise nearly as in Aira. 
1. T. isiollc, Kunth. Minutely soft-dmeny ; panicle dense, much 
contracted, oblong or linear (2'-3' long) ; glumes nearly equal, about 
the length of the 2 - 3 smooth flowers; awn diverging, much exsert¬ 
ed, not twisted. 1J. — Mountains and rocky river-banks, N. New 
England to Wisconsin, and northward, rare. July.—About 1 high, 
leaves flat, short. 
2. T. palustre, Torn Smooth ; panicle rather long and nar- 
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