606 
GRAMINEjE. (grass family.) 
row (5' long), loose, the branches capillary; spikelets flat (3'' long); 
glumes rather unequal, shorter than the 2 smooth lanceolate flowers, 
of which the upper is on an almost naked joint of the rachis and bears 
a slender spreading or bent awn next the short 2-pointed tip, while 
the lower one is commonly awnless or only mucronate-pointed. U 
(Avena palustris, Michx. Aira pollens, Muhl.) —Low grounds, from 
S. New York southward and westward: common only at the South. 
June. — Culm slender, 2°-3° high : leaves flat, short. Spikelets yel¬ 
lowish-white, tinged with green. 
43. DAKTHONIA, DC. Wild Oat-Grass. 
Lower palea (oblong or ovate, rounded-cylindraceous, 7-9- 
nerved) bearing between the sharp-pointed teeth of the tip an awn 
composed of the 3 middle nerves, which is flattish and spirally 
twisting at the base : otherwise as in Avena. Glumes longer 
than the imbricated flowers. (Named for Danihoine, a French 
botanist.) 
1. I>. spicata, Beauv. . Culms tufted (1°-2P high); leaves 
short, somewhat involute-awl-shaped; sheaths bearded at the throat; 
panicle simple, raceme-like (2' long), rather one-sided; the few spike¬ 
lets appressed, 7-flowered; lower palea broadly ovate, loosely hairy 
on the back, much longer than the lance-awl-shaped teeth, about £ 
the length of the awn. 1J. — Dry and sterile or rocky soil. July. — 
Spikelets pale, £' long. 
44. AYENA, L. Oat. 
Spikelets 3 - many-flowered, panicled, commonly large; the 
flowers herbaceo-chartaceous, or becoming harder, of firmer tex¬ 
ture than the large and mostly unequal glumes ; the uppermost 
imperfect. Lower palea rounded on the back or keeled, 7-11* 
nerved, bearing a long usually bent or twisted awn on the back or 
below the 2-cleft tip, proceeding from the mid-nerve only. Sta¬ 
mens 3. Grain oblong-linear, grooved on one side, usually hairy, 
free, but usually invested by the upper palea. (The classical 
Latin name.) 
1. A. Striata, Michx. Culms tufted, slender (1°-2P high); 
leaves narrow; panicle simple, loose, somewhat one-sided, drooping 
with age; the few 3-5-flowered spikelets on rough capillary pedi¬ 
cels, much longer than the very unequal purple (1- and 3-nerved) 
glumes ; lower palea strongly 7-nerved, rounded on the back, sur¬ 
rounded by a short bearded tuft at the base (F long) much longer than 
