36 GRAMINEAE 



Flowerinfi glumes hairy. 2. B. hordcaceus. 

 FloweriDj; glumes smooth. 



Awns the length of the glumes. 



Leaves and sheaths hairy. 3. B. racemomia 



covwuitatus. 



Leaves and sheaths densely whitish pubescent. 4. 7?. an-ensis. 



Awns shorter than the glumes. 5. B. secalinvs. 



1. B. purgans L. Wild Chess. Culms erect, 2°-4° high : whole 

 plant more or less pubescent : panicle S'-IO' long, the branches erect, 

 spreading or drooping : spikelets ^"-V2," long, 5-10-flowered : flowering 

 glumes densely appressed-pubescent all over, and bearing an awn 2'^-4''^ 

 long. — Common in rocky woods. May-July. 



Var. incanus Shear. Grayish Wild Chess. Culms tall and very 

 leafy : sheaths overlapping and densely soft pilose-pubescent. — Along 

 Little Blue Kiver in low land. July-August. 



2. B. hordeaceus L. Soft Chess. 1°-3° high, pubescent all over : 

 panicle often somewhat nodding : flowering glumes \\" or less long, 

 prominently nerved, bearing an awn of their own length. — Sparingly 

 adveutized along railroads at Sheffield. June. 



3. B. racemosus commutatus Hook. f. False Chess. Larger 

 Cheat Grass. Closely resembles B. secalinits, but it is reflexed hairy on 

 the sheaths : flowering glumes plainly nerved, 4^'-5'^ long and bearing an 

 awn of their own length. — In similar situations as B. secalinus, but much 

 less common. May-June. 



4. B. arvensis L. Field Chess. Culms erect, l°-3° high : sheaths 

 and leaves softly and densely pubescent: panicle 5'-9' long, simple, its 

 branches widely spreading or ascending, bearing 1-3 spikelets above the 

 middle, the longer often 5^ long : spikelets over 9'^ long, lanceolate, 

 8-12-flowered. — Sparingly adventized along railroads at Sheffield. June. 



5. B. secalinus L. Chess. An erect annual, l°-3° high : sheaths 

 glabrous : panicle 3'-8' long, the branches ascending : spikelets 9" or less 

 long, 5-11-flowered, erect or somewhat pendulous : flowering glumes 

 obscurely nerved, 3^^-4'^ long, bearing a more or less flexuous awn 4'^ 

 or less long, or sometimes awnless. — Common in fields and waste places. 

 May-June. 



51. LOLIUM L. 



Spikelets flattened, several-many-liowered, sessile and solitary at each 

 join of the continuous raohis, the edges turned towards the rachis. 

 Flowering glume rounded, 5-7-nerved. 



1. L. perenne L. Kye Gra.ss. A smooth erect perennial, l°-2i° 

 high: spikes 3'-9' long: spikelets 5-l()-flowered, 4'^-G'' long, the 

 empty glumes strongl}' nerved and shorter than the flower: flowering 

 glumes acute. — liarely adventized along railroads from Courtney to 

 Sheffield. May-June. 



Var. Itallcum (R. Br.) Scribn. Flowering glumes bearing awns of 

 their own length. — With the species. 



