GRAMINACE^. 421 



5. PHLEUM. i^z?m.— Cat-tail Grass. 



(An ancient Greek name ; supposed however to have been originally applied 

 to a different plant.) 



Glumes 2, much longer than the paleae, distinct, equal, boat- 

 shaped, beaked or mucronate. Paleae 2, included in the glumes, 

 awnless, truncate. — Panicle spiked, dense, cylindric. 



P. pralense Linn. : culm erect ; spike cylindric ; glumes truncate, mucro- 

 nate, with a ciliate keel ; awn shorter than the glume. 



Fields, N. S. June— Aug. %.—Culm 2—3 feet high, simple, smooth. 

 Leaves flat, smooth and glaucous. Spike long, cylindric, green. Introduced 

 from Europe. Timothy. Herd's-grass. 



6. PHALARIS Li?m.— Canary Grass. 

 (From the Greek ^aXoj, shining ; in allusion to the smooth and polished paleae.,' 



Spikelets 3 -flowered ; the two inferior flowers scale-like and 

 minute ; upper flowers perfect. Glumes 2, nearly equal, mem- 

 branaceous, gibbousijbn the back, keeled, awnless. Paleae 2, 

 coriaceous, shorter than the glumes, awnless; upper one sur- 

 rounded by the lower. — Panicle dense and spike-like. 



1. P. antndinacea Linn.: panicle ovoid, spiked; glumes boat-shaped, 

 serrulate ; pale® unequal ; abortive flowers hairy. Calamagrostis colorata 

 Nuit. 



Swamps. Can. to Car. July, Aug. '4- — Culm 2 — 5 feet high, erect, a little 

 branching. Leaves deep green, lanceolate. Panicle 2 — 4 inches long, at length 

 a little spreading. The Riiibon-grass, sometimes cultivated in gardens, is a 

 variety of this species. Reed Canary-grass. 



2. P. Canariensis Linn. : panicle spike-like, oval ; glumes boat-shaped, 

 entire at the apex ; abortive flowers smooth. 



In pastures and wet places, N. Y. July. (1). — Culm a foot and a half high, 

 simple. Leaves broad-linear, pale green. Glumes twice the length of the paleae, 

 yellowish-green. Introduced from Europe. Common Canary-grass. 



7. HOLCUS. Linn.— Soft Grass. 



(From the Greek oXko^, derived from eXko), to extract ; because of its supposed 

 virtue in drawing out thorns from the flesh.) 



Spikelets 2 -flowered, polygamous. Glumes herbaceous, 

 somewhat boat-shaped, mucronate. Lower flower perfect, awn- 

 less ; upper one staminate or neutral, pedicillate ; the lower 

 palea awned on the back. — Panicle more or less contracted. 



H. lanalus Linn.: panicle oblong, rather contracted ; flowers shorter than 

 the glumes, the upper one with a recurved awn. 



Wet meadows. N. Y. Mass. and Penn. W. to Mich. July. %.— Plant 

 covered with a soft whitish pubescence. Root fibrous. Culm 18 inches high. 

 Leaves 2 — 5 inches long, flat. Panicle somewhat dense. Glumes pubescent, 

 whitish or tinged with purple. A grass of little or no vake. Introduced from 

 Europe. Meadow Soft-grass. While Timothy. 



