GRAMINACEiE. 43T 



attenuate at the end, involute when dry, slightly hairy above. SpiJ:es 20- 40, 

 on short flat peduncles, each containing 6—8 spikelets. Anthers bright red. 



Racemed Atheropogon. 



30. GYMNOPOGON. i?mwr.— Gymnopogon. 



(From the Greek yi^/zvoj , naked, and nuywv, a heard ; in allusion to the awn 

 of the neutral floyver.) 



Glume 2-valved, carinate, nearly equal. Palese nearly equal ; 

 the lower one with a long and straight bristle a little below the 

 tip. Neutral rudiment pedicellate, of one minute' valve pro- 

 duced into an awn. — Flowers in a compound spike or panicle. 



G. racemosus Beauv.: culm ascending; leaves distichous, ovate-lance- 

 olate, nerved, short ; spikes numerous, arranged in a somewhat whorled pan- 

 tele; flowers appressed. Andropogon ambiguus Mich. Anthopogon Up- 

 turoides Nutt. 



Sandy fields. N. J. to Geor. Aug. %..—Culm about 2 feet^gh, decum- 

 bent at base. Leaves 2 inches or less in length, very acute. Panicle large, 

 spreading. Racemed Gymnopogon. 



VIII. AvENEiE. Spikelets 2 — many-flowered; terminal flower com- 

 monlij imperfect. Glumes and palecc 2, membranaceously herbaceous; 

 lower palea usually with a tioisted awn on the hack. 



31. HIEROCHLOA. GmeL—YLoiy Grass. 

 (From the Greek hoo^^ sacred, and x^°'^^ ^ grass ; because in some parts of 

 Prussia it is used on festival days.) 



Spikelets 3-flowered, pedicellate. Lateral lowers staminate, 

 triandrous and mostly awned ; terminal or central one perfect, 

 diandrous, awnless. — Flowers in a contracted panicle. 



1. B. borealis R. <^ S. : panicle somewhat one-sided, a little spreading; 

 peduncles smooth; flowers awnless; lower palea ciliate on the margin. 

 IIolcus odoratus Linn. 



Wet meadows. Subarct. Amer. to Virg. W. to Mich. May. %..—Root 

 creeping. Culm 18 inches high, erect. Leaves linear-acuminate, smooth and 

 shining. Panicle few-flowered, pyramidal, brown ajjd purple. Smell resem- 

 pling that of Anthoxanthum odoraium, and like that grass used to scent clothes 

 and apartments. Northern Holy-grass. VanilU- grass. 



2. H. alpina R. <^ S.: panicle ovate, contracted; spikelets compressed, 

 longer than the branches ; glumes lanceolate, almost nerveless ; lateral 

 flowers triandrous, obtuse, awned on the back. Holcus alpinus Wahl. 



High mountains. Essex County, N. Y. Wliite Mountains, N. H. Arct. 

 Amer. ; rare. June. %■■ — Culm 6 — 12 inches high, erect. Leaves 2 — 3 lines 

 wide. ' Panicle with the branches in pairs. Spikelets larger than in the preced- 

 ing, shining and purplish-brown. Alpine Holy-grass. 



32. ANTHOXANTHUM. Linn.— Vernal Grass. 

 iFrom the Greek nvdoi, aiflower^ and ^avdog, yellow ; in allusion to the color of 

 its spikes. ) 



Spikelets 3-flowered ; the two lower flowers neutral and each 



