442 GRAMINACEiE. 



spikelets ovate-lanceolate, about 3-flowered ; flowers rather distant, hairy, 

 acute, very obscurely nerved. 



Woods and thickets. N. Eng. and N. Y. June, July. ^.—Root creeping. 

 Culm 2 feet high, slender. Leaves narrow-linear, acute. Panicle 6 — 10 inches 

 long, the branches seraiverticillate. Wood Meadow-grass. 



7. P. laza HcBnJce ; culms cespitose ; leaves narrow-linear, acute ; ligules 

 all lanceolate ; panicle contracted, somewhat nodding at the apex ; the 

 branches smooth, mostly in pairs ; spikelets ovate, about 3-flowered ; flowers 

 acute, hairy. ( Torr. N. Y. Fl.) 



Summit of Mount Marcy, Essex county, N. Y. Aug. %.. — Culms 6 — 8 inches 

 high, cespitose, very slender. Leaves numerous, glaucous, smooth. Panicle 

 1 — 2 inches long, the branches flexuous. Allied to P. alpinn. 



Wavy Meadow-grass. 



8. P. (leblUs Torr. : culm slender ; leaves and sheaths smooth ; ligule ob- 

 long, acute ; panicle loose, few-flowered, somewhat spreading ; the branches 

 mostly in pairs, flexuous, a little rough ; spikelets ovate, obtuse, 3-flowered ; 

 flowers smoothish ; lower palea oblong, obtuse, slightly 3-nerved. 



Rocky banlis of streams. N. Y. May. %. — Culm about 2 feet high, erect, 

 smooth. Leaves pale green, rough on the margin. " Panicle oblong, somewhat 

 contracted. Weak Meadow-grass. 



** Flowers free, or not loebbed at base. 



9. P. annua Linn. : culm oblique, compressed ; panicle somewhat secund, 

 at length divaricate; spikelets ovate-oblong, about 5-flow^red. 



Cultivated grounds. Can. to Car. April — Sept. (1). — Root fibrous. Cvhns 

 3 — 8 inches long, very smooth, cespitose, often nearly procumbent. Leaves lance- 

 linear, bright green. Panicle with the branches mostly solitary, at length 

 spreading horizontally. Annual Meadow-grass. 



10. P. capillaris Linn. : culm much branched at base ; sheaths hairy at 

 the throat ; panicle very large, loose, expanding ; the branches capillary 

 and much divided ; spikelets about 3-flowered, ovate, acute. 



Sandy fields. Can. to Flor. Aug. (1). — Culms 12 — 18 inches high, cespitose. 

 Leaves linear, flat, the sheaths fringed with long hairs. Panicle 8 — 13*nches 

 long, pyramidal, much branched. Hair-panicled Meadow-^iss. 



11. P. hirsuta Mich. : culm erect, simple, compressed; sheaths hairy; 

 panicle very large, capillary; branches expanding, at length reflexed, 

 bearded in the axils; spikelets oblong, 5 — 15-flowered; upper palea ciliate 

 on the double keel. P. spectabilis Pursh. 



Sandy fields. N. Eng. and N. Y. to Geor. Aug., Sept. ^I—Ctdm 1—2 feef 

 high, stout, mostly simple. Leaves long, lanceolate, somewhat hairy near the 

 base. Panicle 8---15 inches long, very much branched, purplish. 



Hairy Meadoio-grass. 



12. P. pilosa Linn. : culm oblique, geniculate ; leaves hairy at the base ; 

 panicle capillary, pyramidal, the lower branches hairy in the axils ; spike- 

 lets lance-linear, 5 — 12-flowered ; glumes very unequal ; upper palea per- 

 sistent. P. pectinacea Mich. P. tenella Pursh. 



Sandy soils, road sides, &c. N. Eng. and N. Y. to Car. July, Aug. (T) — 

 Culms 6 — 12 incies high, cespitose. Leaves linear-lanceolate, flat. Panicle 

 large, loose, often purplish. Slender Meadow-grass. 



13. P. reptans Mich. : dioecious ; culm branched, creeping ; panicle 



