GRASS FAMILY. I4I 
5. Oryzopsis cuspidata (Nutt.) Vasey. Silky Oryzopsis. (Fig. 318.) 
Stipa membranacea Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept.728. 1814. Not 
ee cuspidata Nutt. Gen. 1: 40. 1818. 
Oryzopsis cuspidata Benth.; Vasey, Special Rep. U. S. 
Dept. Agric. 63: 23. 1883. 
Oryzopsis membranacea Vasey, Grasses S. W. Part 2, 
pl. fo. 1891. 
Culms glabrous, 1°-2° tall, erect, rigid, simple, 
smooth. Sheaths usually shorter than the internodes, 
smooth or somewhat rough; ligule 1’/—2’ long, acute; 
leaves 6’-12’ long, less than 1’’ wide, involute, stiff, 
smooth or somewhat scabrous; panicle 6’-1° long, 
diffuse, generally partially included in the upper 
sheath, its branches widely spreading and many times 
forked, the ultimate divisions flexuous; outer scales 
of the spikelet 3/’-4’’ in length, long-acuminate, 
glabrous; third scale about one-half as long, acute, 
densely pubescent with long silky erect hairs nearly 
twice its own length, the awn 2/’-3’ long. 
On prairies, Alberta to Washington, south to Nebraska, Arizona and Mexico. May~—July. 
24. MILIUM L,. Sp. Pl. 61.1753. 
Annual or perennial grasses, with flat leaves and terminal lax panicles. Spikelets 1- 
flowered. Scales 3, obtuse, not awned ; the outer about equal; the third thin-membranous, 
at length rigid, glabrous or pubescent; palet scarcely shorter. Stamens 3. Styles short, 
distinct. Stigmas plumose. Grain ovoid or oblong, free, tightly enclosed in the rigid and 
shining scale and palet. [Latin name for Millet. ] 
Species 5 or 6, chiefly in Europe and Asia. 
1. Milium efflsum [,. ‘Tall Millet- 
grass. (Fig. 319.) 
Milium effusum V,. Sp. Pl. 61. 1753: 
Glabrous throughout, culms 2°-6° tall, erect, 
simple, smooth, Sheaths shorter than the in- 
ternodes; ligule 114’/-3/” long, truncate, erose- 
dentate; leaves 3/-9’ long, 3/’-8’’ wide, nar- 
rowed toward the base, acuminate, smooth or 
scabrous; panicle 3/-10’ in length, lax, its 
branches 2/-3’ long, slender, somewhat flexu- 
ous, naked at base and dividing above the 
middle, at length widely spreading; spikelets 
14%//-1'%4” long; outer scales equal, smooth or 
scabrous, the third scale shorter, smooth, white. 
In woods, Cape Breton Island and Quebec to 
western Ontario, south to Massachusetts, Pennsyl- 
vania and Michigan. Also in northern Kurope and 
Asia. June-July. 
ie MUHLENBERGIA Schreb. Gen. 44. 1789. 
[VASEYVA Thurb, Proc. Acad. Phila. 1863: 79. 1863.] 
Mostly perennial grasses, with flat or convolute leaves and paniculate inflorescence. 
Rootstocks often scaly. Spikelets 1-flowered, very rarely 2 flowered. Scales 3, very rarely 
4; the outer ones empty, membranous or hyaline, acute and sometimes awned; third 
scale 3~5-nerved, subtending a palet and perfect flower, obtuse, acute, or very often pro- 
duced into a capillary awn; palet 2-keeled. Stamens often 3. Styles distinct. Stigmas 
plumose. Callus minute. Grain narrow, free, tightly enclosed in the scale. [In honor of 
Henry Muhlenberg, 1756-1817, North American botanist. ] 
About 60 species, chiefly natives of America, a few Asiatic. 
