168 GRAMINEAE. 
40. HOLCUS L.,. Spoke IOAG. 6 753. 
Annual or perennial grasses with flat leaves and spike-like or open panicles. Spikelets 
deciduous, 2-flowered; lower flower perfect, upper staminate. Scales 4; the 2 lower empty, 
membranous, keeled, the first 1-nerved, the second 3-nerved and often short-awned; flower- 
ing scales chartaceous, that of the upper flower bearing a bent awn, Palet narrow, 2-keeled. 
Stamens 3. Styles distinct. Stigmas plumose. Grain oblong, free, enclosed in the scale. 
[Greek, taken from Pliny. ] 
About 8 species, natives of the Old World. 
1. Holcus lanatus I.  Velvet-grass. 
Meadow Soft-grass. (Fig. 384.) 
Flolcus lanatus \,. Sp. Pl. 1048. 1753. 
Softly and densely pubescent, light green, culms ! 
14°-3° tall, erect, often decumbent at the base, sim- 
ple. Sheaths shorter than the internodes; ligule \ 
44//-1’’ long; leaves 1/-6’ long, 2’’-6’’ wide; spike- 
lets 2’ long, the empty scales white-villous, the 
upper awn-pointed; flowering scales 1/’ long, 
smooth, glabrous and shining, the lower sparsely 
ciliate on the keel, somewhat obtuse, the upper 2- 
toothed and bearing a hooked awn just below the 
apex. 
In fields, meadows and waste places, Nova Scotia to 
Ontario and Illinois, south to North Carolina and 
Tennessee. Also on the Pacific Coast. Naturalized 
from Europe. June-Aug. 
41. AIRA L,. Sp eIN63i 753. 
Mostly annual grasses with narrow leaves and contracted or open panicles. Spikelets 
small, 2-flowered, both flowers perfect. Scales 4; the 2 lower empty, thin-membranous, 
acute, subequal, persistent; the flowering scales usually contiguous, hyaline, mucronate or 
2-toothed, deciduous, bearing a delicate dorsal awn inserted below the middle; palet a little 
shorter than the scale, hyaline, 2-nerved. Stamens 3. Stigmas plumose. Grain enclosed 
in the scale and palet, and often adhering to them. [Greek name for Lolium temulentum.] 
Four or five species, natives of Europe. 
Panicle open; flowering scales about 1’ long; plants 5’-10’ tall. . A. caryophyllea. 
Panicle contracted; flowering scales about 134'’ long; plants 2’-4’ tall. 2. A. praecox. 
1. Aira caryophyllea L. Silvery Hair-grass. (Fig. 385.) 
\\ "\s Lz, wh f , Aira caryophyliea 1. Sp. Pl. 66. 1753. 
fy FAs w 
BN iXX) {Fy fra = Smooth and glabrous throughout, culms 5/—10% 
= Ge , tall, erect from an annual root, simple, slender. 
% Sheaths mostly basal; ligule 1%3’’ long; leaves 34/— 
k 2/ long, involute-setaceous; panicle 1/—4’ in length, 
\y WY ha open, the branches spreading or ascending, the 
aN i Ny { lower 1’ long or less; spikelets 1/’-114’’ long, the 
\ {i } empty scales acute; flowering scales very acute 
\ \ \ | 2-toothed, 1’’ long, bearing an awn 113’’-2’’ long. 
\ 
\ | \ ’ In fields and waste places, eastern Massachusetts to 
/ AVY i /, Virginia. Also on the Pacific coast. Local. Natural- 
\ \ W a from Europe. Panicle silvery, shining. May- 
fr vie 
Zz 
BS 3 
Ee 
