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GRASS FAMILY. 175 
x 
47- CAPRIOLA Adans. Fam. Pl. 2:31. 1763. 
[Cynopon Rich.; Pers. Syn. 1:85. 1805. ] 
Perennial grasses with short flat leaves and spicate inflorescence, the spikes digitate. 
Spikelets 1-flowered, secund. Scales 3; the 2 lower empty, keeled; flowering scale broader, 
membranous, compressed; palet a little shorter than the scale, hyaline, 2-keeled. Stamens 
3. Styles distinct. Stigmas short, plumose. Grain free. [Name mediaeval Latin for the 
wild goat, that feeds on this grass in waste rocky places. ] 
Four known species, of which three are Australian, the following widely distributed. 
1. Capriola Dactylon (L.) Kuntze. 
Bermuda-grass. Scutch-grass. 
Dog’s-tooth Grass. (Fig. 400. ) 
Panicum Dactylon I,. Sp. Pl. 58. 1753- 
Cynodon Dactylon Pers. Syn. 1:85. 1805. 
Capriola Dactylon Kuntze, Rev. Gen. Pl. 764. 1891. 
y Culms 4/-12/ tall, erect, from long creeping and 
branching stolons, smooth and glabrous. Sheaths 
K glabrous or somewhat hairy, crowded at the bases 
of the culms and along the stolons; ligule pilose; 
leaves 1/-2/ long, 1//-2/’ wide, flat, rigid, smooth 
\ beneath, scabrous above; spikes 4-5, 14/—2/ in 
\ \Z jj length, digitate; rachis flat; spikelets 1’’ long; outer 
\ y = y scales hispid on the keel, narrow, the first shorter 
cr than the second, about two-thirds as long as the 
| / broad and strongly compressed third one. 
LW 
é SK = In fields and waste places, southern New York to 
a Pennsylvania and Tennessee, south to Florida and 
eS 4 Texas. Abundantinthe Southern States. Cultivated 
Ti for pasture. Naturalized from Europe. July—Sept. 
48. SPARTINA Schreb. Gen. Wey, sit hXoye 
Perennial glabrous grasses, with long horizontal rootstocks, flat or involute leaves, and an 
inflorescence of one-sided spreading or erect alternate spikes. Spikelets 1-flowered, narrow, 
deciduous, borne in two rows on the rachis, articulated with the very short pedicels below 
the scales. Scales 3; the 2 outer empty, keeled, very unequal; the third subtending a perfect 
flower, keeled, equalling or shorter than the second; palet often longer than its scale, 2- 
nerved. Stamens 3. Styles filiform, elongated. Stigmas filiform, papillose or shortly. 
plumose. Grain free. [Greek, referring to the cord-like leaves of some species. ] 
About 7 species, widely distributed in saline soil, a few in fresh-water marshes. 
First scale awn-pointed, equalling the third; second long-awned. 1. S. cynosuroides. 
First scale acute, shorter than the third, usually one-half as long. 
First scale strongly scabrous-hispid on the keel. 
Leaves 34’ wide or more, flat. 2S 
Leaves \%' wide or less. 
Spikes ascending or erect; leaves narrow, involute; coast plant. 3. S. palens, 
y Spikes appressed; leaves usually flat at the base; western species. 4. S. gracilis. 
First scale smooth on the keel or occasionally slightly scabrous. 5 
1. Spartina cynosuroides (I,.) Willd. 
Tall Marsh-grass. (Fig. gor.) 
Dactylis cynosuroides V,. Sp. Pl. 71. 1753. 
Spartina cynosuroides Willd. Enum. 80. 1809. 
Culms 2°-6° tall, erect, simple, smooth. Sheaths 
long, overlapping, those at the base of the culm 
crowded; ligule a ring of hairs; leaves 1° long or more, 
3/’-7’’ wide, scabrous on the margins, becoming in- 
volute in drying, attenuate into a long slender tip; 
spikes 5-30, 2’-5’ long, often on peduncles '%4/-1/ in 
length, ascending or erect; rachis rough on the mar- 
gins; spikelets much imbricated, 6’’-7’’ long; outer 
scales awn-pointed or awned, strongly hispid-scabrous 
on the keel; third scale as long as the first, the sca- 
brous midrib terminating just below the emarginate or 
2-toothed apex; palet sometimes exceeding the scale. 
In swamps and streams of fresh or brackish water, Nova 
Scotia to Assiniboia, New Jersey and Texas. Sometimes 
glaucous. Called also Fresh-water Cord-grass. Aug.-Oct. 
S. polystachya. 
. S. stricta. 
I2 
