184 GRAMINEAE. 
60. PHRAGMITES ‘Trin. Fund. Agrost. 134. 1820. 
Tall perennial reed-like grasses, with broad flat leaves and ample panicles. Spikelets 3— 
several-flowered, the first flower often staminate, the others perfect; rachilla articulated be- 
tween the flowering scales, long-pilose. Two lower scales empty, unequal, membranous, 
lanceolate, acute, shorter than the spikelet; the third scale empty or subtending a staminate 
flower; flowering scales glabrous, narrow, long-acuminate, much exceeding the short palets. 
Stamens 3. Styles distinct, short. Stigmas plumose. Grain free, loosely enclosed in the 
scale and palet. [Greek, referring to its hedge-like growth along ditches] 
‘Three known species, the following of the north tem- 
perate zone, one in Asia, the third in South America. 
1. Phragmites Phragmites (I,.) Karst. 
Reed. (Fig. 420.) 
Arundo Phragmites \. Sp. Pl. 81. © 1753. 
Phragmites communis Trin, Fund. Agrost. 134. 1820. 
Phragmites Phragmites Karst. Deutsch. Fl. 379. 1880-83. 
Culms 5°-15° tall, erect, stout, from long horizontal WAAR ee 
rootstocks, smooth and glabrous. Sheaths overlap- SH NUE Z Le 
ping, loose; ligule a ring of very short hairs; leaves / ae 
6/-1° long or more, 14’-2’ wide, flat. smooth, gla- 
brous; panicle 6/-1° long or more, ample; spikelets 
crowded on the ascending branches; first scale 1- 
nerved, half to two-thirds as long as the 3-nerved 
second one; flowering scales 5’/-6’’ long, 3-nerved, 
long-acuminate, equalling the hairs of the rachilla. 
In swamps and wet places nearly throughout the United 
States, extending north to Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Brit- 
ish Columbia. Also in Europe and Asia, Rarely ripen- 
ing seed. Aug.—Oct. 
61. SIEGLINGIA Bernh. Syst. Verz. Pfl. Erf. 40. 1800. 
[Triop1A R. Br. Prodr. Fl. Noy. Holl. 1: 182. 1810.] 
Perennial grasses with narrow leaves and contracted or open panicles. Spikelets 2- 
many-flowered, the flowers perfect or the upper staminate. Scales 5-many, rigid, I-3- 
nerved; the 2 lower empty, shorter than the spikelet, kecled; flowering scales rounded on 
the back, at least at the base, the apex lobed or toothed, 3-nerved, the nerves pilose, and 
usually excurrent as short points between the lobes or teeth; palet broad, 2-keeled. Stamens 
3. Styles short, distinct. Stigmas plumose. Grain free, enclosed in the scale and palet. 
[Name in honor of Professor Siegling, German botanist. ] 
About 30 species, widely distributed in temperate regions; a few in tropical America. Besides 
the following, some 20 others occur in the southern and western parts of North America. 
Internodes of the rachilla less than one-quarter the length of the flowering scales. 
Panicle open, the branches 4’—10' long. 1. S. seslerioides. 
Panicle spike-like, the branches 3’ long or less. E 
Panicle 5'-12' long; spikelets numerous. 2. S. stricta. 
Panicle 1'~2' long; spikelets few. . S. decumbens. 
3 
Internodes of the rachilla one-half the length of the flowering scales. 4. S. purpurea. 
1. Sieglingia seslerioides (Michx.) Scribn. Tall Red-top. (Fig. 421.) 
Poa seslerioides Michx. F1. Bor. Am. 1: 68. 1803. 
Triodia cuprea J. F. Jacq. Eclog. Gram. 2: 21. pl. 16. 1814. 
Steglingia seslerioides Scribn. Mem. Torr. Bot. Club, 5: 
48. 1894. ; 
Culms 2°-5° tall, erect, somewhat flattened, simple, 
glabrous, often viscid above. Sheaths sometimes vil- 
lous at the summit, the lower short, overlapping and 
crowded, the upper longer, equalling or shorter than 
the internodes; ligule a ring of very short hairs; leaves 
4’-1° long or more, 3/’-6’’ wide, flat, attenuate into a 
long tip, smooth beneath, scabrous above; panicle 6/— 
18’ long, the branches finally ascending or spreading, 
the lower 4’—10’ long, usually dividing above the mid- 
dle; spikelets 4-8-flowered, 3’’-4’’ long, purple; joints 
of the rachilla short; empty scales glabrous, obtuse, 
generally slightly 2-toothed; flowering scales oval, the 
nerves pilose, excurrent as short points. 
In fields, New York to Kansas, south to Florida and 
Texas. July-Sept. 
