GRASS FAMILY. 185 
2. Sieglingia stricta (Nutt.) Kuntze. Narrow Sieglingia. (Fig. 422.) 
Windsoria stricta Nutt. Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. (II.) — phe 
5: 147. 1833-37. 
Triodia stricta Vasey, Spec. Rept. U. S. Dept. Agric. 
63: 35. 188 
Steglingia stricta Kuntze, Rev. Gen, Pl. 789. 1891. 
Culms 114°-4° tall, erect, a little compressed, 
simple, smooth and glabrous. Sheaths shorter 
than the internodes; ligule a ring of short hairs; 
leaves 6’-1° long or more, flat, long-acuminate, 
smooth beneath, scabrous above; spike-like pan- 
icle 5-12’ in length, the branches appressed, the 
lower 1/-2’ long; spikelets 4-10-flowered, 2//-3/’ 
long, the joints of the rachilla very short; lower 
scales usually about two-thirds as long as the spike- 
let, rarely extending beyond the flowering scales, 
acute, glabrous; flowering scales ovate, the nerves 
pilose for more than half their length, the middle 
and often the lateral excurrent as short points. 
Moist soil, Mississippi to Kansas and Texas. 
July—Oct. 
3. Sieglingia decumbens (L,.) Kuntze. Heather-grass. (Fig. 423.) 
Festuca decumbens I, Sp. Pl. 75. 1753. 
Triodia decumbens Beauy. Agrost. 76. 1812. 
Sieglingia decumbens Kuntze, Rev. Gen. Pl. 789. 1891. 
Culms 6/-18/ tall, erect, often decumbent at the 
base, simple, smooth and glabrous. Sheaths 
shorter than the internodes, villous at the summit; 
ligule a ring of very short hairs; leaves smooth 
beneath, usually scabrous above, %4’/-14’’ wide, 
the basal 3/-6’ long, those of the culm 1/—3/ 
long; panicle 1/-2’ long, contracted, the branches 
1’ long or less, erect; spikelets 3-5-flowered, 3//-5/’ 
long, the joints of the rachilla very short; lower 
scales equalling the spikelet, acute; flowering scales 
broadly oval, ciliate on the margins below, obtusely 
3-toothed, with two tufts of hair on the callus. 
Introduced into Newfoundland. Native of Europe 
and Asia, Summer. 
4. Sieglingia purpurea (Walt.) Kuntze. Sand-grass. (Fig. 424.) 
Aira purpurea Walt. Fl. Car. 78. 1788. 
Tricuspis purpurea A. Gray, Man. 589. 1848. 
Sieglingia purpurea Kuntze, Rev. Gen. Pl. 789. 1891. 
Culms 1°-3° tall, erect, prostrate or decumbent, 
smooth and glabrous or the nodes pubescent. Sheaths 
shorter than the internodes, rough; ligule a ring of 
short hairs; leaves '4/-214’ long, 1’’ wide or less, 
rigid, scabrous, sometimes sparsely ciliate; panicle 
1’-3/ in length, the branches rigid, finally widely 
spreading, the lower 3(/-114’ long; spikelets 2-5- 
flowered, 214’/-4’’ long, the joints of the rachilla 
half as long as the flowering scale; lower scales gla- 
brous; flowering scales oblong, 2-lobed at the apex, 
the lobes erose-truncate, the nerves strongly ciliate, 
the middle one excurrent as a short point; palets 
long-ciliate on the upper part of the keel. 
In sand, especially on sea beaches, Maine to Texas, 
and along the Great Lakes. Also from Nebraska to New 
Mexico. Plantacid. Aug.-Sept. 
