774 Order 15G.— GEAMINE^E. 



lvs. lance-linear, flat, clustered, 1 — 2' long, 2 — 3" wide; "spike solitary, axil- 

 lary, setaceous, about 4-fiowered ; paleae awnless ; stig. 2, very long ; fr. roni- 

 form." — H Water, S. Car. to Fla. and La. (Hale, whose specimens are without 

 fls. or fruit.) (Hydrocochloa, Palis. Hydropyrum, Kunth.) 



4. AGROS'TIS, L. Bent Grass. (Gr. dypog, a field; growing in 

 fields and pastures.) — Spikes 1-flowered ; glumes 2, subequaf, awnless, 

 usually longer than the flower ; pales 2, thin, pointless, naked, the lower 

 3 — 5-veined, sometimes awned on the back, the upper often minute or 

 wanting; grain free. — 2£ mostly, and ca3spitous, with slesder culms- 

 and an open panicle. 



§ Ageostis proper. Upper palea i to | as long as the lower. Fls. rather dense No*. 1, 2 



§ TiiicuomuM. Upper palea minute or wanting. Panicle thin. (*) 



* Lower palea with a long exserted awn on tlie back. .Nos. 3, 4 



* Lower palea; awnless, or bearing a very short awn.. Nos. 5, <> 



1 A. vulgaris "With. Red Top. Dew Grass. Herd's Grass of the S. States. 

 Culm erect, 1 — 2f high ; panicle ])urple, oblong, with short, spreading or divari- 

 cate, roughish branches ; lvs. linear, with very short ligules (sometimes the upper 

 one elongated) ; lower pale twice as large as the upper, and nearly as long as the 

 lanceolate, acute glumes, mostly awnless. — U. S. and Can. A very valuable 

 grass spread over hills, vales and meadows, forming a soft, dense turf. Variable. 

 (A. polymorpha Huds. A. pumila L, A. hispida Willd.) 



2 A. alba L. White Bent. English Bent. Bonnet Grass. Florin Grass. 

 Culm decumbent, geniculate, rooting at the lower joints and sending out stolons ; 

 lvs. linear, smooth, those of the stolons erect and somewhat subulate ; ligules long, 

 membranous ; panicle dense, narrow and contracted after flowering, greenish white- 

 or slightly purplish; lower pale 5-veined, rarely awned. — A common and valuable- 

 grass in old fields and drained swamps. It is quite variable- in aspect. § Eur. 

 (A. stolonifera L. A decumbens Muhl.) 



ft. stricta. Lower pale with an awn from its base twice longer than itself. 

 (A. stricta Willd.) 



7- dispar. Southern Bent. Larger (2 — 3 f high) in all its parts; outer pale 

 obtusely 3-toothed. Much valued in some parts of the S. States. (A. dis- 

 par Mx.? Kunth.) 



3 A. canina L. Brown Bent. Dog's Bent. Culm rooting at the lower nodes, 

 slender, somewhat branched, about 2f high ; lvs. setaceous involute, the upper 

 linear ; panicle diffuse, ovoid, at length brownish, branches rough, diverging, dividing, 

 beyond their middle ; glumes subequal, shorter than the lower pale which bears 

 a long awn a little below the middle of the back ; upper pale minute. — Wet mead- 

 ows, E. States, rare. § Eur. 



ft. alpina. Culms low, in small tufts, with contracted panicles, nearly smooth, 

 purplish; awn twisted. — Mts., N. States. (A. Pickeringii Tuckm.) 



4 A. arachnoides Ell. Culm erect, slender, 5 — 8' high ; paniculate more than 

 half its length ; lvs. linear-setaceous, 1 — 3' long ; panicle narrow, branches capil- 

 lary, floriferous half their length; glumes green, ovate, acute, V' long, equal; 

 pale a little shorter, bearing on its back above the middle a contorted aivn 5 or 6 

 times longer than itself, and as fine as a gossamer. — Car. to Ga. (Feay). The awns, 

 from their fineness, can hardly be seen without a lens. Apr. 



5 A. scabra Willd. Rough Hair Grass. Thin Grass. Culms tufted, erect 

 from a decumbent vase, very slender, 1 — 2 f high; lvs. linear, 3 — 6' long, rough, 

 the radical involute-setaceous ; ligule oblong, obtuse ; panicle large, with long, 

 capillary, erect, or divergent, scabrous-hispid whorled branches, trichotomously 

 divided near the end ; spikelets in terminal clusters, at length purplish ; glmnes 

 lance-linear, acuminate, scabrous-hispid on the keel. — Fields and pastures, U. S. 

 and Brit. Am. Remarkable for its thin and airy panicles which are at length 

 driven before the wind. Jn., Jl. (T. laxiflorum Mx. T. montanum Torr.) 



ft. oreophila. Culm 6 — 12' high, simple, panicle less diffuse; pale with a 

 short, twisted awn at its back. — Mts. and rocky woods. (A. montana Tuckm.) 



y. perennans. Panicle pale green, branches shorter, floriferous more than 

 half their length. — In damp shades. (T. scabrum Muhl. A. scabra, ed. 2d.) 



