794 Order 156.— GRAMINE^E. 



§ FIs. nwned. — Awns conspicuous, about equaling: or exceeding the pales Nos. 1, 8 



— Awns much shorter than the lanceolate pales Nos". 3,4 



§ FJs. awnless. — Panicle contracted, with short, ascending branches Nos. 6, 6 



— Panicle very loose, with spreading or renexed branches Nos. 7, 8 



1 F. Myurus L. Culm 6 — 12' long, erect, geniculate near the base; lvs. 2 — 3' 

 long, subulate, concave; stip. bifid or retuse; panicle slender, crowded; spikelets 

 4 — 6-flovv ered ; glumes minute, equal ; fls. subulate, hairy ; lower pale with an awn 

 twice its length ; sta. 1 ; stig. plumous, white. — I) Sandy fields, Car. to Ga. Mar., 

 Apr. 



2 F. tenella "Willd. Slender Fescue. Culm filiform, wiry, often growing in 

 tufts and geniculate at base, 6 — 12'; lvs. erect, linear-setaceous, 2 — 3' long; sheaths 

 subpubescent, with lacerated stipules ; pan. simple, contracted, rather secund, 

 branches alone or in pairs; spikelets 6 to 9-flowered, with subulate, subequal 

 glumes, at length brownish ; fls. subulate, their awns of about equal length. — CJD 

 Sandy fields, N. Eng to 111. and S. States. 



3 F. ovina L. Sheep's Fescue. Culm erect, ascending at base, 6 — 10'; lv.«. 

 very narrow, rough, radical ones very numerous, 2 — 4' long, cauline few, short, 

 erect; pan. few-flowered, simple, contracted; spikelets ovate, about A-flowtrcd; 

 pale lance-ovate. — 11 A valuable grass for pasturage. Jn. § Eur. 



/3. viviPARA. Glumes and pales changing to leafy tufts. — Mts. 



4 F. duriuscula L. Hard Fescue. Culm smooth 12 — 18'; lvs. linear, very 

 acute, a little scabrous; stipules membranaceous, lacerate ; pan. oblong, spreading, 

 inclining to one side, branches in pairs; spikelets nearly terete, 5 — 7 -flowered; 

 lower glume smaller, upper one 3-veined ; palese, unequal, lower with short awns. 

 — U Fields and pastures. A fine grass, common, Car. to Can. June, July. 



(3. rubra. Spikelets 7 to 11 -flowered; herbage often tinged with red. — Dry 

 fields, eastward. 



5 F. pratensis Huds. Meadow Fescue. Culm smooth, 3 — 4f high ; lvs. lance- 

 linoar, smooth, rough-edged, a foot long, on smooth, loose sheaths ; panicle sub- 

 erect, branches short, in pairs, ascending; spikelets lance-ovate, acute, 6 to 9-flow- 

 cred\ 6 — 9" long, racemous on the branches; lower glume shorter; lower palea3 

 acuminate or mucronate. — A fine grass, in meadows, U. S. and Can. Jn. § 



6 F. elatior L. Tall Fescue Grass. St. smooth, 2 — 3f high ; lvs. lance-linear, 

 veined, smooth, rough-edged, about 8' long ; sheaths veined, smooth with obso- 

 lete stipules ; panicle branched, erect in flower, spreading, somewhat 1-sided, 

 branches subsolitary, spikelets short, alternate somewhat secund, 2 to 5-flowered, 

 about 3" long; pales smooth, chartaceous, barely acute. — Fields and meadows. 

 Jn., Jl. § 



7 F. rigida Kunth. Culm decumbent, ascending 3 to 5' ; lvs. much shorter, subu- 

 late, involute when dry; pan. subsimple, secund, an inch or two long, the branches 

 alternate, ajywessed ; spikelets lance-linear, 5 to 9-flowered ; fls. acutish, terete, 

 purplish. — In dry soils, Car., near the coast. Plant dwarf and rigid. Apr., May. 



8 F. nutans "Willd. Nodding Fescue. Culm erect, slender, smooth, with black 

 nodes, about 3f high ; lvs. narrow-linear, a foot long, veined ; panicle slender, dif- 

 fuse, at length nodding, and the slender branches deflexed; spikelets lance-ovate, 3 — 5- 

 flowered ; fls. smooth, awnless and nearly veinless. — % Open woodlands, in most 

 of the States. June. (F. Shortii Kunth., when the grass is stouter and the spike- 

 lets about 5-flowered.) 



37. EATCTNIA, Raf. (Dedicated to Prof. Amos Eaton, the well- 

 known author of the " Manual of Botany," which bears his name.) 

 Spikelets mostly 2-flowered, numerous, paniculate, silvery ; glumes 2, 

 very dissimilar, the lower linear, 1-veined, upper broadly obovate, ob- 

 tuse or abruptly pointed, 3-veined, with broad, scarious margins ; pales 

 obtusish, awnless, chartaceous, glabrous ; caryopsis oblong. — U Smooth 

 and delicate grasses with simple, csespitous culms. 



E. obtusata Gray. Culm erect, geniculate below, leafy, 1 to 2f ; nodes pubes- 

 oent, blackish, contracted; lvs. 3 to 6' by 2", scabrous, acuminate, shorter than 

 the sheaths; stip. lacerate; pan, contracted, 3 to 5' long, 6 to 12" diam., dense, 

 branches fascicled, short, appressed; spikelets 1J" lorjg, 2-flowered, tumid ; lower 



