606 Order 156.— -GRAMINE^E. 



2 B. oligostachya Torn Culm filiformly slender, 6 to 12', erect, nearly naked; 

 Ivs. glabrous, setaceous ; fls. condensed in 2 or 3 (rarely 1 to 5) short spikes which 

 are nearly terminal; spikelets numerous, pubescent; middle awn of the villous 

 pale longest, equaling the glume. — Min., Iowa, S. to Miss. (Bachman I) 



3 B. hirsuta Lag. Culms caespitous, leafy at the base; Ivs. lance-linear, hispid 

 on the margin and midvein ; fls. condensed in 2 or 3 (rarely 1 to 4) short spikes 

 which are nearly terminal; pale pubescent, its 3 awns subequal, exceeding Hie 

 glandular bristly lower glume. — Sandy soil, 111. and Wis. 



62. CTE'NIUM, Panzer. Toothache Grass. (Gr. kteviov, a small 

 comb ; from the resemblance of the spike.) Spikelets 4 or 5-flowered, 

 closely imbricated on one side of a flat rachis ; middle flower $ , the 2 

 lower and 1 or 2 upper sterile ; upper glume exterior, with an awned 

 tubercle on the back ; lower $ pale awned near the apex, silky-fringed 

 below. — Spike solitary, recurved. (Monocera, Ell.) 



C. aromaticum. Culm 3 to 5f high, rigidly erect, glabrous ; Ivs. much shorter, 

 involute-setaceous above; spike 4 to 6' in length, curved backwards, very 

 dense, beset with 3 rows of short, stout awns, the lateral awns obliquely divari- 

 cate. — 2f Swamps, in pine barrens, S. States. The appearance of the spikes is 

 very curious and striking. Taste of tho fresh herbage pungent (JEgilops, Walt. 

 C. Americanum Spr.) 



63. TRIP'SACUM L. Sesame Grass. (Gr. rpi(io t to grind; ap- 

 plication not obvious.) Spikes staminate above, fertile below ; glumes 

 2, coriaceous ; pales 2, membranous ; $ spikelets 2-flowered, outer 

 flower staminate, inner neuter; $ spikelets 2-flowered, the lower flower 

 abortive ; outer glume enclosing the flowers in a cavity of the thick, 

 jointed rachis, with an aperture each side at base, the joints readily 

 separating. 



T. dactyloldes L. St. slightly compressed, smooth, solid with pith, brown at 

 the nodes, 4 to 6f ; Ivs. near an inch broad, long, lance-linear, smooth beneath, 

 roughish above ; spikes 5 to 8' long, usually 2 to 3 together, digitate, terminal, 

 evidently unilateral. — % River banks and seashores, Mid., "VV. and S. States^ A 

 large, coarse and very singular grass, of little value as food for cattle. 

 |3. monostachyon. Spike single. 



64. ZE'A, L. Indian Corn. (Gr. (aw, to live ; as a life supporter 

 of animals and man.) Flowers 8 , awnless ; $ in a terminal panicle 

 of racemes, the spikelets 2-flowered; glumes herbaceous, subequal ; 

 pales membranous, upper bifid; anthers 3, linear; $ partly imbedded 

 in a thick, continuous axillary spike (spadix) which is enclosed in many 

 spathaceous bracts ; lower flower of each spikelet abortive ; glume 

 broad, thick, membranous, obtuse ; style filiform, very long, exserted 

 and pendulous ; abortive flower of 2 pales. — J) Culm solid. 



Z. Maya L. Rt. fibrous ; culm erect, stout, 5 to 15f, grooved on one side, very 

 smooth and leafy ; Ivs. ample, linear-lanceolate, 2 to 3f by 2 to 3', channeled. — 

 The varieties of this noble plant, produced by climate and culture, are numerous. 

 It is native in S. Am., but how widely cultivated and how important to man we 

 need not write. Every part is known by familiar names. The panicle of $ fls. 

 at the summit is the tassel. The spike of the ? fls. is tho ear, its rachis the cob, 

 its pistils the silk, and the bracts of its spathe the busks. The kernels are in 8, 10, 

 12, etc., rows, always some even number, yellow, white, red or spendidly purple. 



65. R0TTB(EL/LIA, Brown. (A personal name.) Rat-tail Grass. 

 Spikelets in pairs at each joint of a terete, jointed spike, one sessile in 

 a cavity of the rachis, 2-flowered, the other pediceled, abortive ; sessile 

 spikl. with the lower flower abortive ; glumes 2, subequal, outer con- 



