604 CLXI. GRAMINEZ. | Panicum. 
tered, horizontal, 1—6/ long; spikelets ovate, few and scattered; palee smooth 
and polished.—2| In woods, Penn. to Can. Plant pale green. Summer. 
2. M. puncens. Torr. Dwarf Millet Grass. 
St. erect, simple, rigid, 12—18’ high; Jus. lanceolate, cauwline very short, 
pungent, at length involute, radical 6—8’ long, erect, acute and pungent; sheaths 
striate, rough, tumid; panicle contracted, few-flowered; ped. bifid; glumes awn- 
less; palee hairy, about equaling the glumes; sty. 2-parted.—2 tics hills, 
Northern States, rare. May. 
3. M. ampuicarpon. Pursh. (M. ciliatum. Muti.) 
Sts. numerous, assurgent, 18—24’ high, somewhat branched and genicu- 
late; dvs. 2—3’ by 2—4”, lance-linear, hairy and ciliate; sheaths striate, the 
upper ones leafless ; panicle simple, 2—3’ long, its branches few, erect, appressed, 
racemose, bearing § flowers; spikelets oblong, purplish; radical pedwneles clus- 
ieee high, sheathed, each bearing a single 9 spikelet; caryopsis brown. 
—N.J. Aug. : 
200. OPLISMENUS. Kunth. 
G7. ot)\topa, armament, pevos, courage ; alluding to the stout awns. 
Panicle compounded of alternate, dense racemes; glumes 2, une- 
qual, echinate, 2-flowered, lower short, upper as long as the 9, acumi- 
nate ; abortive flowers with 2 palez, the lower terminating in a long 
awn; © pale cartilaginous, shining, coating the caryopsis. 
1. O. Crus-caLtui. Kunth. (Panicum. Linn.) He frp Grass. 
St. terete, smooth, 3—4f high; Jvs. linear-lanceolate, flat, serrulate, with 
smooth, striate sheaths and no stipule; panicle simple or apparently so, branches 
spike-form, compound, alternate and in pairs ; rachis hairy and rough; glumes 
hispid with bristles; lower abortive palea ending in a rough awn, nearly 1’ in 
length—@ A coarse, weedy grass, introduced into cultivated grounds, barn- 
yards, &c., common. Aug., Sept. § ; 
2. O. nisPipum. Wood. (O. muricatus. Kunth. Panicum. Muil.) 
_ St. thick, 3—4f high; Jvs. broad, flat; panicle compound, nodding, dense, 
4—6/ long, with alternate racemes; fis. always awned—(@) Salt marshes, N. Y. 
to Car. Best distinguished from the preceding by its hispid sheaths. Sept., 
Oct. “ 
21. PANICUM. 
Lat. panicula, the mode of flowering, or panis, bread, which some species afford. 
Glumes 2, unequal, the lower mostly very small; flowers 2, dis- 
similar, the lower abortive or sterile, with 1—2 pales, the upper 
palea membranaceous; the upper %, with the palez cartilaginous, 
equal, concave, awnless, coating the caryopsis. : 
* Spikelets in racemose panicles. 
1. P. acrostéipes. Muhl. (P.elongatum. Ph. P. fusco-rubens? Nutt.) 
St. compressed, glabrous, 14—3f high, often geniculate at base; dvs. long 
and numerous, cauline linear-ianceolate, carinate, rough-edged, on short, striate 
sheaths; panicles terminal and lateral, pyramidal, composed of racemed, 
spreading or deflexed branches; spikelets 1" long, purple, lanceolate, acute, 
erowded and appressed; wpper glume 5-veined; palee of the neutral flower 
nearly equal.—| ? Meadows, frequent. July. 
2. P. anceps. Michx. (P. rostratum. MuAl.) 
St. compressed, 2—3f high; dvs. linear, carinate, very long; sheaths an- 
cip.tal, pilose on the throat and margin; pamicle erect, contracted, with nearly 
simple branches ; spikelets interruptedly racemose, very acuminate; wpper palea 
of the neutral flower oblong, obtuse or emarginate—% Fields and meadows. 
Common, Mid. States, N. Eng. July. 
3. P. protireRuM. Lam. (P. dichotomiflorum. Mz. P. geniculatum, 
Muhl.\—St. assurgent, geniculate at base, very smooth, thick and succu- 
tent; dvs. linear-lanceolate, 4—6” wide, 10—15/ long, on tumid sheaths, hairy 
