GRASS FAMILY 



585 



not compressed, and the awns mostly short. (Name from the 

 Latin serra, a saw, falx, a sickle.) 



1. S. secalinus (Rye Brome). — Stems erect, stiff, i — 4 feet high, 

 smooth, or rarely pubescent ; panicle slightly branched, loose, 

 spreading, 3—5 in. long, with rough, llexuous rachis and branches 

 3 — 5 together; spikelets ohiong, glabrous, 5^10-flowered ; flower- 

 ing glume longer than the pale, about as long as its awn. — Corn- 

 fields ; common. — FJ. June — September. — Annual. 



2. *S. racemosus (Smooth Brome). — ■ 

 A stiff, nearly smooth plant, i — 3 feet 

 high : leaves stiff, ciliate ; panicle long, 

 erect, narrow, simple, with long, slender 

 branches, 3 — 5 together ; spikelets 

 ovate, glossy, 6 — lo-flowered, with 

 awns as long as the flowers ; lower 

 empty glume lanceolate ; flowering 

 glumes imbricate, rounded at the 

 sides. — Fields and waste places. — Fl. 

 June — September. Biennial. 



3. S. commutdtus (Meadow Brome). 

 — A stouter form, more hairy ; panicle 

 more compound, loose, slightly droop- 

 ing ; spikelets shorter, oblong-lanceo- 

 late ; ficwering glumes imbricate, 

 bluntly angular at the sides. — Com- 

 mon. — Fl. June, July. Biennial. 



4. S. hordedceus (Soft Brome, Lop- 

 grass). — A glaucous green, pubescent 

 plant, resembling S. racemosus, i — 2 

 feet high ; leaves soft, with rough 

 edges; panicle i — 3 in. long, ovoid, 

 erect, close, slightly branched, with 

 very short branches ; spikelets ovate, 

 pubescent, 6 — lo-flowered; lower 

 empty glume broadly ovate ; ficwering glumes imbricate, bluntly 

 angular at the sides, pubescent, with awns as long as themselves. — 

 Roadsides; common. Very variable. — Fl. May — July. Annual. 



5.^ S. arvensis (Field Brome), i — 3 feet high, with smooth 5-/em; 

 hairy leaves ; panicle spreading, pyramidal, 4 — 8 in. long, with 

 very long, hair-like, roughish branches given off 5 — 7 together 

 and becoming horizontal, with a few green or dull violet lanceo- 

 late spikelets, each about | in. long, near their ends, and straight, 

 dark awns as long as the flowers, is commonly naturalised. — Fl. 

 July, August. Annual. 



SERRAFALCITS HORDeXcEUS 



{So/i Field Brome). 



