154 CTENIUM. — BOUTELOUA. 



18. CTENIUM, Ranzer. Toothache Grass. 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



Spikelets densely imbricated in two rows on one 

 side of the flat curved rhachis of the solitary ter- 

 minal spike. Glumes persistent ; the lower one 

 (interior) much smaller ; the other concave below, 

 bearing a stout, recurved awn, like a horn, on the 

 middle of the back. 



Flowers 4 to 6, all but one neutral ; the one or 

 two lower consisting of empty awned palets ; the one 

 or two uppermost of empty awnless palets ; the per- 

 fect flower^intermediate in position ; its palets mem- 

 branaceous, the lower awned or mucronate below 

 the apex, and densely ciliate towards the base, 3 

 nerved. Squamulss 2. Stamens 3. Stigmas plum- 

 ose. 



Name Greek — Menion a small comb — from the pec- 

 tinate appearance of the spike. 



1. C. Americanum (Tooth-ache grass). Stem 3 to 

 4 feet high, from a perennial root. It is found in the 

 wet 23ine barrens of New Jersey. Taste very pun- 

 gent. No agricultural value. 



19. BOUTELOUA— Legasca. Muskit Grass. 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



Spikelets crowded and closely sessile in two rows 

 on one side of a flattened rhachis, comprising one 

 perfect flower below, and one or more sterile (mostly 



