172 ERAGROSTIS. 



13. P. Brevifolia (Short Leaved Spear Grass). The 

 root leaves long, nearly equalling the stem. Kocky 

 or hilly woodlands. Pennsylvania to Virginia, and 

 westward. 



14. P. Nemoralis (Wood Meadow Grass). Has the 

 ]jecnliar property of flowering under the shade of 

 trees, which renders it valuable on land which either 

 contains forest timber, or which is closely fenced by 

 plantations, which is the case in almost all demesnes 

 in England. 



In Mr. Taunton's experiments the plants were 

 completely overpowered by other grasses. I found 

 the same difficulty in raising it this year, although I 

 took every pains to clear the ground of weeds and 

 roots of grasses, and sowed a liberal quantity of seed, 

 yet the natural grass overpowered it and kept it 

 down. I have again cleared the ground thoroughly,, 

 and will repeat the experiment by sowing again this 

 month (August). 



35. ERAGROSTIS— Beauv. Eragrostis. 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



Spikelets 2 to 70-flowered, nearly as in Poa, except 

 that the lower palet is but 3 (rarely 1) nerved, not 

 webby -haired at the base and deciduous, and the 

 upper one persistent on the rhachis after the rest of 

 the flower has fallen ; culms often branching ; leaves 

 linear, frequently involute, and the ligule or throat 

 of the sheath bearded with long villous hairs ; panicle 

 various. 



