91 



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Fig. 85. ARISTIDA STRICTA Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1 : 41. 1803. WIRE- 

 GRASS. — A rigid, erect, wiry perennial 6-12 dm. (2°-4°) high, with narrow, in- 

 volute leaves and strict, spike-like, slender panicles about 30 cm. (12') long, its 

 branches erect. Empty glumes slightly unequal, the second one 10-12 mm. 

 (5"-6") long, rather longer than the lower, both awn-pointed. Awns of the 

 flowering glume nearly equal, 10-12 mm. {b"-6") long, all divergent or reflexed 

 when mature. Leaves pilose on the upper or inner surface, becoming lanate at 

 the base, with long, white hairs. A spikelet is shown at a, the flowering glume 

 with Its very short palea at b, and two anthers at c. — Dry pine barrens near the 

 coast, Virginia and North Carolina to Florida and Mississippi, often covering 

 extensive tracts and forming the bulk of the pasturage. July to October. 



A grass of considerable economic value. 



