181 



Fig. 175. SPARTINA gracilis Trin. Agrost. 1 : 88. 1840. WESTERN 

 CORD-GRASS.— A comparatively slender, perennial species 3-9 dm. (10-3°) 

 high, with fiat leaves, and three to nine rather short, appressed spikes, 2-5 em. 

 (l'-2') long. Leaf-blades 3 dm. (1°) long or less, 2-6 mm. (l"-3") wide, plane 

 or sometimes involute, attenuate. Spikelets (a) (>-8 mm. (3"-4'0 long; empty 

 glumes acute, scabrous-hispid on the keel, the first one-half the length of the 

 second; flowering glume (&) obtuse, slightly shorter than the second and about 

 equaling the obtuse palea.— Meadows, swamps, and river bottoms, especially 

 in alkaline soils. South Dakota to Kansas, west to British Columbia, Nevada, 

 and California. March to August. 



