268 GRASSES OF IOWA. 



Spikelets two to four-flowered, subterete. Rachis hairy at the base 

 of the flowers, ending in a naked pedicel. Empty glumes concave, mem- 

 branaceous, unequal, the outer three-nerved, acute, the inner five-nerved, 

 toothed at the apex, nearly equalling the flowers; flowering glume more 

 rigid, prominently seven-nerved, toothed at the apex; nerves all parallel. 

 Stamens 3. Stigmas plumose. Ovary hairy. Tall perennials, growing 

 in water, with loosely sheathing leaves, and spikelets in a lax panicle. 

 (Name probably from the Greek words for prickle and grass.) 



Bentham & Hooker, as well as Hackel, give the number of species 

 as two; they are found in the north temperate zones of both continents; 

 one species is common to North America, Europe and Asia. • 



1. SCOLOCHLOA FESTUCACEA. 



Scolochloa festucacea Link. Hort. Berol. 1: 137. 1827. Watson and 

 Coulter. Gray. Man. Bot. 666. pi. 15. 1890. (6th ed.) 



Scolochloa arundinacea (Link.) MacMillan. Beal. Grasses of N A. 

 2: 559. /. 112. 1896. 



Scolochloa festucacea (Willd.) Link. Nash in Britton and Brown. 111. 

 Fl. 1: 209 f.482. 1896. Scribner. Bull. U.S. Dept. Agrl. Div. Agros. 

 17: 271. /. 567. 1899. 



Arundo festucacea Willd. Enum. 1: 126. 1809. 



DESCRIPTION". 



Fescue Scolochloa. A stout, erect, glabrous perennial, 2-\ to 4 

 feet (9-15 dm.) high, with long, flat leaves, and open panicles,. 8 to is 

 inches (16-30 cm.) long. Spikelets three to five-flowered, 3 to 4 lines 

 (6-8 mm.) long, with unequal, acute, outer glumes, and seven-nerved, 

 scabrous flowering glumes which have a tuft of hairs at the base. Wet 

 grounds or in shallow water. June to August. 



DISTRIBUTION'. 



Iowa. Gridley 3225 ( Pammel) ; Emmet County, Armstrong 1049 

 (Cratty) ; Kossuth County (Pammel). 



North America. Wet grounds or in shallow water, Minnesota, 

 Iowa in Nebraska, and northward to Manitoba and Assiniboia. 

 General. Northern Europe and Siberia. 



