542 gkaminejE. (grass family.) 



the lateral and often the terminal concealed in the sheaths ; palece somewhat equal, 

 about the length of the nearly equal glumes ; only one third longer than the linear 

 grain. (Agrostis Virginica, Muhl., not of L. Crypsis Virg., Nutt.) — Barren 

 and sandy dry fields, New England to Illinois, and common southward. Sept. 



3. V. Vil'giiaica, Beauv. Root perennial ; culms tufted, slender (5' -12' 

 long), often procumbent, branched ; leaves con volute ; palese rather shorter than 

 the nearly equal acute glunrss. (Agrostis Virginica, L.) — Sandy sea-shore, 

 Virginia (Clayton) and southward. — Spikelets much smaller and more numer- 

 ous than in the last. See Addend. 



6. SPOEOBOLUS, It. Brown. Drop-seed Grass. 



Spikelets 1- (rarely 2-) flowered, in a contracted or open panicle. Flowers 

 nearly as in Vilfa; the palese longer than the unequal glumes. Stamens 2-3 

 Grain a globular utricle (hyaline or rarely coriaceous), containing a loose seed, 

 deciduous (whence tbe name, from (nropd, seed, and j3dX\co, to cast forth). 



* Glumes very unequal : panicle pyramidal, open. 



1. S. jssiiceeis, Kunth. Leaves involute, narrow, rigid, the lowest elongat- 

 ed; culm (l°-2° high) naked above, bearing a narrow loose panicle; glumes 

 ovate, rather obtuse, the lower one half as long as, the upper equalling, the nearly 

 equal palece. 1J. (Agrostis juncea, Michx. Vilfa juncca, Trin.) — Dry soil, 

 Pennsylvania to Wisconsin, and (chiefly) southward. Aug. — Spikelets l"-2 

 long, shining. 



2. S. lieterdlcpis. Leaves involute-thread -form, rigid, the lowest as long 

 as the culm (l°-2°), which is naked above; panicle very loose; glumes very 

 unequal ; the lower awl-shaped (or bristle-pointed from a broad base) and some- 

 what shorter, the upper ovate-oblong and taper-pointed and longer, than the equal 

 palece. y. (Vilfa heterolepis, Gray.) — Dry soil, Connecticut, N. New York, 

 Ohio, and Wisconsin. Aug. — Plant exhaling an unpleasant scent (Sullivant), 

 stouter than the last, the spikelets thrice larger. Utricle spherical (1" in diam- 

 eter), shining, thick and coriaceous ! 



3. S. Cl'ypt»udrus. Leaves flat, pale (2" wide) ; the pyramidal panicle, 

 bursting from the upper sheath which usually encloses its base, its spreading 

 branches hairy in the axils ; upper glume lanceolate, rather acute, twice the length of 

 the lower one, as long as the nearly equal palese ; sheaths strongly bearded at the 

 throat. U • (Agr. & Vilfa cryptandra, Torr.) — Sandy soil, Buffalo, New York, 

 to Illinois, and south and westward. Ipswich, Massachusetts, Oakes. Aug. — 

 Culm 2° -3° high. Panicle lead-color : spikelets small. 



* # Glumes almost equal, shorter than the broad palece : panicle racemose-elongated, 

 open, the pedicels capillary : sheaths naked at the throat : spikelets 7iot unfrequently 

 2-flowered. (Colpodium ?) 



4. S. COBlipreSSUS, Kunth. Very smooth, leafy to the top ; culms tufled, 

 stout, very flat ; sheaths flattened, much longer than the internodec ; leaves erect, 

 narrow, condnplicate-channelled ; glumes acutish, about one third shorter than 

 the obtuse palese. U (Agrostis compressa, Torr. Vilfa, Trin.) -- Bogs in the 

 pine barrens of New Jersey. Sept. — Forming strong tussocks, l°-2° high. 

 Panicle 8' - 12' long : spikelets 1'' long, purplish. 



