GRAMINE^E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 557 



26. DIARRHE1VA, Raf. Diarrhena. 



Spikelets several-flowered, smooth and shining, one or two of the uppermost 

 flowers steri'e. Glumes ovate, much shorter than the flowers, coriaceous ; the 

 lower one much smaller. Lower palea ovate, convex on the back, rigidly cori- 

 aceous, its 3 nerves terminating in a strong and abrupt cuspidate or awl-shaped 

 tip. Sqnamulse ovate, filiate. Stamens 2. Grain very large, obliquely ovoid, 

 obtusely pointed, rather longer than the palcas, the cartilaginous shining peri- 

 carp not adherent to the seed. — A nearly smooth perennial, with running root- 

 stocks, producing simple culms (2° -3° high) with long linear-lanceolate flat 

 leaves towards the base, naked above, bearing a few short-pedicclled spikelets (5 

 long) in a very simple panicle. (Name composed of bis, two, and (ipprjv, man, 

 from the two stamens.) 



1. D. Americana, Beauv. (Festuca diandra, Michx.) — Shaded river- 

 banks and woods, Ohio to Illinois and southward. August. 



27. DACTYLIS, L. Cock's-foot or Orchard Grass. 



Spikelets several-flowered, crowded in one-sided clusters, forming a branching 

 dense panicle. Glumes and lower palea herbaceous, keeled, awn-pointed, rough- 

 ciliate on the keel ; the 5 nerves of the latter converging into the awn-like point ; 

 the upper glume commonly smaller and thinner. Stamens 3. Grain lance- 

 oblong, acute, free. — Perennials: leaves keeled. (Name SoktuXi's, a finger's 

 breadth, apparently in allusion to the size of the clusters.) 



1. D. glomerata, L. Rough, rather glaucous (3° high) ; leaves broadly 

 linear; branches of the panicle naked at the base; spikelets 3 - 4-flowered. — 

 Fields and yards, especially in shade. June. — Good for hay. (Nat. from Eu.) 



28. KiELERIA, Pers. K<eleria. 



Spikelets 3 - 7-flowered, crowded in a dense and narrow spike-like panicle. 

 Glumes and lower palea membranaceous, comprcssed-lcecled, obscurely 3-ncrved, 

 barely acute, or the latter often mucronate or bristle-pointed : the former moder- 

 ately unequal, nearly as long as the spikelct. Stamens 3. Grain free. — Tufted 

 Grasses (allied to Dactylis and Poa), with simple upright culms ; the sheaths 

 often downy. (Named for Prof. Kohler, an early writer on Grasses.) 



1. K. CB'istfiita, Pers. Panicle narrowly spiked, interrupted or lobed at 

 the base; spikelets 2 - 4-flowered ; lower palea acute or mucronate; leaves flat, 

 the lower sparingly hairy or ciliatc. — Var. gracilis, with a long and narrow 

 spike, the flowers usually barely acute. (K. nitida, Nutt.) — Dry hills, Penn. to 

 Illinois, thence northward and westward. (Eu.) 



29. EATOWIA, Raf. (REBC-fjLEA, Kunth, not of Baddi.) 



Spikelets usually 2-flowercd, and with an abortive rudiment or pedicel, nu- 

 merous in a contracted or slender panicle, very smooth. Glumes somewhat 

 equal in length, but very dissimilar, a little shorter than the flowers ; the lower 

 narrowly linear, keeled, 1 -nerved; the upper broadly obovate, folded round the 



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