GRAMINEiE. (GRASS FAMILY.) 559 



nerved, the nerves parallel and separate. Stamens 3 or 2. Stigmas plumose, 

 mostly compound. Ovary smooth. Grain oblong, free. — Perennial, smooth 

 marsh-grasses, mostly with creeping bases or rootstocks ; the spikelcts in a race- 

 mose panicle. (Name from y^vxepos, sweet, in allusion to the taste of the grain.) 



$ 1. GLYCERIA Proper. — Loiver palm conspicuously nerved: styles present: 

 plumes of the stigma branched or toothed: grain grooved on the inner side: leaves 

 flat, the sheaths nearly entire. 



* Spikelets in a crowded panicle, ovate, turgid, more or less compressed ; the flowers 

 crowded: lower palea ovate, entire, not very strongly nerved, of a firm texture, in 

 No. 1. becoming ventricose after flowering (almost as in Briza) : upper palea very 

 obtuse and entire : stamens 2. 



1. G. Canadensis, Trin. (Rattlesnake-Grass.) Panicle oblong- 

 pyramidal, at length spreading, and the tumid 6 - 8-tlowcred spikelets drooping ; 

 lower palea acntish, longer than the notched upper one ; leaves long, roughish. 

 (Briza Canadensis, Michx. Poa Canadensis, Beau v.) — Boggy places, New 

 England to Penn., Wisconsin, and common north ward. July. — A handsome, 

 stout grass, 2° -3° high. Spikelets 2" long, becoming very broad: glumes purplish. 



2. G. ©Dtlisa, Trin. Panicle narrowly oblong, dense; the 6-7-flowered 

 spikelets erect, short-pedicelled ; lower palea obtuse, the upper as long when old. 

 (Poa obtusa, Muhl.) — Bogs, E. New England to Penn., near the coast ; rare. 

 Aug. — Culm stout, 1°- 2° high, very leafy: leaves long, smooth. Spikelets 

 3" long, pale. 



3. G. elOBlgftta, Trin. Panicle narrowly racemose, elongated (1° long), 

 recurving; the branches appresscd, bearing the 3 - 4-flowered erect short-pedi- 

 celled spikelets nearly to the base ; lower palea obtuse, rather longer than the 

 upper; leaves very long (1° or more), rough. (Poa elongate, Torr.) — Wet 

 woods, New England to Michigan, and northward. July. — Spikelets pale, 1"- 

 IJ" long. 



* # Spikelets oblong, diffusely panicled, nearly terete : lower palea oblong or oval, trun- 



cate-obtuse, prominently 7 -nerved; the upper one 2-toothcd: stamens 3 or 2. 



4. G. nervata, Trin. Branches of the broad and open panicle capillary, 

 at length drooping, the very numerous small spikelets ovate-oblong, 3-7-flowered; 

 leaves rather long. (Poa nervata, Willd. P. striata, Michx. P. parviflora, 

 Pursh.) — Moist meadows; very common. June. — Culm erect, l°-3° high. 

 Spikelets seldom 2" long, commonly purplish. 



5. G. pallida, Trin. Branches of the rather simple panicle capillary, erect- 

 spreadinc), rough; the spikelets usually few, somewhat oppressed, oblonp-linear , 5-9- 

 flowered (pale, %' long) ; loiver palea oblong, minutely o-toothed, the upper lanceo- 

 late, conspicuously 2-toothed ; leaves short, sharp-pointed, pale. (Windsoria 

 pallida & Poa dentata, Torr.) — Shallow water ; common, especially northward. 

 July. — Culms slender, l°-3° long, ascending fiom a creeping lase. 



6. G. aqaiitica, Smith. (Reed Meadow-Grass.) Panicle much 

 branched, ample ( 8' - 1 5 7 long) ; the nunmous branches ascending, spreading with age ; 

 spikelets oblong or linear-oblong, 5-9-flowered (usually purplish, 2" -3" long); 



