o7i GRAMINEiE. (GKASS FAMILY.) ~ 



53. HIEBOCIILOA, Gmclin. Holy-Grass. 



Spikelets plainly 3-flowercd, open-panicled ; the flowers all with 2 palese the 

 two lower (lateral) {lowers staminate only, 3-androus, sessile, often awned on the 

 middle of the hack or near the tip; the uppermost (middle) one perfect, short- 

 pcdieelled, scarcely as long as the others, 2-androus, awnlcss. Glumes equalling 

 or exceeding the spikelet, searious ; palese chartaceous. — Leaves linear or lan- 

 ceolate, flat. (Name composed of lepvs, sacred, and xAoa, grass ; these sweet- 

 scented Grasses being strewn before the church-doors on saints' days, in the North 

 of Europe.) 



1. H. feorejaJis, Eoem. & Schultes. (Vanilla or Seneca Grass.) 

 Panicle somewhat one-sided, pyramidal (2' -5' long); peduncles smooth; 

 staminate flowers with the lower palea mucronatc or bristle-pointed at or near 

 the tip ; rootstock creeping. U (Holcus odoratus, L.) — Moist meadows, Mass. 

 to Wisconsin, and northward, chiefly near the coast and along the Lakes. May, 

 — Culm l°-2° high, with short lanceolate leaves. Spikelets chestnut-color; 

 the sterile flowers strongly hairy-fringed on the margins, and the fertile one at 

 the tip. (En.) 



2. M. aJpiiBa, Roem. & Schultes. Panicle contracted (1'- 2' long) ; one 

 of the staminate flowers barely pointed or short-awned near the tip, the other 

 long-awned from below the middle; lowest leaves very narrow. 1J. — Alpine 

 mountain-tops, New England, New Fork, and northward. July. (Eu.) 



54. ANTHOXAJfTHUM, L. Sweet-scented Vernal-Grass. 



Spikelets spiked-panicled, 3-flowered ; but the lateral flowers neutral, consist- 

 ing merely of one palea which is hairy on the outside and awned on the back ; 

 the central (terminal) flower perfect, of 2 awnless chartaceous palea?, 2-androus. 

 Glumes very thin, acute, keeled ; the upper about as long as the flowers, twice 

 the length of the lower. Squamulse none. Grain ovate, adherent to the enclos- 

 ing paleaj. (Name compounded of avdos, flower, and avdav, of flowers. L.) 



1. A. odoratum, L. Spikelets spreading (brownish or tinged with green) ; 

 one of the neutral flowers bearing a bent awn from near its base, the other short- 

 awned below the tip. y. — Meadows, pastures, &c. ; very sweet-scented in dry- 

 ing. May -July. (Nat. from Eu.) 



55. PHALARIS, L. Canary-Grass. 



Spikelets crowded in a dense or spiked panicle, with 2 neutral mere rudiments 

 of a flower, one on each side, at the base of the perfect one, which is flattish, 

 awnlcss, of 2 shining palese, shorter than the equal boat-shaped and often winged- 

 keeled glumes, finally coriaceous or cartilaginous, and closely enclosing the 

 flattened free, and smooth grain. Stamens 3. — Leaves broad, flat. ^ The an- 

 cient name, from (fia\6s, shining, alluding either to the palese or the grain.) 



1. P. au"&eaM«lii8»s8Cea, L. (Reed Canary-Grass.) Panicle more or 

 less branched, clustered, a little spreading when old ; glumes wingless, with flat- 

 tened pointed tips ; rudimentary flowers hairy, £ the length of the fertile one. H 



