578 gramine^:. (grass family.) 



neutral flower, which exceeds the perfect one. (P. agrostidiformc, Lam. ? P. 

 multiflorum, Pair.) — Wet meadows, E. Massachusetts to Virginia, Illinois, 

 and southward. Aug-. 



-M- ++ Neutral flower consisting of a single palea. 

 G. W. pa'OliferaBBaa, Lam. Smooth throughout ; culms thickened, succulent, 

 branched and geniculate, ascending from a procumbent base; sheaths flattened; 

 ligule ciliate ; panicles terminal and lateral, compound, pyramidal, the slender 

 primary branches at length spreading; spilcelets oppressed, lance-oval, acute (pale 

 green)* lower glume broad, £ to £ the length of the upper; neutral flower little 

 longer than the. perfect one. @ — Brackish marsbes and meadows; common 

 along the coast from Massachusetts southward : also along the Ohio and Mis- 

 sissippi. Aug. 



7. P. capillSs'ire, L. Culm upright, often branched at the base and form- 

 ing a tuft; leaves (large) and especially the flattened sheaths very hirsute; panicle 

 pyramidal, capillary, compound and very loose (G'-12' long), the slender straight 

 branches somewhat reflexed when old; spilcelets scattered on long pedicels, oblong- 

 ovoid and pointed; lower glume half the length of the neutral palea, which is 

 longer than the ovoid-oblong obtuse perfect flower. (J — Sandy soil and cultivated 

 fields everywhere. Aug., Sept. 



8. P. aBstHSiassfjlc, Bosc! Culm ascending, very slender (1° high), branch 

 ing below ; leaves small ( 1' - 2' long, linear-lanceolate) and upper sheaths glabrous ; 

 panicle as in depauperate states of the last, but glabrous, except the strongly 

 bearded main axils, its capillary much elongated divisions mostly simple and 

 bearing solitary spindle-shaped spilcelets; lower glume minute ; perfect flower nar- 

 rowly oblong or lance-oblong, acute, nearly equalling the lance-oblong obtusish up- 

 per glume and the neutral palea. \[ 1 (P. dichotomiflorum, Michx. ?) — Sand- 

 hills, Mason County, Illinois [Mead), and southward. — This well-marked spe- 

 cies is either rare, or has been generally overlooked. 



*_ h_ Sterile flower slaminate, of 2 palece; lower glume little or \ shorter: spilcelets 



large (li"-2%" hug). 



9. P. vil'gatWBJJ, L. Very smooth; culms upright (3° -5° high) ; leaves 

 very long, flat; branches of the compound loose and large panicle (9'- 2° long) at 

 length spreading or drooping; spikelets scattered, oval, pointed: glumes and 

 sterile palea: pointed, usually purplish, y.— Moist sandy soil; common, espe- 

 cially southward. Aug. 



10. P. amuriun, Ell. Nearly smooth, rigid ; culms (lj° high) sheathed, 

 to the top ; leaves involute, glaucous, coriaceous, the uppermost exceeding the contracted 

 panicle, the simple racemose branches of which are appressed, very smooth ; 

 spikelets ovate, pointed (pale) ; lower glume little shorter than the sterile flow- 

 er. 1J.— Sandy shores, Connecticut (Barratt, Robbins), Virginia, and south- 

 ward. Aug., Sept. 



* * Panicle loosely spreading or diffuse, short. 

 «- Lower [sterile) flower formed of 2 palea (the upper one scarious and sometinm 

 small and inconspicuous), neutral, except in No. 11, and occasionally in No it. 

 where it is staminaie. 



