424 GRAMINACE^E. 



* Spikekts in loose panicles, \ 



1. P. virgatum Linn. : whole plant very smooth ; panicle diffuse, very 

 large ; spikelets scattered ; flowers acuminate ; the lower one staminate, 

 with nearly equal palese. 



Wet banks, especially near salt water. N. Y. to Car. July, Aug. '2]- - 

 Culm 3 5 feet high. Leaves very long, flat. Panicle virgate, at length spread- 

 ing, often a foot long. Tall Smooth Panic-grass. 



2. P. capillare Linn. : culm erect, straight ; sheaths very hairy ; panicle 

 large, capillary, expanding, loose ; spikelets on long peduncles, acuminate, 

 smooth ; abortive flower without an upper palea. 



Cultivated grounds. Can. to Flor. Aug., Sept. (I). Culm 1 2 feet high, 

 sometimes branched. Leaves flat, broad. Panicle pyramidal, often purplish. 



Hair-stalked Panic-grass. 



3. P. depauperalum Muhl. : culms cespitose ; panicle nearly simple, on a 

 long peduncle, few-flowered, with flex'uous branches; spikelets obovoid, al- 

 ternate, pedicellate, large and somewhat turgid; upper palea of the neutral 

 flower very small. P. rectum R. fy S. P. involutum. Torr. Fl. 



Dry sandy soils. N. Y. to Virg. May, June. f l\. Culm about a foot high, 

 mostly simple. Leaves short, becoming longer above, narrow-linear, hairy 

 beneath, at length involute. Panicle terminal, on a slender peduncle ; branches 

 mostly in pairs, the lower longer and bearing 2 spikelets. 



Few-flowered Panic-grass. 



4. P. dicholomum Linn. : culm at first nearly simple, with a single pedun- 

 culate terminal compound panicle, but at length more or less branched and 

 fastigiate with small lateral nearly simple panicles ; spikelets minute, on 

 long peduncles, obovoid, mostly pubescent; lower glume one-third the 

 length of the upper; lower flower neutral, the upper palea minute. (Torr. 

 N. Y. jPZ.) P. nitidum Lam. P. barbulatum and ramulosum Mich. 



Moist meadows and woods. N. Y. to Car. July Sept. r l\.. Culm 824 

 inches high, mostly erect, but sometimes procumbent, smooth or pubescent. 

 Radical leaves short and very broad, often purplish ; upper ones narrower and 

 much longer, Panicle changing its form, often purplish. A very variable 

 species. Variable Panic-grass. 



5. P. verrucosum Muhl. : culm slender, decumbent and geniculate, 

 branching from the base, and with the leaves smooth ; panicle capillary, 

 widely spreading, few-flowered ; spikelets ovoid ; flowers verrucose ; neutral 

 flowers without an upper palea. 



Sandy swamps. N. Y. to Geor. Aug., Sept. Qj.. Culm 1 2 feet long, 

 much branched; the nodes smooth and inflated. Leaves narrow, spreading, 

 smooth. Panicles terminal and lateral, loose ; the branches flexuous. 



Warty -flowered Panic-grass. 



6. P. dandestinum Linn. : culm with short axillary branches, the nodes 

 smooth ; leaves broad-lanceolate, somewhat cordate at the base ; sheaths 

 hispid, enclosing the short lateral panicles ; spikelets ovoid, pubescent ; the 

 lower flower neutral, with 2 pale ; upper valve obtuse. - P. lalifolium var. 

 clandsstinum Pursh. 



var. pedunculatum Torr. : sheaths less hispid; terminal panicle on a long 

 peduncle. (N. Y. Fl.} P. pedunculalum Torr. FL 



Moist woods. N. Y. to Car. July, Aug. T\..Culm 13 feet high, erect, 

 rigid, very leafy. Leaves broad, strongly nerved. Panicles terminal and lateral, 



