74 GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 



thin, one half as long as the adjacent florets; lemma herbaceous, membrana- 

 ceous at the obtuse apex, 7-9-nerved, nearly equaled or slightly exceeded by 

 the bidentate palet. Grain Mnear or fusiform, narrowly channeled. (Pani- 

 cularia Fabr.) 



Spikelets ovate to oblong. 



Panicle at length nodding, 10-20 cm. long. 



Floral glume 7-nerved, 1 .5-2 mm. long 1. P. nervata. 



Floral glume 5-neryed. 2-3 mm. long . . . . . . 2. P. pauciflora. 



Panicle erect or nodding, 20-40 cm. long . . . . . . 3. P. grandis. 



Spikelets linear. 



Floral glume thin, hispidulous on the nerves . . . . . 4. P. borealis. 



Floral glume firm, hispidulous all over . . . . . . 5. P. fluitans. 



1. Glyceria nervata (Willd.) Trin. Mem. Acad. St. Petersb. VI. 1: 365. 

 1831. Stems 4-10 dm. high: leaves variable, sometimes 3-4 dm. long, usually 

 roughish above, as are the closed sheaths: panicle 1-2 dm. long, its flexuose 

 capillary branches in twos or threes, and soon diffusely spreading and pen- 

 dulous: spikelets 2-4 mm. long, 5-7-flowered, sometimes purplish: lemma 

 7-nerved, finely scabrous, strongly convex near the apex. In moist meadows 

 and along water courses, across the continent. 



2. Glyceria pauciflora Presl. Rel. Haenke, 1: 257. 1830. Stems 3-10 dm. 

 high, from a creeping root: leaves 1-3 dm. long, scabrous on the margins; 

 sheaths split: panicle 1-2 dm. long, loose, its capillary branches in threes 

 below, in pairs above, flower-bearing from near the middle: spikelets 4-5 mm. 

 long, 4-6-flowered: lemma 5-nerved, scabrous, its scarious tip serrulate or 

 toothed, more or less purplish. From Colorado and Utah northward and 

 westward. 



3. Glyceria grandis Wats, in Gray. Man. Ed. 6. 667. 1890. Stems stout, 

 erect, 8-15 dm. high: leaves large, 3-6 dm. long: panicle ample, 2-4 dm. long, 

 much branched, the numerous branches ascending, spreading with age: spike- 

 lets 4-6 mm. long, 5-9-flowered, usually purplish: flowering glume 7-nerved, 

 entire. G. aquatica. In wet grounds, from Colorado to California and Oregon, 

 thence eastward across the continent; called REED MEADOW GRASS. 



4. Glyceria borealis (Nash). A. Nels. Glabrous: culms erect from a creeping 

 base, 4. 5-15 dm. tall: sheaths overlapping, smooth or roughish, the uppermost 

 one inclosing the base of the panicle; leaves linear, abruptly acuminate, 1-5 dm. 

 long, 2-10 mm. wide: panicle slender, the exserted portion 1.5-5 dm. long, its 

 branches appressed or nearly so: spikelets 1-1.8 cm. long, 7-13-flowered, ap- 

 pressed: glumes 1-nerved, unequal; lemma thin, 4-5 mm. long, 7-nerved, the 

 nerves only scabrous; palet slightly shorter than the scale. (Panicularia 

 borealis Nash, Bull. Torr. Bot. Club 24: 348. 1897.) In shallow water; 

 Wyoming to Montana, and thence across the continent. 



5. Glyceria fluitans (L.) R. Br. Prodr. Fl. Nov. Holl. 1: 179. 1810. Very 

 similar to the preceding, the culms 6-10 dm. high, slender, erect, or somewhat 

 spreading: spikelets 7-13-flowered, linear, 1-2 cm. long: lemma hispidulous all 

 over, shorter than the bidentate palet. In shallow water; Colorado to Canada, 

 thence eastward and westward. 



58. PUCCINELLIA Parl. 



Perennial grasses, with flat or involute leaves and contracted or open 

 panicles. Spikelets 3-several-flowered. Glumes obtuse or acute, unequal; 

 lemma obtuse or acute, rounded on the back, 5-nerved, the nerves very ob- 

 scure or almost wanting; palet about equaling the lemma. Stamens 3. Styles 

 wanting; stigmas sessile, simply plumose. Grain compressed, usually adhering 

 to the palet. 



1. Puccinellia airoides (Nutt.) Wats. & Coult. in Gray Man. 668. 1890. 

 Stems tufted, 2-5 dm. high: leaves short and narrow, mostly convolute and 

 glaucous: panicle very variable, erect, narrow and one-sided, its rays in fives 

 or fewer: spikelets 3-12-flowered: glumes from narrow and acute to broad and 

 obtuse, 3-nerved or the lower 1-nerved; lemma oblong-linear, minutely pubes- 



