586 GRAMINE.E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



37. P. discolor, Muhl. ? Nearly glabrous, and with the habit of the 

 preceding; culms 1- 2 high, purple; leaves rigid, linear-lanceolate, ciliate, 

 1'- 2' long; sheaths purple, shorter than the internodes ; panicle simple or 

 compound, 2' -3' long; spikelets obovate, smooth; upper glumes strongly 

 7-nerved, oval, the lowest dark purple. Dry sandy pine barrens near the 

 coast, West Florida. 



38. P. laxiflorum, Lam. Culms erect or spreading, smooth, 6'- 12' 

 long; leaves 3' -5' long, lanceolate, or narrower, ciliate, yellowish; sheaths 

 villous with long spreading hairs ; panicle loosely branched, hairy ; spikelets 

 scattered, oblong or obovate, pubescent, rarely 1" long; upper glumes 7- 

 nerved, the lower minute. (P. pubescens and P. ciliatum, Ell., the latter a 

 low glabrous form, with shorter and broader loug-ciliate leaves, and smaller 

 smooth spikelets.) Swamps and low ground, common, and very variable. 



Var. pubescens (P. pubescens, Lam.). Pubescent or villous throughout ; 

 panicles more compact, many-flowered; spikelets smaller. Dry open woods 

 and fields, very common. 



This very variable species, I suppose, includes among its autumnal forms the 

 P. dichotomum, L., which, possessing characters only common to most of the 

 species of the group, and in their earlier stages descriptive of none, may well 

 be omitted. 



39. P. nitidum, Lam.?, Michx. Smooth or pubescent; culms l-2 

 high, mostly purple, often villous at the joints ; leaves few and remote, lanceo- 

 late-linear, rather rigid, l'-3' long, the sheaths naked or bearded at the 

 throat, the lowest crowded ; panicles ovate or oblong, the numerous flexuous 

 branches widely spreading, \\' -1' long; spikelets very numerous, obovate, 

 minutely pubescent, -" long; lowest glume minute, the upper as long as the 

 floret. Low ground, common, and very variable. 



Var. barbulatum (P- barbulatum, Michx.). Culms mostly villous at the 

 joints ; leaves larger and thinner ; branches of the panicle straight and diver- 

 ging ; spikelets oblong, glabrous. Light shaded soil. 



Var. ensifolium (P. ensifolinm, Baldw.). Culms very slender, 6' -12' 

 high; leaves and few-flowered panicle 1' or less long; spikelets minute, pu- 

 bescent. Around pine barren ponds near the coast. 



40. P. lanuginosum, Ell. Softly pubescent throughout ; culms 1- 2 

 high, geniculate, soon diffusely branching; leaves thin, linear-lanceolate, 2' 

 3' long; panicles long-peduncled, oblong, loosely flowered, 2' -3' long, the 

 branches smooth and setaceous ; spikelets oval, pubescent, f" long ; upper 

 glumes 7-nerved, five times longer than the lowest one. Low ground, Florida 

 to Tennessee. 



41. P. ramulosum, Michx. Culms very slender, declining, l-2 long, 

 soon dichotomously much branched : leaves few and remote, lanceolate-linear 

 l'-2' long, the sheaths ciliate; panicle long-peduncled, simple, sparsely few- 

 flowered, l'-2' long; spikelets long-pedicelled, oblong, smooth, nearly 1" 

 long ; upper glumes 5-nerved, thrice longer than the lowest, equalling tha 

 floret. (P. nudicaule, Vaseij.) Shaded miry banks of streams, Florida t< 

 Tennessee. 



42. P. Baldwin!!, Nutt. (in Herb.). Low (6' -8' high), tufted, very 

 smooth and shining; culm mostly purple : lenvos linear: panicle diffusely 



