GRAMINE.E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 605 



the base, or rarely both flowers awuless. Swamps. March - April. Panicle 

 pale, 4' - 8' long. 



2. T. molle, Kunth. Soft downy; culms short (6' -8'); panicle (2' -3' 

 long) contracted, dense and spike-like; spikelets 2-flowered, the flowering 

 glume of both flowers with a spreading awii. Mountains of North Carolina. 



43. DANTHONIA, DC. 



Tufted grasses, with racemose or panic-led spikelets, and rough or bearded 

 flowers. Spikelets 3 -many-flowered. Glumes nearly equal, membranaceous, 

 longer than the florets, awnless. Flowering glume rigid, concave, many- 

 nerved, bearded below, sharply 2-toothed at the apex, bearing an intermediate 

 awn, which is flattened and twisted near the base. Stamens 3. Grain oblong, 

 free. 



1. D. spicata, Beauv. Spikelets 4-8, racemose, 7 -flowered ; flowering 

 glume rough with short rigid hairs, much longer than the lanceolate-subulate 

 teeth ; culms (10'- 18' high) slender ; leaves short and narrow, soon involute. 

 Dry barren soil. June - July. Raceme 1' - 2' long. 



2. D. sericea, Nutt. Spikelets numerous, panicled, 7-flowered ; flower- 

 ing glume white with long silky hairs, as long as the slender awn-pointed 

 teeth ; culms 2 high ; sheaths of the linear leaves woolly above. Dry sterile 

 soil. April. 



3. D. compressa, Austin. Like No. 1, but taller; leaves longer; pan- 

 icle larger and more open ; teeth of the flowering glume longer and more 

 slender. Summit of Roan Mountain, North Carolina (Chickering), and 

 northward. 



44. HOLCUS, L. SOFT GRASS. 



Spikelets 2-flowered, the flowers short-pedicelled, the lower one perfect and 

 uiiawned, the upper triandrous and awned. Glumes 2, thin, keeled, enclosing 

 the florets. Palet and glume thin, equal. Grain free. 



1. H. lanatus, L. Soft-downy, erect (2 high); panicle oblong (2' -4' 



long); awns recurved. Low ground. Introduced. 



45. ARRHENATHERUM, Bcauv. OAT GRASS. 



Tall grasses, with flat leaves, and spreading panicles with clustered or 

 whorlecl branches. Spikelets 2-flowered, with the awn-like rudiment of a 

 third flower ; the lower one staminate, the upper perfect. Glumes mem- 

 branaceous, concave, the upper one as long as the florets. Flowering glume 

 of the lower flower with a bent dorsal awn below the middle. Stamens 3. 



1. A. avenaceum, Beauv. Culms smooth, 2 -3 high ; leaves broadly 

 linear ; panicle narrow, whitish, 8' - 10' long ; glumes scarious. North Caro- 

 lina (Curtis). Introduced. May. 2/. 



46. SPARTINA, Schreb. MARSH GRASS. 



Rigid perennial grasses, growing chiefly in saline marshes, with simple 

 culms, concave or convolute leaves, and flattened 1 -flowered spikelets, closely 



