610 GRAMINE^E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



4. T. Stricta, Vasey. Panicle closely spiked, 6'- 12' long; spikelets 

 ovate-oblong, 5- 10-flowered, barely longer than the pointed glumes ; flower- 

 ing glumes minutely awned ; culms strictly erect, 3 -6 high. Mississippi 

 (Tracy), and westward. 



56. TRIPLASIS, Beauv. 



Low tufted fibrous-rooted annual grasses, with branching culms, linear-sub- 

 ulate leaves, and few loosely 2 - 4-flowered spikelets, disposed in simple lateral 

 and terminal panicles or racemes. Glumes 2, lanceolate, smooth. Floret 

 hairy on the margins ; flowering glume 2-cleft, with a bearded or plumose awn 

 between the teeth ; the palet concave, 3-toothed. Stamens 3. Grain free. 



1. T. Americana, Beauv. Culms erect, 1- 2 high; leaves and sheaths 

 hairy ; awn of the flowering glume plumose, much longer than the awn-pointed 

 teeth. (Uralepis coruuta, Ell.) Dry sandy soil, Florida to North Carolina. 

 August -Sept. y.. 



2. T. purpurea. Culms procumbent or ascending, 1- l long ; leaves 

 and sheaths smooth or roughish ; awn of the flowering glume bearded, about 

 as long as the obtuse teeth. Drifting sands along the coast. August - Oct. 

 Leaves l'-4' long. Spikelets bright purple. 



3. T. sparsiflora, Chapm. Culms rigid (6'- 12' high) ; leaves short; 

 racemes axillary and terminal, few-flowered ; spikelets loosely 2 - 4-flowered ; 

 glumes nearly equal, the lower one 2-toothed, the upper acute; flowering 

 glume oblong, ciliate, twice the length of its awn, the palet villous above the 

 middle. Sandy coast at Punta llassa, South Florida. Oct. 



57. BROMUS, L. BROME GRASS. 



Spikelets large, loosely panicled, 3 - many-flowered. Glumes membrana- 

 ceous, unequal, commonly keeled. Flowering glume usually awned under the 

 2-cleft apex, convex on the back, about 7-nerved at the base. Stamens 3. 

 Grain flattened and grooved on the inner face, and adherent to the palet. 

 Culms simple. Leaves commonly broad and flat. 



1. B. ciliatus, L. Perennial; panicle diffuse, the slender drooping 

 branches mostly in pairs ; spikelets lanceolate after flowering, 10- 12-flowered ; 

 lower glume 1 -nerved, the upper 3-ner.ved ; flowering glume 7-nerved, hairy 

 along the margins, or, in var. PURGANS, Gray, hairy all over, about twice as 

 long as the awn ; culms 2- 4 high ; leaves and sheaths smooth or downy. 

 River banks and rich soil, chiefly in the upper districts. June. 



2. B. secalinus, L. (CHEAT or CHESS.) Annual; panicle spreading, 

 with clustered, at length drooping branches; spikelets ('-!' long) 8 -10- 

 flowered, oblong-ovate ; lower glume 5-nerved, the upper 7-nerved ; the flow- 

 ering glume convex, 7-nerved, awnless or short-awned ; culms l-2 high; 

 leaves and sheaths smooth or downy. Grain fields, etc. Introduced. 



3. B. racemosus, L. Panicle erect, contracted in fruit ; flowers larger, 

 the flowering glume longer than the upper one, barely longer than its awn ; 

 otherwise like B. secalinus. Grain fields. Introduced, 



