GRAMINE.E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 611 



4. B. SteriliS, L. Annual ; culms ascending (1- 2 long) ; leaves downy ; 

 panicle ample, drooping; spikelets thin, loosely 5-9-flowered, the long-awued 

 flowers linear-subulate. Waste ground. Introduced. 



58. FESTUGA, L. FESCUE GRASS. 



Spikelets panicled, 3 - many-flowered, the rachis jointed. Glumes unequal, 

 mostly keeled. Flowering glumes naked, chartaceous, rounded on the back, 

 3 - 5-uerved, entire and mostly acute or bristle-awned at the tip. Stamens 

 1-3. Grain adherent. Culms simple. Leaves linear or setaceous. Pan- 

 icles terminal. 



* Annual: panicles contracted: spikelets awned : leaves filiform or setaceous. 



1. F. Myurus, L. Culms erect, very slender, included in the sheaths of 

 the bristle-like leaves ; panicle elongated, linear, 1-sided, partly included in 

 the sheath of the uppermost leaf, the scattered branches appressed ; spike- 

 lets compressed, 4-6-flowered; awn 2-3 times the length of the subulate 

 sparsely hairy glume. Stamen 1 . Dry sandy soil, Florida to North Carolina. 

 March - April. Culms 6' - 12' high. Panicle pale, 4' - 6' long. 



2. F. SCiurea, Nutt. Culms taller (10'- 20'); panicle long-exserted ; 

 spikelets 5 - 7-flowered ; awn 3-4 times as long as the glume ; otherwise like 

 the preceding. Dry sandy soil, Florida, and westward. Feb. - March. 



3. F. tenella, Willd. Culms (2'- 12' high) erect or ascending; leaves 

 narrowly linear or filiform ; panicle exserted, simple, spiked, or the branches 

 slightly spreading, mostly purple ; spikelets crowded, compressed, oblong, 8 - 

 12-flowered ; awn not longer than the subulate hispid glume. Dry sandy 

 soil, Florida, and northward. Feb. - April. 



* * Perennial: panicles spreading: spikelets awnless : leaves mostly linear. 



4. F. OVina, L. Culms 1-1^ high; panicle contracted, spike-like; 

 spikelets mostly 4-flowered ; awns short or wanting. Waste ground in the 

 upper districts. 



Var. duriuscula, Koch. Panicles often spreading, 1-sided; spikelets 

 larger, 6 - 8-flowered ; glumes smooth or scabrous. Fields and roadsides. 

 Introduced. 



5. F. elatior, L. Culms 2- 4 high; leaves linear, smooth; panicle 

 long, narrow, erect, the erect branches bearing the loosely 5- 10-flowered 

 spikelets throughout ; flowering glume oblong-lanceolate, barely pointed. 

 Low ground in the upper districts. Introduced. 



6. F. nutans, Willd. Culms 2 -4 high, and like the broadly linear 

 leaves rough, or the latter hairy; panicle 1-sided, simple, erect or bending, the 

 few branches mostly in pairs, remote, bearing few ovate 5 - 6-flowered spike- 

 lets near their summits, at length reflexed ; glumes rough on the back, acute ; 

 flowering glume ovate, barely pointed. Rich woods and banks. August. 



59. MELICA, L. MELIC GRASS. 



Spikelets in panicles, consisting of 2 - 8 awuless perfect flowers enclosing 

 1-3 imperfect ones. Glumes unequal, membranaceous, convex, scarious on 



