(GRASS FAMILY.) 615 



erect branches 2-4 in a cluster; spikelets 4 - 8-flowered ; flowering glume 

 rather obtuse, hairy below, faintly nerved. Dry sterile soil. Introduced. 

 May. Culms 1 high. Leaves bluish green. 



8. P. brevifolia, Muhl. Culms erect (2 high) ; leaves broadly linear, 

 abruptly acute, those of the culm few and short ; branches of the panicle few, 

 mostly by pairs, bearing the 3-flowered spikelets near the end ; flowering glume 

 obtuse, faintly nerved, slightly hairy on the back. Rich soil, chiefly in the 

 upper districts. April. 



9. P. sylvestris, Gray. Culms compressed (2 high) ; leaves thin ; 

 panicle long-peduncled, ovate, the branches 5-6 in a cluster, roughish ; spike- 

 lets ovate, loosely 3-flowered, the flowering glume villous on the margins and 

 keel. Mountains of Georgia and Tennessee. June. 



10. P. alsodes, Gray. Culms l-2high; leaves linear, 2' - 5' long ; 

 panicle open, bearing the 2-4-flowered spikelets above the middle of the 

 setaceous branches, these mostly in fours ; glumes acute, lanceolate, the flower- 

 ]' ones hairy near the base; sterile flower an awn-like rudiment. Summits 

 of the mountains of North Carolina. 



65. ERAGROSTIS, Beauv. 



Spikelets few- many-flowered, compressed. Flowering glumes 3-nerved, 

 not hairy nor woolly. Palet mostly persistent after the fall of the glume. 

 ( ttherwise as in Poa. Culms often branched. Leaves and sheaths smooth 

 or hairy. 



* Panicles contracted: spikelets in clusters or racemes : annual. 

 +- Culms prostrate and creeping, diffusely branched. 



1. E. reptans, Nees. Culms filiform, the flowering branches erect (4'- 

 6' high), leaves short (!' - 2' long), linear ; sheaths downy at the base ; panicle 

 small (2' -3' long), ovate or oblong, often contracted ; spikelets linear, 10-20- 

 flowered, nearly sessile, imperfectly dioecious. Low ground. August - Sept. 

 Plant pale green. 



-i- -i- Culms branching, erect or ascending. 



2. E. megastachya, Link. Culms prostrate and geniculate at the 

 base, ascending; leaves linear ; sheaths smooth ; panicle oblong or pyramidal, 

 contracted or spreading; spikelets oblong or at length linear (3" -5" long), 

 10- 30-flowered; flowering glume ovate, obtuse. Cultivated or waste 

 grounds. Introduced. July- August. 



3. E. Brownei, Kunth. Low (6'- 12' high), tufted; leaves linear, at- 

 tenuate ; panicle simple, racemose, the short branches spreading ; spikelets 

 linear-lanceolate, nearly sessile, 20 -30-flowered ; flowering glume ovate, acut- 

 ish, 3-nerved, the palet ciliate. East Florida (Garber). 



4. E. oxylepis, Torr. Culms clustered, 4' -8' high, leaves l'-4'long; 

 panicle contracted, interrupted, racemose ; spikelets crowded, ovate, flat, 5-7- 

 flowered ; flowering glume acuminate, strongly 3-nerved. Memphis, Ten- 

 nessee, and westward. April. 



5. E. COnferta, Trin. Culms erect, stout, l-3high; leaves linear; 

 sheaths smooth ; panicle elongated (1- 2 long), linear or lanceolate, the very 



