POACEAE 131 



scales of the spikelet unequal, the first shorter than the second which is about 8 mm. long, 

 the flowering scales about 8 mm. long. [A. avenaceum Beauv.] 



In fields and waste places, Maine and Ontario to Georgia, Tennessee and Nebraska. Also on the 

 Pacific Coast. Naturalized from Europe. Summer. OAT GRASS. 



74. DANTHONIA DC. 



Usually perennial grasses, various in habit, with flat or convolute leaf -blades and ter- 

 minal dense and contracted or open diffuse panicles. Spikelets 3-many-flowered, the flow- 

 ers perfect or the upper ones staminate, the rachilla pilose, articulated between the scales 

 and prolonged beyond them. Scales 5-many, the 2 outer empty, persistent, usually ex- 

 tending beyond the flowering scales, rarely shorter, keeled, acute or acuminate, the flower- 

 ing scales rounded on the back, the margins often ciliate, 2-toothed at the apex, the teeth 

 often awned, with an awn arising between the teeth which is more or less flattened and 

 very often twisted at the base and frequently geniculate, the remaining scales often small 

 and enclosing a palet only, or empty ; palet obtuse or 2-toothed, 2-keeled, hyaline. Sta- 

 mens 3. Styles distinct. Stigmas plumose. WILD OAT GKASS. 



Empty scales of the spikelet 1.25 cm. long or less : leaf-sheaths glabrous, or sometimes 



sparingly pubescent at the base. 

 Teeth of the flowering scale about 1 mm. long, acute : leaf-blades of the stem short : 



panicle contracted. 1. D. spicata. 



Teeth of the flowering scale 2-3 mm. long, awned : leaf-blades of the stem elon- 

 gated : panicle usually open. 2. D. compressa. 

 Empty scales more than 1.25 cm. long. 



Leaf-sheaths and flowering scales villous. 3. D. sericea. 



Leaf-sheaths glabrous : flowering scales pilose on the margins. 4 D. epilis. 



1. Danthonia spicata ( L. ) Beauv. Stems 3-8 dm. tall, erect, nearly round : leaf- 

 sheaths glabrous, or often sparingly pubescent below ; blades rough, 2 mm. wide or less, 

 usually involute, the lower ones 1-1.5 dm. long : panicle 2-5 cm. long, its branches, as 

 well as the pedicels, erect or ascending : spikelets 5-8-flowered, the empty scales 8-10 mm. 

 long, the flowering scales broadly oblong, sparingly appressed-pubescent with silky hairs. 



In dry soil. Newfoundland, Quebec and North Dakota to North Carolina, Kansas and Louisiana. 

 Summer and fall. 



2. Danthonia compr6ssa Austin. Stems 4-9 dm. tall, flattened, erect : leaf-blades 

 2 mm. wide or less, the lower ones 1.5-2 dm. long : panicle open, 6-10 cm. long, the lower 

 branches usually spreading : spikelets 5-10-flowered, the empty scales 10-12 mm. long, the 

 flowering scales oblong, with a ring of short hairs at the base, appressed-pubescent with 

 silky hairs. 



In woods, Maine and Vermont to North Carolina and Tennessee. Summer and fall. 



3. Danthonia sericea Nutt. Stems 4-9 dm. tall : leaf -sheaths villous ; blades rough 

 and more or less villous, 2-3 mm. wide, the basal ones usually flexuous, those on the stem 

 2-10 cm. long, erect : panicle 6-12 cm. long, contracted, the branches erect or ascending : 

 spikelets 4-10-flowered, the empty scales 14-16 mm. long, the flowering scales oblong, 

 strongly pubescent with long silky hairs, the teeth 2-3 mm. long, acuminate, awned. 



In dry sandy soil, Massachusetts to New Jersey and Florida. Spring and summer. 



4. Danthonia 6pilis Scribn. Stems tufted, erect, 4-7 dm. tall, slightly roughened 

 just below the panicle and puberulent below the brown nodes : leaf-blades 2-4 mm. wide, 

 erect, those on the sterile shoots 1.5 dm. long or more, those on the stem 5-10 cm. long : 

 panicle 5-8 cm. long, contracted : spikelets 5-10-flowered, the empty scales acuminate, the 

 flowering ones 5-6 mm. long to the base of the teeth, pilose on the margins below and 

 sometimes sparingly so on the midnerve at the base, the teeth, including the awn, 2-3 mm. 

 long. [D. glabra Nash, not Philippi.] 



In swamps, southern New Jersey to Georgia. Spring and summer. 



75. CAPRIOLA Adans. 



Perennial usually stoloniferous grasses, the stems as well as the stolons often creeping, 

 with flat usually short leaf-blades and spicate inflorescence, the spikes terminal. Spikelets 

 1 -flowered, small, sessile, alternate in 2 rows on one side of the continuous rachis. Scales 

 3, the 2 outer empty, persistent, thin, keeled, acute or obtuse, awnless, the flowering scale 

 membranous, broader, its keel ciliate, awnless, enclosing a 2-keeled hyaline palet and a 

 perfect flower. Stamens 3. Styles distinct. Stigmas plumose. [Cynodon L. C. Rich.] 



1. Capriola Dactylon (L. ) Kuntze. Stems 1-3 dm. tall, erect, from long creeping 

 and branching rootstocks : leaf-sheaths glabrous or somewhat pubescent, crowded at the 



