362 



ENDOGENOUS PLANTS 



Annual. Culms 6 to 12 or 15 inches high, smooth. Leaves 1 to 6 inches long, 

 setaceously narrow, erect, involute toward the apex; sheaths short, with long 

 hairs at throat. Spikelets acicular, in a very slender erect racemose panicle. 

 Hob. Sterile old fields, and dry banks : frequent. Fl. Aug. Fr. Sept. 



Obs. These dry slender grasses are remarkably worthless, to the 

 Farmer, as their common name would indicate. 



TRIBE 3. CHLORID'EAE. 



Spikelets rarely 1- usually several-flowered, with the upper or terminal floret im- 

 perfect, disposed in one-sided racemose or digitate spikes ; glumes persistent, the 

 upper one appearing as the outer one; rachis not jointed; stamens 2 or 3. 



gl. Spikelets strictly l-flowered, in pedunculate pendulous spikes. 



477. SPARTT V ]VA, Schreber. 

 [Gr. Spartin, or Spartine, a cord ; from its long tough leaves.] 

 Spikelets much compressed, closely imbricated in 2 rows on the 

 outer side of a triangular rachis. Glumes unequal, acute, or bristle- 

 pointed, serrulate on the keel, the upper one larger. Paleae 

 membranaceous, awnless, shorter than the upper glume. Stamens 3. 

 Perennials : rhizomas extensively creeping ; culms simple, reed-like ; 

 leaves long, and sublinear; spikes racemose, smooth. 



1. S. cy IIOSH roitlcN, Willd. Culms rather slender ; leaves nar- 

 row, tapering to a point; spikes 5 to 10, scattered; glumes bristle- 

 pointed. 



CYNOSURFS-LIKE SPAEUNA. Cord-grass. 



(Mm 3 to 5 feet high. Leaves 2 feet, or more, in length, and less than half an 

 inch wide, inclining to become involute. Spikes 1% to 3 inches long, alternate, 

 on peduncles half an inch to 2 inches in length. Anthers pale yellow. Styles 

 united to near the summit : stigmas white. Seed compressed. 

 Hob. Margin of the Schuylkill : rare. FL Aug. Fr. Sept. 



2. Spikelets 1%-flowered ; i. e. with 1 (rarely 2 or 3) perfect, and I imperfect, or 

 rudimentary floret. 



478. BOtrTEL,OITA,, Lagasca. 



[Probably named after some Spanish Botanist.] 



Spikelets crowded and closely sessile in a short spike, on one side of 

 a flat rachis, the spikes in a simple raceme. Glumes keeled, the 

 lower one shorter. Lower palea of the perfect floret 3-nerved, 3- 

 toothed at apex, the upper palea 2-nerved and 2-toothed, the 

 nerves projecting in mucronate points; while in the pedicellate 

 abortive floret, the nerves of the lower palea are extended into bristle- 

 like awns. Stamens 3. Perennial : culms cespitose, erect, wiry ; 

 leaves and sheaths hairy ; spikes short, sub-secund, often purplish. 



1. K. raccin 6sa, Lag. Spikes numerous, distichously alternate, 

 on short flat peduncles, spreading, finally deflected and turned to 

 one side. 



Atheropogon apludoides. Muhl. $ FL Cestr. ed. 2. p. 81. 

 RACEMOSE BOUTELOUA. 



Culms 1 to 3 or 4 feet high, often geniculate at base. Leaves 6 to 12 inches long, 

 attenuate toward the apex, and inclining to became involute. Spikes 20 to 40, 



