GKAMINE^E. ^GUASS FAMILY.) 551 



upper sheaths ; paleae rough-hairy, unequal, awl-pointed, 2-3 times as long a* 

 the rough-keeled glumes and linear grain. (Agrostis aspera, Michx, A. clan- 

 destina, Spreng.) Dry sandy soil, Florida, and northward. July and Aug. 

 Culms 2 - 3 high. Sheaths hairy at the throat. 



2. V. vaginseflora, Torr. Annual; culms low, clustered, bearing con- 

 cealed panicles at every joint, the terminal one partly exserted ; leaves short, 

 smoothish; paleae ovate, smooth, one third longer than the smooth glumes and 

 oval grain. (Agrostis Virginica, Mtihl. Crypsis Virginica, Nutt.) Dry bar- 

 ren soil, North Carolina, and northward. September. Culms 6' - 12' high. 

 Leaves 2' - 4' long. 



7. AGROSTIS, L. BENT-GRASS. 



Tufted usually tender grasses, with flat and narrow leaves ; the small 1 -flowered 

 spikelets racemose on the hair-like clustered branches of the open panicle, on 

 thickened pedicels. Glumes 2, nearly equal, longer than the paleae. Paleae 2, 

 the lower one commonly awned on the back, 3-5-nerved, the upper 2-nerved, 

 occasionally minute or wanting. Stamens 1-3. Styles or stigmas 2. Grain 

 free. 



1. TRICHODIUM. Upper jxtlea minute or icanting, the lower aivnless, shorter 

 than the unequal acute rouyh-keeled glumes. 



1. A. elata, Trin. Culms stout, erect; leaves flat (!"- 2" wide); branches 

 of the panicle flower-bearing above the middle. (A. dispar, Michx. <) Swamps, 

 North Carolina, Curtis. September. 1J. Culms 2 -3 high. Panicles large 

 and diffuse. 



2. A. perennans, Gray. Culms slender, decumbent at the base ; leaves 

 flat (l"-2"wide); branches of the panicle short, flower-bearing from below 

 the middle ; spikelets whitish. (T. perennans, Ell.} Swamps and river-banks, 

 Florida, and northward. July and Aug. y. Culms l-2 high. 



'!. A. SCabra, Willd. Culms slender, erect ; leaves short ; branches of the 

 panicle long, hair-like, hispid, bearing the purple spikelets near their summits. 

 (T. laxiflorum, Ell.) Sterile soil, Florida, and northward. June and July. 

 (j) Panicle usually as long as the culm. 



2. AGROSTIS PROPER. Upper palea manifest : the lower commonly awned on 

 the back. 



4. A. alba, L. Culms ascending from a creeping base ; panicle spreading 

 in flower, contracted in fruit ; glumes (whitish) nearly equal, rough-keeled ; pa- 

 leae hairy at the base, the lower twice as long as the upper one, awnless or short- 

 awned. Damp soil, Florida, arid northward. Introduced. Culms 1-3 J 

 long. 



5. A. rupestris, All. Culms slender, erect; panicle small, oblong, with 

 erect smooth branches ; glumes lanceolate, nearly equal, rough-keeled ; lower 

 palea one third shorter than the glumes, short-awned below the middle, the uppci 



one minute. High mountains of North Carolina, and northward. July 



Culms 1 high. 



