GRAMINE^E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 563 



palca acutish, strongly nerved, hairy. (P. viridis and P. angostifolia, Ell.) 

 Eich soil, mostly around dwellings. Introduced. May. Culm 1 - 2 high. 



5. P. COmpressa, L. Culms ascending from a creeping base, geniculate, 

 and, like the sheaths, compressed ; panicle contracted, 1 -sided, the short erect 

 branches 2-4 in a cluster ; spikelets 4 8-flowered; lower palea rather obtuse, 

 hairy below, faintly nerved. With the preceding. May. Culms 1 high. 

 Leaves bluish green. 



32. ERAGROSTIS, Beauv. 



Spikelets few many-flowered, compressed. Lower palea 3-nerved, not hairy 

 nor woolly ; the upper one remaining after the rest of the flower has fallen. 

 Otherwise as in Poa. Culms often branched. Leaves and sheaths smooth or 

 hairy. 



* Culms prostrate and creeping, diffusely branched. 



1. E. reptaus, Nees. Culms filiform, the flowering branches erect (4' -6' 

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

 (2' 3' long), ovate or oblong, often contracted ; spikelets linear, 10 30-flowered, 

 nearly sessile, imperfectly dioecious ; paleae acute. (Poa reptans, Michx.) Low- 

 sandy places, Florida, and northward. Aug. and Sept. Plant pale green. 



* * Culms branching, erect or ascending : annuals. 



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

 ascending ; leaves linear ; sheaths smooth ; panicle oblong or pyramidal, con- 

 tracted or spreading; spikelets oblong or at length linear (3" -5" long), 10 30- 

 flowered, often lead-color ; lower palea ovate, obtuse. (Briza Eragrostis, L.) * 

 Cultivated or waste grounds, Florida, and northward. July and Aug. 



3. E. Ciliaris, Link. Culms slender, prostrate or ascending, geniculate ; 

 leaves (2' -3' long) linear, smooth ; sheaths smooth, bearded at the throat; panicle 

 spiked, cylindrical, the minute (" long) ovate spikelets densely crowded on the 

 short appressed branches, 5 - 7-flowcred ; lower palea obtuse, mucronate, rough or 

 ciliate on the back ; the upper one fringed on the margins with long bristly hairs. 

 Varies with the culms nearly erect, open lanceolate or oblong panicle, dis- 

 tinct pale spikelets, and flowers more scattered on the smooth rachis. Waste 

 places and along roads, Florida to South Carolina ; the var. at Key West. 

 Culms 6' - 12' long. Spikelets purple. 



4. E. Purshii, Schrad. Culms slender, ascending, geniculate near the 

 base, 6' -12' long; leaves narrowly linear, with the sheaths bearded at the 

 throat ; panicle 3' - 6' long, the lowest of the widely spreading branches whorled ; 

 spikelets linear, 5 - 10-flowered, purple or pale, the lateral ones appressed, and 

 mostly longer than their pedicels ; lower palea ovate, 3-nerved. (Poa pectinata, 

 and P. tenella, of authors. ) Waste places and cultivated grounds, common. 

 June - Sept. 



5. E. conferta, Trin. Culms erect, stout, 2 -3 high; leaves linear; 

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

 numerous clustered branches and small oblong 8 - 10-flowered spikelets erect or 



