MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 175 



18. MONANTHOCHLOE Engelm. 



Plants dioecious; spikelets 3- to 5-flowered, the uppermost florets 

 rudimentary, the rachilla disarticulating tardily in pistillate spike- 

 lets; glumes wanting; lemmas rounded on the back, convolute, nar- 

 rowed above, several-nerved, those of the pistillate spikelets like the 

 blades in texture; palea narrow, 2-nerved, in the pistillate spikelets 

 convolute around the pistil, the rudimentary uppermost floret en- 

 closed between the keels of the floret next below. A creeping wiry 

 perennial, with clustered short subulate blades, the spikelets incon- 

 spicuous at the ends of the short branches, only a little exceeding the 

 leaves. Type species, Monanthochloe littoralis. 

 Name from Greek monos, single, anthos, flower, 

 and chloe, grass, alluding to the unisexual 

 flowers. 



1. Monanthochloe littoralis Engelm. (Fig. 

 348.) Culms tufted, extensively creeping, the 

 short branches erect; blades falcate, mostly less 



than 1 cm long, conspicuously distichous in FlGu ^J^^S s U a tion f 

 distant to approximate clusters; spikelets 1 to 



few, nearly concealed in the leaves. 91 Muddy seashores and 

 tidal flats, southern Florida, especially on the keys ; Texas (Galveston 

 and southward); southern California (Santa Barbara and south- 

 ward); Mexico, Cuba. 



19. DISTICHLIS Raf. SALTGRASS 



Plants dioecious; spikelets several to many-flowered, the rachilla 

 of the pistillate spikelets disarticulating above the glumes and between 

 the florets; glumes unequal, broad, acute, keeled, 3- to 7-nerved, the 

 lateral nerves sometimes faint; lemmas closely imbricate, firm, the 

 pistillate coriaceous, acute or subacute, with 9 to 11 mostly faint 

 nerves; palea as long as the lemma or shorter, the margins bowed out 

 near the base, the pistillate coriaceous, enclosing the grain. Low 

 perennials, with extensively creeping scaly rhizomes, erect, rather 

 rigid culms, and dense, rather few-flowered panicles. Type species, 

 Distichlis spicata. Name from Greek distichos, 2-ranked, alluding to the 

 distichous leaves. 



The species of Distichlis in general have little value for forage but 

 in the interior basins, such as the vicinity of Salt Lake, D. stricta is 

 grazed when better grasses are not available. 



Plants mostly more than 30 cm tall; blades not conspicuously distichous, 

 mostly 20 to 40 cm long; panicle more than 10 cm long; stolons present, 



long and stout 4. D. TEXANA. 



Plants mostly less than 30 cm tall; blades conspicuously distichous, mostly less 



than 10 cm long; panicle rarely more than 5 cm long; stolons wanting. 

 Palea as long as the lemma, firm, broad below, the broad wings of the keels 



finely dentate. 3. D. DENTATA. 



Palea shorter than the lemma, rather soft, not much broader below, the 



narrow wings of the keels entire. 

 Panicles condensed, the spikelets imbricate, mostly 5- to 9-flowered. 



1. D. SPICATA. 



Panicles looser, the spikelets less imbricate, the individual spikelets 

 plainly visible, mostly 9- to 15-flowered__ _ 2. D. STRICTA. 



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