MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 177 



1. Distichlis spicata (L.) Greene. SEASHORE SALTGRASS. (Fig. 

 349.) Culms 10 to 40 cm tall, sometimes taller; leaves numerous, 

 the sheaths closely overlapping, the spreading blades conspicuously 

 distichous, flat to involute, sharp-pointed, mostly less than 10 cm 

 long; panicle usually pale or 



greenish, 1 to 6 cm long, rarely 

 longer; spikelets mostly 5- to 9- 

 flowered, mostly 6 to 10 mm 

 long, compressed; lemmas 3 to 

 6 mm long, the pistillate more 

 coriaceous and more closely im- 

 bricate than the staminate ; palea 

 rather soft, narrow, the keels 

 narrowly winged, entire ; anthers 

 about 2 mm long. 91 

 Seashores, forming dense col- 

 onies, Nova Scotia to Florida and 

 Texas ; British Columbia to Cal- 

 ifornia, Mexico and Cuba ; Pacific 

 slope of South America (fig. 350). 



2. Distichlis stricta (Torr.) 

 Rydb. DESERT SALTGRASS. 

 (Fig. 351.) Resembling D. 

 spicata; panicles less congested, 

 the individual spikelets easily 

 distinguished ; spikelets, espe- 

 cially the staminate, with more 

 florets. 91 Alkaline soil of 

 the interior, Saskatchewan to 

 eastern Washington, south to 

 Texas and California; Mexico 

 (fig. 352). Staminate spikelets 

 usually stramineous. 



3. Distichlis dentata Rydb. 

 (Fig. 353.) Culms usually low, 

 10 to 20 cm, much-branched, 

 rather stout ; blades on the aver- 

 age wider than in D. spicata: FlGURE ^.-Distichlis spicata plant, x i; floret, x s. 



1 11 . * i .. (JbLltCllCOCK 2r>2t)j Ur6g.J 



panicles usually overtopped by 



the leaves; spikelets usually many-flowered, the florets firm, closely 

 imbricate ; palea about as long as the lemma, firm, much broader below, 

 the keels with wide finely dentate wings. 91 

 Alkaline soil in the interior, western Colorado 

 (Delta) to Washington, northern Arizona, and 

 California (fig. 354). This and the two preced- 

 ing species appear to be distinct for the most part 

 but some specimens are intermediate. 



4. Distichlis texana (Vasey) Scribn. (Fig. 

 of 355.) Culms erect from a decumbent base, 30 

 to 60 cm tall, producing extensively creeping 

 rhizomes and long stout stolons; blades flat, firm, glabrous beneath, 

 scabrous on the upper surface, mostly 20 to 40 cm long, 2 to 



