846 GRAMINE^. (&IIASS FAMILY.) 



perfect. C41umes 3, membranous, concave, muticous, the lower 3- 

 nerved, the upper 5-7-nerved. Lower pale of lower floweret 5-7-nerved, 

 nearly equal to perfect floweret; upper pale smaller when the lower 

 floweret is neutral. Pales of perfect floweret coriaceous, muticous, 

 nearly equal, the lower surrounding the upper. Lodicles 2, fleshy, 

 truncate, glabrous. Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous. Styles 3, terminal, 

 elongated, stigmas plumose, exserted. Caryopsis compressed at back, 

 closely embraced by pales but free from them, the ventral surface 

 marked with a punctiform hilum — Herbs, with the spikelets arranged 

 in a spike-like panicle. The awns of the involucre appear to be 

 abortive branches of the panicle or abortive pedicels. 



1. S. glauca, L. © .3 to .6, ascending or erect. Leaves linear, 

 .005 to .00(5 broad, acuminate, scabrous Spike cylindrical, .03 to .1 

 long, .01 broad; bristles of involucre 6-13, yellow^ about thrice as long 

 as spikelet, scabrous; glumes nearly equal, about half as long as fertile 

 floweret ; lower pale of staminate floweret ovate, as long as transversely 

 wrinMed fertile floweret ; upper pale of same ovate, somewhat shorter — 

 Summer — Fields ; coast. 



2. S. viricli§, L. © .3 to .G; culms erect or ascending. Leaves 

 linear, .005 to .007 broad, acuminate, scabrous. Spike cylindrical, .03 

 to .1 long, .01 thick; bristles of involucre 3-6, green or reddish, 3-4 

 times as long as spikelets, scabrous; lower glume one-third as long as 

 upper; upper glume and lower pale of neutral floweret equal, as long 

 as the mimttely punctate-lined^ fertile floweret ; upper pale of neutral 

 floweret much shorter or — Summer — Fields ; common. 



Var. ambigua, Boiss. Spike more compound, interrupted at base. 



3. S. verticillata, L. © .3 to .6; culms erect or ascending. 

 Leaves linear-acuminate, .005 to .008 broad, scabrous. Spike often 

 more or less interrupted below; bristles of involucre 2-1, twice as 

 long as spikelets, retrorsely scabrous ; lower glume one-third to one- . 

 fourth as long as upper ; upper glume and lower pale of neutral floweret 

 alike, as long as minutely dotted-lined, fertile floweret; upper pale of 

 neutral floweret much shorter or —-Summer — Fields; coast; Arabia 

 Petraea. 



4. S. Italica, Kth. © Millet. Bengal Grass. Dukhn. .6 or 

 more: culms stout, almost reed-like. Leaves linear, acuminate, sca- 

 brous, .01 or more broad. Spike very dense, compound, .1 to .25 long, 

 .015 to .03 thick, more or less interrupted; bristles of involucre 3-3, 

 shorter than spikelet or longer, retrorsely scabrous ; lower glume one- 

 half as long as upper ; upper glume and lower pale of neutral floweret 

 alike, barely shorter than minutely dotted-lined, fertile floweret ; upper 

 pale of neutral floweret much shorter or — Summer — Cultivated and 

 run wild. 



3. PEKXISETUMr. Pal. Pennisetum. 



Spikelets compressed at back, with an involucre of many bristles 

 above the joint of the pedicel, deciduous with the spikelet, the outer 

 bristles scabrous, the inner plumose. Flowerets 3, the upper perfect, 

 the lower staminate or neutral, in which latter case it is reduced to a 

 pale or sometimes to an awn. Glumes membranous, the lower smaller. 

 The lower pale of each floweret acute or acuminate, enclosing the up- 

 per, which is as long but narrower. Lodicles 3, minute, or 0. Stamens 



