873 GRAMINEiE. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



* 



Glumes membranous, concave, the lower shorter, the upper broader, as 

 long as floweret. Lower pale concave, bidentate or 2-4-cleft, in the 

 lower floweret with a long awn, twisted below, inserted near or at the 

 base, in the perfect floweret M'ith a straight awn near the tip or muti- 

 cous. Upper pale 2-keeled, 2-cleft — Perennials; the neck twisted, with 

 one or two rounded tubers; spikelets on capillary pedicels in loose 

 panicles. 



1. A. clatiu§, L. If .5 to .8. Glumes lanceolate, Fig. 396. 

 somewhat obtuse, scabrous at keel, .007 long; both lower 



pales short-lidentate ; awn of staminate floweret inserted 

 below middle, twice to twice and a half as long as pale ; 

 lower pale of perfect floweret sparingly hirsute, with awn 

 inserted near middle, barely exserted from giume or in- 

 cluded — April to June — 



Var. Pal£e§tiiiuni, Boiss. Spikelets smaller. 

 Lower pale of upper floweret appressed-hirsute for two- 

 thirds of its length — Lower and middle mountain zones ,^ ■ 



„ ^ *= (a) Glumes of A. 



of coast ranges. elatius. (b) The 



2. A. Kotscliyi, Boiss. 2^ .5 to .8. Glumes Ian- J;;^/""^^,^ 

 ceolate, acute, aristate loith excurrent nerve, scabrous at keel, lower pales. 

 .009 to .012 long; both lower pales bifid, the teeth also bifid ; awn of sta- 

 minate floweret inserted at base, twice to twice and a half as long as 

 pale ; lower pale of perfect floweret densely hirsute, with awn inserted 

 one-third its length below tip, barely exserted from glume — April to 

 June — Plateaux of Moab, Gilead, Haurau, Damascus, and northward 

 to Aintab; Antilebanon above Zebed^ni (1500 m). 



46. DAIVTHO^'IA, D. C. Wild Oat Grass. 



Spikelets 2-ranked, 2-5-flowered, laterally compressed, the flowerets 

 perfect except the uppermost which is sterile. Axis jointed. Glumes 

 nearly equal, concave, as long as flowerets or longer. Lower pale 

 concave, many-nerved, bifid at tip, with a loDg awn, flattened and 

 twisted below, inserted between the teeth ; upper pale 2-keeled — Pe- 

 rennials ; spikelets in a compact, spike-like panicle. 



I>. Forskahlei, Vahl. % Haifa. Shajaret-el-Jemel. .4, velvety; 

 root-stock tufted, indurated, with long fibres; culms procumbent at 

 base, often branched, then ascending. Leaves broad-linear, acuminate, 

 .01 to. 06 long, rigid, crowded near base; upper sheath dilated, forming 

 a spathe to the panicle. Panicle .07 to .1 long, .01 to .015 broad; 

 spikelets 3-flowered; glumes many-nerved, oblong-lanceolate, acu- 

 minate, longer than flowerets; loAver pale coriaceous, long-bearded, 

 tapering to a sharp spur-like base; awn as long as glume and twice as 

 long as teeth — Spring — El-'Arabah, and southward, and westward. 



47. CYXODO^, Rich. Bermuda Grass. Scutch Grass, Dog's 



Tooth Grass. ^ Irq-en-Najil. 



Spikelets 1 -flowered, with a rudimentary floweret at base, imbricate- 

 spiked along the outer side of a long, flattened rachis. Glumes nearly 

 equal, keeled, somewhat spreading, muticous. Pales membranous, 

 the lower boat-shaped, the upper 2-keeled — Perennials, with digitate 

 spikes. 



C. Dactyloii, L. % Tayyin. Shilsh-el-Enjil. Root-stock creep- 

 ing, bearing many sterile branches with 2-ranked, short, linear, 



