838 GRAMINEiB. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



Staminate spikelets fusiform, .015 long; pistillate spikes 2-3, omte- 

 obUngy .008 to .013 long, dense, sessile, crowded at thedase of the stami- 

 nate spiMet, the lowest sometimes a little distant, short-peduncled ; bracts 

 leaf-like, much longer than spikelets and culm ; glumes ovate, obtuse, 

 often mucronulate, tawny, green-nerved, as long as fruit or shorter; 

 utricle ovate, nerved, with a short, bifid, smooth-margined beak — 

 May and June — Plains near Beersheba. 



16.C. di§taiis, L. % .2 to. 8; roots fibrous; culms rigid, smootli. 

 Leaves firm, glaucescent, shorter than culm. Staminate spikelet fusi- 

 form, terminal, .02 to .03 long; pistillate spikelets 3-4, oblong, .02 to 

 .025 long, erect, remote, short-];)eduncled ; bracts sheathing at base, 

 longer than spikelet ; glume brown, ovate, obtuse, mucronate, shorter 

 than fruit but as Iroad ; utricles ovate, obtusely triquetrous, the lateral 

 nerves thicker, beak bifid — April to June — Wet places ; common 

 throughout 



Var. minor, Post. Staminate spikelets club-shaped, .01 to .015 

 long. Pistillate spikelets ovate to ovate-oblong, .008 to .012 long. 

 Utricles smaller than in type — Roots of Mt. Cassius. 



17. C. paliidosa, Gooden.^ 2( .6 to 1; root-stock creeping; 

 culms triquetrous, scabrous at angles. Leaves linear, .01 broad, acumi- 

 nate, flat, scabrous-margined. Staminate spikelets 2-8, terminal, 

 clustered, cylindrical, .02 to .05 long, .006 to .008 thick; pistillate 

 spikelets 2-3, cylindrical, .08 long, dense, remote, the upper sessile, 

 sometimes staminate at tip, the lower short-peduncled ; bracts erect, 

 leaf -like, not sheathing, longer than spikelets; glumes deep chestnut 

 Itrown, lanceolate, acuminate, narrower and shorter than fruit; utricles 

 ovatc-oblong, livid, flattened-triquetrous, nerved at margin, tapering 

 into a short, bidentate beak — April to June — Ditches and swamps; 

 between Tripoli and Hama. 



18. C. riparia, Curt. 11 1 or more; root-stock creeping ; culms 

 stout, acutely triquetrous, scabrous at angles. Leaves linear, .008 to 

 .01 broad, flat, keeled, tapering, as long as culm. Staminate spikelets 

 3-5, sessile, approximated, cylindrical, .05 to .00 long, darker than 

 pistillate; pistillate spikes 3-4, cylindrical, .07 long, .008 to .01 thick, 

 erect, the lower peduncled, often nodding; bracts leafy, not sheathing, 

 several times longer than spikelets; glumes tawny, lanceolate, tapering 

 into a rigid many-nerved cusp, as long as fruit or longer ; utricle yellowish- 

 brown, ovate-conical, convex on both faces, tapering to a short, bicus- 

 pid l)cak — Spring — Ditches ; Hems. 



Order CXXL ORAMIXE^. (Grass Family). 

 Grasses with holloio stems {culms) closed at the joints, 

 alternate, ^^ranked leaves, their sheaths split open on the side 

 opposite the hlade / the hypogynous floioers imbricated with 

 'l-ranhed glumes or bracts — Flowers usually perfect, some- 

 times monoecious. Spikelets of one or several flowers. Lower 

 bracts of spikelets sterile, generally two, called glu7nes, some- 

 times one, or many, or none; upper fertile, called ^:>aZ^5, in 

 ])airB, enclosing a floweret, generally subtended by one or 

 more minute scales, called Iodides, sometimes 0. Stamens 



