854 



GRAMINEiE. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



Fig. 375. 



Fpike of Chrysopo- 

 gon Gryllus. 



upper aristate. Pales membranous, the lower lanceo- 

 late, bidentate at tip, with a long, geniculate, twisted 

 awn, the upper shorter, muticous. Stamens 3 ; styles 

 2, terminal, stigmas feathery — Perennial herbs with 

 a loose panicle. 



C. Gryllu§, L. U .5 to .8 or more, tufted ; 

 culms erect, simple. Leaves glaucescent, glabrous or 

 sparingly hairy. Branches of panicle whorled, gla- 

 l)rous or hairy at tip ; perfect sjnMet with a leard of 

 golden hairs at hase ; its lower glume with spinulose 

 margins; upper glume with a very slender awn as long 

 as itself ; awn of lower pale many times longer than pale, 

 hairy below ; pedicels glabrous, shorter than lateral, 

 glabrous spikelets, — April to June — Fields and dry 

 hillsides ; coast to lower mountain zones and interior 

 plains, and northward, and eastward. 



17. SORGHUH, L. Broom-Corn. Dhurah. 



Spikelets 3 or 3 together on the branches of an 

 open panicle, one sessile, fertile, the others pedicel- 

 led, sterile, all 3-flowered, the lower floweret neuter, reduced to a pale. 

 Perfect sinlcelet : glumes nearly equal, concave, awnless, becoming firm 

 in fruit; lower pale of fertile floweret with a long, geniculate, twisted 

 awn ; upper pale ciliate-margined, awnless ; stamens 3 ; styles 3, elon- 

 gated ; stigmas densely feathery. Staminate spiJcdets : glumes as above, 

 pales muticous — Tall, perennial grasses, with broad, linear leaves and 

 large, spreading panicles. 



S. IIalepen§e, L. If JIasMshet-el-Faras. .6 to 1; root-stock 

 creeping, furnished with suckers. Leaves often .01 broad. Panicle 

 pyramidal, branches somewhat spreading; fertile spikelets ovate-ob- 

 long, staminate oblong-lanceolate; glumes pubescent, often reddish- 

 purple — January to September — Fields and roadsides; common to 

 subalpine regions. One of our most showy grasses. 



S. aiinuum, Pers., Durra, DMirah-deidd, with dense, oblong- 

 lanceolate panicles, and leaves often .04 broad, is extensively cultivated 

 on the plains, especially toward the interior. A coarse bread is made 

 from its seed. 



18. AMTHISTIRIA, L. Anthistiria. 



Spikelets 7-9-11 in clusters, condensed into a short, capitate pan- 

 icle, each cluster subtended by a spathe-like leaf, the lower 4-8 spike- 

 lets of each cluster sessile, staminate or neuter, making a sort of 

 involucre to the rest; of the upper 3 spikelets of the cluster, the lower 

 sessile, perfect, the upper two pedicelled, staminate or neuter. 

 Glumes muticous; those of staminate or neuter spikelets membranous 

 orO; lower pale of perfect floweret linear, ending in a long, twisted 

 scabrous awn, or rarely muticous ; upper pale minute or — Perennials. 



A. ciliata, L. 21 .4 to .G; culms simple or branched. Leaves, 

 scabrous at nerves and margin. Peduncles filiform, nodding ; glumes 

 of the 4, sessile spikelets oblong-lanceolate, oo -nerved, glabrous below, 

 sparingly beset with bulbous hairs toward tip; perfect spikelet with a 

 beard of tawny hairs at base, glumes white, the outer puberulent at 



