GRAMINBJS. (GRASS FAMILY.) 865 



nerved at back, keel long-ciliate, produced into an awn as long as glume 

 or a little shorter ; pales two-thirds as long as glume— May to September. 



Var. coinniutatuiii, Boiss. Smaller; spikes more ovate; awus 

 shorter — Alpine Lebanon. 



32. ^POROBOLU^, R. Br. Drop-Seed Grass. 



Sjiikelets 1-floweied, perfect, somewhat laterally compressed, the 

 floweret sessile. Glumes membranous, unequal, the upper about as 

 long as pales. Pales membranous, muticous, nearly equal, the upper 

 2-keeled. Stamens 2-8. Styles 2, short; stigmas plumose — Perennials 

 with creeping root-stocks, and aspect of Agrostis. 



1. S. §i>icatus, Vahl. '^^ SammaJi. Abu-Rikab. .1 to .3; sto- 

 lons naked. Leaves crowded at neck and nodes of stolons, sheaths 

 open, blades linear^ involute, pungent, scabrous at margins, pubescent 

 at upper, glabrous at lower surface, those of geniculate culms with 

 long sheath and short blade. Splice long-peduncled, .05 to .06 long, 

 .002 thick ; glumes glossy, the lower one-third as long as upper, hyalinCy 

 ovate, oUuse, the upper lanceolate, acute; pales equal, lis long as upper 

 glum€ or a little longer — Spring — Maritime sands ; borders of Et-Tih, 

 and southward to Egypt. 



2. S. puiigeiis, Schreb. 2f .2 to .3; stolons scaly. Leaves 

 densely 2-ranked, sheatlis enclosing one another, bearded at mouth, the 

 blades pubescent at upper, glabrous at lower surface, lanceolate to lanceo- 

 late-linear, subulate-tapering, convolute at tip, pungent. Panicle sheath- 

 ed by uppermost leaf , .03 to .05 long, .01 to .015 broad, oblong-ovate, 

 compact ; glumes glabrous, glossy, lanceolate, the lower two-thirds as 

 long as upper ; pales similar to glumes, equal, as long as upper glume 

 — June to October — Maritime sands; common. 



33. ACJROSTIS, L. Bent-Grass. 



Spikelets 1-flowered, the floweret perfect, sometimes with a rudi- 

 mentary floweret above. Glumes keeled or compressed. Pales with a 

 round, smooth wart at base, membranous, the lower 5-nerved, muticous 

 or aristate at back, the upper smaller, 2-keeled, sometimes 0. Stameos 

 usually 3. Styles 2, stigmas plumose — Perennials or annuals ; spike- 

 lets panicle d. 



* Lower pale muticous. Rudiment of second flower 0. 



1. A. verticiliata, Vill. If Whorled Bent-Grass. JSfa^im. San- 

 haleh. .2 to .5, decumbent, often rooting at lower nodes. Leaves 

 linear-lanceolate, .03 to. 08 long. Panicle oblong, dense, .04 to .15 long, 

 .000 to .025 broad, somewhat whorled, scabrous, spikelets crowded; 

 glumes equal, oblong, obtuse, appressed-puberulent ; pales half as long 

 as glumes, nearly equal — April to August — Wet places ; common. 



2. A. alba, L. 2f Florin Grass. White Bent Grass. .5 to .8, 

 decumbent, rooting at lower nodes. IjQSiWes 7iarroicly linear, ,1 to .'d 

 long. Panicle oblong-lanceolate, .1 to .2 long, .005 to .015 broad, 

 loose, somewhat spreading in flower, contracted in fruit ; glumes lan- 

 ceolate, acute, about equal, keel scabrous; lower pale shorter than 

 glumes, denticulate at tip, muticous, twice as long as upper — Summer 

 — Wet, sandy fields, and rocky places; middle to subalpine Lebanon. 



Var. gcabriglumis, Boiss. The glumes scabrous over their 

 whole outer surface — Lebanon. 



112 



