GRAMINE^. (grass FAMILY.) 875 



along tlie branches of the panicle; flowerets perfect; axis jointed. 

 Glumes unequal. Lower pale keeled, acute, bidenticulate at tip, and 

 the keel produced into a straight mucro; upper pale 2-keeled, bifid at 

 tip — Tall herbs with aspect of the Haifa (Eragrostis cynosuroides), but 

 with a branching panicle. 



I>. fii§ca, L. If Abu-er-Rulvleh. Abu-en-Na'je'h. Seifun, Khirs. 

 .6 to 1; root-stock creeping; culms prostrate at base, geniculate-as- 

 cending, then erect, leafy to near base of panicle. Leaves linear, acu- 

 minate, scabrous. Panicle oblong, .15 to .3 long, .05 to .06 broad, 

 branches somewhat remote, ascending, bearing spikelets from base;' 

 pedicels almost ; spikelets brownish-green, oblong-linear, 5-9-flower- 

 ed; glumes lanceolate-linear, scabrous at keel, the lower half as long 

 as upper; lower pale linear-lanceolate, bidentate a little below tip, 

 mucro nulate in sinus — Wet meadows ; Syrian coast to Egypt. 



54. ARUNDO, L. Reed. Qasah. 



Spikelets 2-7-flowered, laterally compressed, the flowerets perfect, 

 the uppermost tabescent or reduced to a stalk. Glumes 2, membranous, 

 concave, nearly equal. Axis glabrous. Pales membranous, the lower 

 silky-hairy, (ours) bifid at tip with a short awn at sinus ; upper pale 

 much shorter and narrower, 2-keeled, truncate and sometimes 2-toothed 

 at tip — Tall grasses, growing in swamps, and by streams. 



A, Donax, L. If Persian Reed. Bus Fdrisi. Bus Hejni, Qa- 

 iob Fdrisi. 5 to 6; root-stock creeping, tuber-bearing; culms .02 or 

 more thick at base, woody. Leaves lanceolate-linear, .5 to 1 long, .02 

 to .08 broad at base, smooth at margins. Panicle thyrsoid, A long, .05 

 to .08 broad, white, spreading in flower; spikelets 3-4-flowered ; glumes 

 oblong-lanceolate, with scabrous keel; lower pale somewhat longer 

 than glumes, the hairs as long as glumes — July to December — Com- 

 mon throughout. Probably the " reed shaken by the wind." (Mt. xi, 7.) 



55: PHRAOMITES, Trin. Reed. 



Spikelets 3-7-flowered, laterally compressed, the lower floweret of 

 the spikelet staminate, the others perfect. Axis bearded with long 

 hairs. Glumes unequal, keeled, acute, shorter than flow^erets. Pales 

 membranous, glabrous, the lower lanceolate, long-acuminate, the upper 

 one-third as long, 2-keeled — Tall grasses growing in stagnant waters 

 and marshes. 



Pli. commiiiii§, Trin. % Ghdh. Ilejn, Btls. Pig. 401. 

 Teneimi. Tdghdmineh. 1 to 4 ; root-stock long, creep- 

 ing; culms .01 or more thick at base, woody, leafy. 

 Leaves firm, 2-ranked, lanceolate, .01 to .03 broad at 

 base, rough at margins. Panicle .2 to .3 long, .05 to 

 .08 broad, Irown or yellowish ; glumes lanceolate, the 

 lower half as long as the wpjper — September to 

 December. 



Var. I§iacus, Coss. Taller. Leaves often very 

 broad. Panicle broader — Common in marshes, even phragmites^^c^o^^^^ 



in oases of deserts. nis. 2 diameters. 



Var. stciiophyllus, Boiss. Leaves shorter, narrower, linear, 

 often convolute and pungent — Sands, especially along coast, and in 

 salt marshes ; common. 



