OEDEB 156. GRAMLNEJE. 791 



highly important grain, one of the staple productions of iho soil ; said to have 

 been first discovered hi the Island of Juan Fernandez. 



/3. XIQRA. BLACK OATS. Palea dark brown, almost black, awnless. 



7. SECUNDA. HORSE-MANE OATS. Panicle 1-sided; awns short. 



29. TRISETUM, L. (Lat. fr/a, three, setum, a bristle ; a character- 

 istic term.) Spikelet 2 5-flowered ; glumes 2, shorter than the 

 flowers ; lower palea with 2 bristles at the apex and a soft, flexuous 

 awu from above the middle of the back ; scales ovate ; fruit coated, 

 furrowed. Very closely related to Avena. 



1 T. palustre Torr. Culm erect, contracted at the nodes, slender, smooth, aboot 

 2f high ; Ivs. lance-linear, about 3" long, roughish, on smooth, striate sheaths ; 

 panicle oblong, contracted, nodding, yellowish-green ; spikelets about 3" long, 2 3- 

 flowered, middle flower abortive, upper one pedicellate, its lower palea ending in 



2 setous teeth, and awned below the tip, lower one mostly awnless. 1C Wet 

 meadows, Mass., N. Y. to Fla. May July. (Avena, MX. Aira pallens, 

 Muhl.) 



2 T. molle Kunth. Minutely and softly puberulent throughout; culm If high; Ivs. 

 narrow, 2 to 4' long; pan. contracted and spike-like, 2' long; awn at length de* 

 flexed, longer than the beardless flowers. Mts. and rocks, N. H. to Mich, and 

 Can. (Avena, MX.) Scarcely differs from the foregoing, which is also sometimes 

 downy. 



3 T. purpurascens Torr. Culm leafy, 2f high; Ivs. narrow-linear, keeled, 

 4 6' long, and with the sheaths smooth ; panicle very simple, almost a raceme, 

 few-flowered, 4 6' long; glumes 3 to 5-flawered, very unequal, entire; spikelets 6 

 to 8" long, lanceolate, terete, often purple, smooth; lower palea 7-veined, cleft 

 into 2 bristly points at the apex; awn geniculate. 1C Mountain bogs, N. Eng. 

 to Wis. and Can. June. 



30. BRO'MUS, L. BROME GRASS. (Gr. ftp^a, food; the name 

 was anciently applied to Oats.) Spikelets 5 to oc -flowered ; glumes un- 

 equal, membranous, veined ; lower pale 5 to 9-veined, convex or cari- 

 natc on the back, awned from below the mostly bifid tip ; upper pale 

 ciliate on the 2 keels, often bifid ; caryopsis linear, adherent to the 

 upper pale. Coarse grasses with flat Ivs. and large, paniculate, nodding 

 spikelets. 



$ Glumes narrow, the lower 1 -veined, upper 8-veined. Pale keeled Nos. 6, 5 



Glumes veiny, the lower 3 to 5, upper 5 to T-veined (a). 



a Lower p;ile compressed-c:irinate. the awn scarcely any No. 4 



a Lower pale rounded on the back, the awn conspicuous Nos. 8 1 



1 B. secalinus L. SMOOTH CHEAT OR CHESS. Culm smooth, 2 to 4f high ; Ivs. 

 lance-linear, 6 to 12' long, rough and some hairy above, on smoothish sheaths; 

 pan. spreading in fruit, branches subsimple, with few nodding spikelets ; spkL 

 ovate, turgid, smooth, 7 to 10-flowered ; fls. soon diverging and rather distinct, 

 oblong, longer than the short, flexuous awn. (j! A handsome but worthless grass, 

 in fields of wheat and other grains, and in waste grounds. Jn., Jl. Eur. 



2 B. mollis L. DOWNY CHESS. Culm slender, some downy, 12 to 18'to2f; 

 Ivs. flat, hairy both sides, lance-linear, on sheaths clothed with deflexed hairs ; 

 pan. erect, contracted in fruit; spikekis ovate, compressed, about Q-flowered, downy 

 att over ; fls. oblong, closely imbricated, not longer than their straight awn. (J) (; 

 Wheat fields and waste grounds, rare. Lower pale J longer than the upper. 

 Jn. Eur. Varies in pubescence. (B. racemosus L. /3. arvensis, Ed. 2.) 



3 B. Kalmii Gray. Culm slender, 18' to 8f; Ivs. and sheaths more or less hairy, 

 sometimes excessively so ; pan. simple, small, 3 to 4' long; spkl. drooping, closely 

 7 to 12-flowered, densely silky all over; lower glume 3-veined, upper 5; lower 

 pale much longer than the upper, 5 to 7-veined, the awn J of its length. U Dry 

 hilly woods, U. S. and Can. Jn., JL (B. purgans Torr. nee L. fide Prof; 

 Gray.) 



4 B. unioloides Thunb. & Kth, RESCUE GRASS. .Culm 18' to 3f, glabrous; 



