ORDER 156. GRAMINE^E. 805 



2 to c-flowered, arranged in several unilateral, digitate spikes ; glumes 

 carin'ite-compressed, the upper awned ; pales membranous, the lower 

 oarinate-boat-shaped, acute-mucronate ; stamens 3 ; caryopsis free, 

 glabrous. 



D. Egypticum "Willd. Culm geniculate and rooting below, ascending If to 

 18'; sheaths half as long as the internodes. smoothish; Ivs. ciliate at base, 6' by 

 3", more or loss; spikes usually 4 (carinate), rachis mucronate at the naked tip; 

 spikelets 3-flowered, the upper sterile. (T) Fields, common, Va. to Fla. Jl. Oct. . 



60. SPARTTNA, Schreb. MARSH GRASS. (Gr. orrapriov, a rope ; 

 from the resemblance of the creeping rhizomes ?) Spikes imbricated 

 in a double row on one side of the rachis, strictly 1-flowered, no rudi- 

 dimcnt ; gl. laterally compressed, carinate, coriaceous, pointed or awned, 

 unequal ; pales subequal, awnless ; style or styles very long. 11 Rigid, 

 chiefly maritime. Spikes in a raceme. 



S Spikelets with the upper plume decidedly awned and hispid No. I 



Bpikelet unawned, or merely mucronate. Styles united Nos. '2 



Styles distinct Nos. 3, 4 



1 L. cynosuroides Willd. Culm slender, smooth, 3 to 4f; Ivs. 2 to 4f long, 

 sublinear, convolute and filiform at the end ; sheaths striate, glabrous ; pan. loose, 

 slender, composed of 5 to 12 alternate, one-sided, pedunculate spikes 2 to 3' long; 

 spkl. subloosc-imbricated ; gl. acuminate, one of them with an awn about its own 

 length, the other about equaling the white pales. Marshes, Can. to Fla. and west- 

 ward, about salt licks 1 A coarse, sedgy grass, not valuable. 



2 S. polystachya Willd. Culm stout, thick, 4 to 8f, erect, smooth ; Ivs. smooth, 

 long, broadly linear; spikes numerous (20 to 50), stiflj suberect, subsessile; spike- 

 lots coriaceous ; upper gl. barely mucronate, little longer than the unequal pales, 

 twice longer than the subulate lower glume. Marshes, chiefly southward. The 

 hollow culm is often 8 or 9" thick. 



3 S. jiincea Willd. Rt. creeping extensively ; culm slender, smooth. 1 to 2f, 

 erect, rigid ; Ivs. convolute, setaceous above ; rigid ; sheaths very long ; spikes 

 few (3 to 6) 1' or mort long, dense, subsessile ; ils. awnless ; gls. very unequal, 



lan the lower glume ; the long 



the upper little exceeding the pales, thrice longer thg 

 styles scarcely united. Marshes along the coast. 



4 S. alternifolia Loisel. SOFT MARSH GRASS. Culm succulent, terete, 3 to 5f, 

 erect from long creeping roots; Ivs. channeled, very smooth, continuous with tho 

 open sheaths, often exceeding the culm; spikes G to 12 or more, appressed, ses- 

 sile, the rachis of each produced beyond the fls. to a subulate point ; gls. very 

 unequal, upper near twice longer, acute : sty. nearly distinct. Salt marshes. It 

 is greedily eaten by cattle, has a strong, rancid smell and affects the milk made 

 of it. (Elliott). (S. glabra MuhL) 



61. BOUTELOITA, Lagasca. Spikelets sessile, in unilateral short 

 spikes ; glumes carinate, the upper one larger, shorter than the several 

 flowers ; lower flower perfect, upper ones abortive; lower pale 3-cleft, 

 segments subulate, mucronate, in the fl., conspicuously awned in the 

 short-stalked sterile ones ; stamens 3. (Atheropogon, Muhl. Eutriana, 

 Trin.) 



Spikes 20 to 40, very short, in one long, unilateral raceme No. t 



Spikes 1 to 5, longer, many-flowered, subterminal. Nos. 2, " 



1 B. curtipendula Gray. ,Culm 1 to 2f high, geniculate at base, ascending, 

 terete ; Ivs. linear-lanceolate, smoothish beneath, pilous above ; lig. short, trun- 

 cate; spikes 4 to 6" long, 20 to 40, on short, flat ped., thinly arranged in 2 lat- 

 eral rows, each with 4 to 8 spikelets; spkl. 2-flowered arranged in 2 rows on tho 

 under side of the flat, partial rachis; gls. unequal, the lower awn-like and slightly 

 adhering to the rachis; anth. 3, bright red; fr. oblong; abortive fl. with its mid- 

 dle awn conspicuous. If Mid. and W. States. Guilford Conn. (Robbins). (A. 

 apludioides Muhl. Chloris curtipendula MX.) 



