SPECIES AND VARIETIES. 



345 



(332) Briza. Quake-grass. 

 B. media : stems erect, rather stiff, 1-1 -| foot high ; leaves 



flat, narrow, few; panicle 2-4 inches long, loose, spreading, 

 the spikelets hanging from the long, slender branches, at firs!: 

 orbicular, then ovate, variegated with green and purple. — 

 Meadows and pastures. Fl. June. 



B. minor : annual ; stems erect, J— 1 foot high ; panicle 

 spreading, much-branched, slender, the spikelets numerous, 

 bluntly triangular. — Fields and waste places. Fl. June. 



(333) Poa. Meadow-grass. 

 * Pales rounded on the hack. 



P. maritima : stems decumbent or erect, a foot high ; leaves 

 short, narrow, usually convolute ; panicle erect, rather stiff, 

 3-4 inches long, the branches erect, or the lower ones spread- 

 ing ; spikelets not numerous, shortly stalked, all turned to 

 one side of the branches. — Maritime sands. Fl. June, July. 



P. distans is very near this, but the leaves are flatter, the 

 stems taller and more slender, and the panicle more spreading, 

 with long, slender branches. 



P. proeumbens is a dwarfer plant, with decumbent stems, 

 6-8 inches long, flat leaves, and a more compact, branched, 

 one-sided pflnicle. 



P. rigida : annual ; stems tufted, six inches high, stiff, erect 

 or slightly decumbent at the base; panicle lanceolate, one- 

 sided, about two inches long, rather crowded, the branches 

 slightly spreading. — Waste, dry, or stony places. Fl. June. 



** Pales keeled. 



P. nemoralis : stems 1-2 feet high, erectish, but weak and 

 slender ; leaves narrow ; panicle contracted or spreading, with 

 slender branches. — Woods and shady places. Fl. June, July. 



