-POLYPOGON A GRAMINE#® 725 
AGROSTIS 
leaves flat, 2-6 inches long, 1-3 lines wide, somewhat scabrous: panicle 2-6 
inches long cylindric or somewhat interrupted. yellowish, dense and soft : 
empty glumes about 1 line long, obtuse, notched at the apex, bearing slen- 
der awns 2-3 lines lony; flowering glume much shorter, erose-truncate, 
bearing a slender awn about 4 line long inserted below the tip. Common 
in wet places, Brit. Columbia to Mexico and the Atlantic States. 
P. littoralis Smith Comp. Fl. Brit. ed. 2,13. Stems slender, from a 
rennial root, 1-2 feet long, often decumbent and forming large tufts: 
igulee 1-3 lines long, acute: leaves narrow, scabrous on both sides: pani- 
cle narrow, much lobed its whole length and sometimes completely inter- 
rupted below, often purplish : empty glumes scabrous, attenuate above into 
an awn as long as the body: flowering glume much shorter than the empty 
ones, obtuse, 2-toothed at the apex: awn 1 line long. In wet places, Ore- 
gon to California: also in Europe and South America. . 
12 AGROSTIS L. Sp. 6. 
Annual or perennial grasses with flat or involute leaves and 
numerous flowers in more or less open panicles with whorled or 
clustered branches. Spikelets small, one-flowered or sometimes 
with the rudiments of a second flower. Empty glumes somewhat 
unequal, the lower usually longest, obtuse or acute. membranous. 
Flowers mostly shorter than the empty glumes, with a very short 
naked base. Flowering glume very thin, 3—5-nerved, pointless, 
naked, often bearing a slender straight awn on the back usually 
much below the apex. Palet obsolete, or present and shorter 
than or equalling the ovary, rarely nearly as long as the glume. 
Stamens mostly 3. Styles 2 distinct, short, with plumose stigmas. 
A. -equivalvis Trin. Agrost. ii, 116. Stems slender, erect, 1-2 feet. 
high, smooth: sheaths smooth, shorter than the internodes: upper ligules 
about 1 line long: leaves flat, 4-6 inches long, smooth or nearly so: panicle 
2-6 inches long, loose, very narrow, smooth and shining, the branches in 
whorls of 5 below, in pairs or solitary above, very unequal: spikelets 1-114 
lines long, mostly in pairs: empty glumes nearly equal, acute, 1-1 lines 
long: flowering glume acute, 5-nerved: palet about as long as the glume. 
In moist ground, Alaska to California. 
A. avpa L. Sp. 63. (Reprop.) Stems slender, erect, often decumbent 
at base, 6-30 inches high: sheaths smooth: ligules short and truncate or 
long and acate: leaves flat, 4-12 inches. long, smooth or rough: panicle 
slender, 2-8 inches long; green, red or brownish, its roughish branches, 
usually spreading in flower and more or less contracted afterwards: empty 
glumes nearly equal, or the lower slightly longest: flowering glume very 
thin, with some short hairs at base, shorter than the empty ones, rarely 
with a short awn: palet 4-14 as longasthe glume. Common in meadows 
and waste places. 
A. exarata Trin. Unifl. 207. Stems 1-3 feet high, erect, sometimes 
decumbent at base, simple, glabrous: sheaths usually shorter than the 
internodes: ligules 1-3 lines long: leaves 1-8 inches long, 1-4 lines wide, 
generally erect, flat or involute, scabrous: panicle contracted, 2-10 inches 
Jong, often interrupted, its branches 1-3 inches long, erect or appressed : 
spikelets crowded, 1-2 lines long: empty glumes subequal, scabrous: flow- 
ering glume 44-%% line long: palet minute. In moist meadows and along 
streams, Alaska to California and Nebraska. 
A. asperifolia Trin. Mem. Acad. St. Petersb. ser. 6, 331. Pale green 
throughout or the inflorescence purplish: stems erect or slightly geniculate 
below, nearly smooth, 2-3 feet high: sheaths rather loose, smooth, the 
