GRAMINE.*:. (crass FAMILY.) 667 



acute summit, glabrous, prominently 5-7-nerved, the nerves parallel and sep- 

 arate. Squamulae flesliy and trumatc, or none. Stamens commonly 2. Styles 

 present; stigmas conipoundly plumose. Ovury smootli. Grain oblong, free, 

 the furrow very narrow or none. — Perennial .sni(K)th marsh gnu5.ses, mostly 

 with creei)ing bases or rootstocks; spikelets i)anicled. (Name from y\vK€fi6s, 

 awctt, in allusion to the taste of the grain.) 



* Spikelets ovate, oblong, or liitearohlonfj, I -3" in Inigth, 

 -V- At length nodding in an open panicle, Jlatlish laterallij but turgid. 



1. G. Canadensis, Trin. (Rattlesnake-Grass.) Culm stout, 2-3° 

 high; leaves long, roughish; panicle oblong-pyramidal, at length drooping; 

 spikelets ovate, at length very broad and tumid, Briza-Iike, 2" long, pale, with 

 purplish glumes ; flowering glume acute or blunt-pointed, firm, with not very 

 prominent nerves, longer than the rounded palet. — Bogs and wet places ; com- 

 mon from Teun. to E. Kau., and northward. July. 



•*- •*- Erect in a narrow contracted panicle, somewhat flattened and turgid. 



2. G. obtiisa, Trin. Culm stout, 1-2° high, very leafy; leaves long, 

 smooth; panicle narrowlij oblong, dense (3 -5' long); spikelets 3-7-flowered, 

 2-3" long; flowering glume obtuse. — Bogs, E. New Eng. to Penn. und 

 southward, near tlie coast. 



3. G, elongata, Trin. Leaves very long (1° or more), rough; panicle 

 narrowly racemose, elongated (1° long), recurving ; the branches and 3-4-flow- 

 ered spikelets oppressed ; flowering glume obtuse. — Wet woods, N. Eng. to 

 Mich., Minn., and northward; Roan Mt., N. C. (Scribner). July- Aug. 



■♦-•<-•♦- Diffuse ; flower-glume truncate-obtuse, strongly 7 -nerved ; palet 2-tootked. 



4. G. nervita, Trin. (Fowl Meauow-Grass.) (PI. 10, fig. 1-3.) 

 Culm erect, 1-3° high; leaves rather long; branches of the loose panicle 

 capillary, a< length drooping, the numerous small spikelets {\ - 2" long, commonly 

 purplish) ovate-oblong, Z-l-^Qwevad. — Moist meadows ; common. June. 



5. G. pallida, Trin. Culms slender, 1 -3° long, ascending from a creep- 

 ing base ; leaves short, shar])-pointed, pale ; branches of the rather simple panicle 

 slender, erect-spreading, rougli ; the spikelets usually flsiv, somewhat aj>pressed, 

 oblong-linear, 5-9-flowered (pale, 2-3" long); flowering glume minutely 5- 

 toothed ; the palet lanceolate, conspicuously 2-toothed. — Shallow water ; Maine 

 to Va., west to Ky., Ind., and Mich. ; common, especially northward. July. 



6. G. gr^ndis, Watson. (Rekd Meadow-Grass.) Culm stout, up- 

 right, 3-5° high ; leaves large (I -2° long, ^-Y wide) ; panicle much branched, 

 ample (8-15' long), the numerous branches ascending, spreading with age ; spike- 

 lets oblong or linear-oblong, 3- G-^OMvered (usually purpHsli, 2-3" long) ; /?ou;- 

 ering glume entire. (G. aquatica of Amer. authors.) — Wet grounds ; N. Eng. 

 to western N. Y., Mich., Minn., and westward. 



« * Spikelets linear (^- 1' long), pale, appressed on the bratiches of the long 7iar- 

 row racemose panicle, terete except during anthesis ; palets minutely roughish, 

 the upper 2-toof he d ; squamulce unilateral or united ; ligule long; culm flat- 

 tened (1 -5° high), ascending from a rooting base, ((ilyceria, R. Br.) 



7. G. fluitans, R.Br. Panicle 1° long; the simple branches appressed, 

 finally spreading Ijelow ; leaves short and rather broad, very smooth ; spikelets 



