GENUS 57. 



GRASS FAMILY. 



223 



i. Spartina Michauxiana Hitchc. Tall Marsh-grass. Fig. 538. 



S. cynosuroides Gray, Man. 585. 1848. Not Roth, 1806. 

 Spartina Michauxiana Hitchc. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12 : 

 153. 1908. 



Culms 2-6 tall, erect, simple, smooth. Sheaths long, 

 overlapping, those at the base of the culm crowded; 

 ligule a ring of hairs; blades i long or more, 3"-7" 

 wide, scabrous on the margins, becoming involute in 

 drying, attenuate into a long slender tip; spikes 5-30, 

 2'~5' long, often on peduncles i'-i' in length, ascending 

 or erect ; rachis rough on the margins ; spikelets much 

 imbricated, 6"-j" long; outer scales a\vn-pointed or* 

 awned, strongly hispid-scabrous on the keel ; third scale 

 as long as the first, the scabrous midrib terminating just 

 below the emarginate or 2-toothed apex; palet some- 

 times exceeding the scale. 



In swamps and streams of fresh or brackish water, Nova 

 Scotia to Saskatchewan, south to New Jersey, Texas and 

 Colorado. Sometimes glaucous. Called also Fresh-water 

 Cord-grass, Bull-grass, Upland Creek-stuff. Aug.-Oct. 



2. Spartina cynosuroides (L.) Roth. Salt Reed-grass. Fig. 539. 



Dactylis cynosuroides L. Sp. PI. 71. 1753. 



Trachynotia polystachya Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i : 64. 1803. 



T. cynosuroides Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i : 64. 1803. 



S. cynosuroides Roth, Catalect. 3: 10. 1806. 



Spartina polystachya Ell. Bot. S. C. & Ga. i: 95. 1817. 



Culms 4-9 tall, erect, stout, simple, smooth. Sheaths 

 overlapping, those at the base of the culm crowded; 

 ligule a ring of hairs; blades i long or more, i'-i' 

 wide, flat, scabrous at least on the margins, attenuate 

 into a long slender tip; spikes 20-50, ascending, often 

 long-peduncled, 2'-^' in length, the rachis rough on the 

 margins ; spikelets much imbricated, 4"-s" long, the 

 outer scales acute, strongly scabrous-hispid on the keel, 

 the first half the length of the second; third scale sca- 

 brous on the upper part of the keel, obtuse, longer than 

 the first and exceeded by the palet. 



In salt and brackish marshes, Connecticut to Florida 

 and Mississippi. Creek-thatch, Creek-stuff. Aug.-Oct. 



3. Spartina patens (Ait.) Muhl. Salt-meadow Grass. Fig. 540. 



Dactylis patens Ait. Hort. Kew. i: 104. 1789. 



Spartina patens Muhl. Gram. 55. 1817. 



Spartina juncea Ell. Bot. S. C. & Ga. I : 94. 1817. 



5". caespitosa A. A. Eaton, Bull. Torr. Club 25: 338. 1898. 



Culms i-3 tall, smooth. Lower sheaths overlap- 

 ping and crowded; ligule a ring of short hairs; blades 

 i-i long, i "-2" broad, involute, attenuate into a long 

 tip, smooth and glabrous beneath; spikes 2-10, i'-2' 

 long, usually ascending, more or less peduncled, the 

 rachis slightly scabrous; spikelets 3"-4" long; outer 

 scales acute, scabrous-hispid on the keel, the first usu- 

 ally rather less than one-half as long as the second ; 

 third scale somewhat scabrous on the upper part of the 

 keel, emarginate or 2-toothed at the apex, longer than 

 the first and exceeded by the palet. 



On salt meadows and sandy beaches, Newfoundland to 

 Quebec, Florida and Texas. This and Juncus Gerardi, 

 the " Black Grass," furnish most of the salt meadow hay 

 of the Atlantic Coast. Fox-grass, Rush Salt-grass, Three- 

 fork-grass, White-rush, Salt-marsh-grass. Aug.-Oct. 



