PO A 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



POL 



369 





64. Poa Plumosa. Panicle diffused; calices six-flowered; 

 inner valves of the corollas linear, recurved, ciliated at the 

 back. Culms several, crowded, from six inches to a foot in 

 height, filiform, leafy ; flowers numerous, minute. It differs 

 from the preceding species in the form of the panicle; and the 

 flowers, as well as the cilias, are smaller. Native of the 

 East Indies. 



65. Poa Flexuosa; Zigzag Meadow Grass. Panicle flex- 

 uose; spikelets three-flowered; glumes ovate, connected by a 

 yillus at the base; all the stipules lanceolate. Culms several, 

 a span high, ascending, knee-jointed, with about three knots, 

 leafy, somewhat angular at top, striated, glaucescent. This 

 is distinct from the second species, in its glaucous colour, 

 more leafy culm, narrower sharper leaves, rugged above, with 

 longer sheaths; all the stipules of the same shape; the pe- 

 duncles flexuose ; the glumes narrower and connected, .and 

 the keel and edge not bristly and silky. It is perennial, 

 flowering in July. Native of the Highlands of Scotland. 



66. Poa Csesia ; Sea-green Meadow Grass. Panicle dif- 

 fused; spikelets ovate, five-flowered; glumes lanceolate, some- 

 what silky, free ; stipules very short, blunt. Root subcespitose, 

 perennial ; herb glaucous ; culm a foot high, erect, round, 

 striated, smoothish ; towards the base leafy, and having two 

 knots ; above simple, straight, naked. It flowers in June and 

 July. Found on the mountains of Breadalbane in Scotland. 



67. Poa Cinerea ; Ash-coloured Meadow Grass. Stem- 

 leaves erect, involuted ; spikelets three-flowered, ciliate at 

 the base, acute. Perennial, and probably a mere variety of 

 the seventh species. Native of Dauphiny. 



68. Poa Brizoides ; Briza-like Meadow Grass. Panicle 

 contracted ; spikelets round, four-flowered, awnless, about a 

 foot high; corollas purple at the base. The spikelets resemble 

 Festuca Fluitans in shape : annual. Native of Dauphiny. 



69. Poa Fluitans ; Floating Meadow Grass. Panicle 

 branched, divaricated ; spikelets close pressed, cylindrical, 

 many-flowered ; florets obtuse, with seven ribs, and interme- 

 diate ones at the base. Grows in ditches and slow rivulets; 

 perennial, flowering throughout the summer, in most parts of 

 Europe : found also in New South Wales. 



70. Poa Montana; Mountain Meadow Grass. Panicle 

 strict ; spikelets two-flowered ; glumes villose at the base ; 

 culm straight, hard, with black knots. Native of Switzerland 

 and Piedmont. 



71. Poa Sabauda; Savoy Meadow Grass. Panicle loose; 

 spikelets two-flowered ; flowers twice as long as the calix, 

 very smooth ; culm three feet high, erect. This Grass has 

 the appearance of an Avena, but there are no awns. Found 

 between Salencho and Chamouny, in Savoy. 



72. Poa Viridis. Panicles diffuse ; spikelets ovate, sub- 

 quadriflorous ; glumes lanceolate, trinerve; ligule slightly 

 truncated. A common American grass, flowering in June. 



73. Poa Crocata. Panicles lax, patulous; spikelets ovate, 

 quadriquinqueflorous, pedicellated ; flowers oblong, subpu- 

 bescent; leaves glabrous; sheaths with a naked neck; culm 

 erect, glabrous. Grows in Canada, Hudson's Bay, &c. 



74. Poa Hirsuta. Panicles very branchy, capillary; spike- 

 lets scattered, pedicellated, subquinqueflorous ; flowers ob- 

 long, acute, glabrous; leaves with a culm, glabrous; sheaths 

 very rough ; culm erect, thick. Grows in sandy fields from 

 New Jersey to Carolina. 



75. Poa Quinquefida. Panicles erect ; inferior branches 

 naked on the under side; spikelets oblong, alternate, sub- 

 sessile, six-flowered ; leaves glabrous, with an erect culm ; 

 valves of the floscules quinquefid at the top. A very common 

 Grass in mountain meadows, from New England to Carolina. 



Pursh says, that this Grass is mown twice a year, producing 



most excellent crops each time, without manure, or any other 

 trouble than the mowing, lasting for the space of sixteen 

 years, without the least decline in the crops, the soil at the 

 same time being a very indifferent one. 



76. Poa Pectinacea. Panicles lax, patulous, erect; spike- 

 lets linear, twelve-flowered ; leaves glabrous, with an erect 

 culm ; flowers ovate, acuminate, trinerved ; neck of the 

 sheaths, and axils of the panicle, hairy. Grows in sandy 

 fields from New Jersey to Carolina. 



77. Poa Spectabilis. Panicle divaricate, very branchy; 

 spikelets pendulous, linear, ten-flowered ; flowers ovate, sca- 

 brous ; neck of the sheaths, and axils of the panicle, hairy ; 

 leaves with an erect short culm, glabrous. This is a very 

 sightly Grass; the large panicle is of a purple colour, mixed 

 with green stripes. It is found in dry barren sand fields, from 

 New York to Carolina. 



78. Poa Reptans. Panicles fasciculate ; spikelets sub- 

 sessile, very long, many-flowered; flowers oblong, acute, lax; 

 leaves short, pubescent ; culm branchy, creeping. This is 

 the most delicate Grass in North America. It is found in 

 mossy swamps and shady places in Pennsylvania, Virginia, 

 and on the banks of the Mississippi, flowering in July. 



Podalyria. See Sophora. 



Podophyllu.ru; a genus of the class Polyandria, order 

 Monogynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth 

 three-leaved, large, coloured, concave, erect; leaflets ovate, 

 concave, deciduous. Corolla: petals nine, orbicular, con- 

 cave, plaited at the edge. Stamina: filamenta very many, 

 very short; antherse oblong, latge, erect. Pistil: germen 

 roundish; style none; stigma blunt, plaited. Pericarp: 

 berry ovate, crowned with the permanent stigma, one-celled. 

 Seeds : very many, roundish ; receptacle centra!, free. ESSEN- 

 TIAL CHARACTER. Calix: three-leaved. Corolla: nine- 



petalled. Berry : one-celled, crowned with the stigma. 



The species are, 



1. Podophylhim Peltatum ; Duck's-foot, or May-apple. 

 The root is composed of many thick tubers, fastened together 

 by fleshy fibres, which spread, and propagate greatly under 

 ground, sending out many smaller fibres, which strike down- 

 ward ; steins solitary, simple, two feet high, crowned with two 

 large, stalked, peltate, lobed, and jagged smooth leaves, be- 

 tween whose footstalks grows a solitary drooping white 

 flower, appearing in May, and when it falls off, the germen 

 swells to a fruit of the size and shape of the common [lip, or 

 fruit of the wild Rose. Native of many parts of North Ame- 

 rica. It propagates so fast by its creeping roots, that few 

 persons are at the trouble of sowing the seeds. Every part 

 of the roots will grow; so they may be annually parted, either 

 in autumn when their leaves decay, or in the spring just before 

 the roots begin to shoot; they require no other culture but to 

 keep them clean from weeds. It loves a light loamy soil, 

 and a shady situation, and is so hardy as to be seldom injured 

 by the frost. 



2. Podophyllum Diphyllum. This is separated from this 

 genus by Barton, Michaux, and Pursh. 



Pohlia; a genus of the class Cryptogamia, order Musci. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Capsule: ovate-oblong, placed on 

 an obconical narrower apophysis^ Pcristome : double ; outer 

 with sixteen broadish teeth, inner with a sixteen-parted mem- 

 brane. Males: gemmaceous, on a distinct plant. There is 

 but one species. 



Poison Ash. See Rkus and Foxicodendron. 



Poison Nut. See Strychnos. 



Poke, Virginian. See Phytolacca. 



Polemonium ; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one- 



