260 QRAMINE^E. Panicum. 



3. Spikelets crowded in 3 or 4 rows or irregularly on the one-sided spike-like 

 branches of the panicle. ECHINOCHLOA. 



7. P. Crus-galli, Linn. (BARN-YARD GRASS.) Annual, with culms from a 

 few inches to 4 ieet high, stout, branching from the base : leaves lanceolate, \ inch 

 wide or more, rough on the margins and, with the sheaths, usually smooth other- 

 wise : panicle mostly dense and pyramidal, often secund, rarely with distant and 

 somewhat appressed branches ; spikelets 1 to 2 lines long, often clustered and 

 densely crowded upon the numerous one-sided branches, which usually bear coarse 

 haii-s, especially at base : glumes rough upon the nerves, ovate, abruptly pointed : 

 lower palet of sterile floret awl-pointed or short-awned, but mostly with a rough awn 

 an inch long or more ; perfect floret pointless or with a short point. Trin. 1. c., 

 t. 161. Echinochloa Crus-galli, Beauv. ; lieichenb. 1. c., t. 191. 



Common in rich grounds. A native of Europe and possibly indigenous to some parts of tins 

 continent ; widely introduced as a weed of cultivation in all warm countries. Exceedingly varia- 

 ble, and as many of the forms have received names the synonyms are many. In the Bad Lands 

 of Nebraska perfect plants are found only two inches high, while in rich spots five feet is not an 

 unusual height. There are all degrees, from perfectly smooth sheaths and leaves to those with 

 long hairs, and a very rough pubescence is not rare. The panicles and sometimes the sheaths are 

 often tinged with purple, but are sometimes so pale that one form has been called var. glaucum. 

 From the large pyramidal compound panicle there is every grade down to a nearly simple one, 

 with scarcely branched spikes erect, appressed and distant upon the rhachis, in which condition it 

 is liable to be mistaken for P. colonum. This, which was formerly regarded as a worthless weed, 

 has been, within a few years, cultivated in Illinois and some neighboring States as a hay-crop. 



8. P. colonum, Linn. Culms 6 inches to 2 feet high, annual, branching or 

 simple, usually decumbent and rooting at base : leaves linear and, with the sheaths, 

 glabrous : panicle of three to twelve or more short (^ to 1 inch) perfectly simple dis- 

 tant usually erect spikes, which are mostly bearded at base ; spikelets in two to four 

 rows, a line long or less, awnless : glumes and lower palets nearly smooth or hispid 

 on the nerves, pointed but not awned : fertile flower barely pointed. Trin. 1. c., 

 t. 160. P. Walteri, Ell. Sketch, i. 115 ; Chapm. Fl. 557. 



San Diego County ; Arizona and Northern Mexico ; also in the Southern Atlantic States. Com- 

 mon in the warm countries of the Old World ; also in Australia. This much resembles some of 

 the small and smooth forms of P. Crus-galli, but in this the spikes or branches of the slender 

 panicle are entirely simple and unbranched, while in the other they are more or less compound, 

 though the subdivisions are sometimes obscure and small. Perfect floret much less pointed than 

 in the preceding. 



P. CALIFORNICUM, Benth. Bot. Sulph. 55, was collected in Lower California ; it probably does 

 not extend into the State, as no specimens according with the description occur in the various 

 collections. 



P. STRUMOSUM, Presl, Eel. Hfenk. i. 303, is accredited to the State. Trinius (Paniceae, 255) 

 suggests that it is very near P. gibbum, Ell. It is difficult to identify Presl's species from his 

 descriptions. 



3. SETARIA, Beauv. BRISTLY FOX-TAIL GRASS. 



Panicle dense, cylindrical, spike-like, sometimes jnterrupted below. Spikelets 

 as in Panicum, awnless, with the short peduncles produced beyond them into one 

 or several awn-like bristles which are at one side, not forming a complete involucre, 



A genus of annuals, of about 20 species, natives of tropical countries, and introduced in most 

 temperate climates. By some botanists it is placed as a section of Panicum, from which it differs 

 in its spike-like inflorescence and the bristles subtending the spikelets. S Italica in some of its 

 varieties is cultivated as " Millet," and its var. Germanim, known as Hungarian Grass, is a useful 

 forage plant, often sown to supplement a short hay-crop. 



1. S. glauca, Beauv. Culm erect, 1 to 2 feet high : spike 1 to 4 inches long, 

 cylindrical, compact and usually ta\vny yellow : bristles in clusters of 6 to 11, much 

 exceeding the spikelets, barbed with numerous minute teeth which point upwards : 

 perfect floret with numerous transverse wrinkles, especially when mature. Eeichenb. 

 Icon. Fl. Germ. i. 68, t. 188. Panicum glaucum, Linn. ; Trin. Sp. Gram. ii. t. 195. 



