542 GRAMINE^E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



the lateral anil often the terminal concealed in the sheaths ; polecesv 

 about ifie length of the marly egual glumes ; only one third Icntror Han the lineal 1 

 grain. (Agrostis Virginica, Mnld., not of L. Crypsis Yirg., Nntt.) Barren 

 and sandy dry fields, New England to Illinois, and common southward. Sept. 

 3. V. Virgillica, Beauv. Root perennial ; culms tufted, slender (5' -12' 

 long), often procumbent, branched ; leaves co'n r olute ; paleaa rather shorter than 

 the nearly equal acute glumes. (Agrostis Virginica, L.) Sandy sea-shore, 

 Virginia (Clayton) and southward. Spikelets much smaller and more numer- 

 ous than in the last. See Addend. 



6. SPORO BOLUS," 11. Brown. DROP-SEED GRASS. 



Spikelets 1- (rarely 2-) flowered, in a contracted or open panicle. Flowers 

 nearly as in Vilfa; the paleae longer than the unequal glumes. Stamens 2-3 

 Grain a globular utricle (hyaline or rarely coriaceous), containing a loose seed, 

 deciduous (whence the name, from tnropd, seed, and /SaAXoo, to cast forth). 

 * Glumes very unequal : panicle pyramidal, open. 



1. S. jifmceilS, Kunth. Leaves involute, narrow, rigid, the lowest elongat- 

 ed; culm (l-2high) naked ahove, hearing a narrow loose panicle; glumes 

 ovate, rather obtuse, the lower one half as long as, the ripper equalling, the nearly 

 equal palece. 1J. (Agrostis juncea, Michx. Vilfa juncea, Trin.) Dry soil, 

 Pennsylvania to Wisconsin, and (chiefly) southward. Aug. Spikelets 1" - 2 

 long, shining. 



2. S. Iictcr61cpis. Leaves involute-thread-form, rigid, the lowest as long 

 as the culm [l- 2), which is naked above; panicle very loose; glumes very 

 unequal; the lower awl-shaped (or bristle-pointed from a broad base) and some- 

 what shorter, the upper ovate-oblong and taper-pointed and longer, than the equal 

 palece. 1|. (Vilfa heterolepis, Gray.) Dry soil, Connecticut, N. New York, 

 Ohio, and Wisconsin. Aug. Plant exhaling an unpleasant scent (Sullirunt), 

 stouter than the last, the spikelets thrice larger. Utricle spherical (1" in diam- 

 eter), shining, thick and coriaceous ! 



3. S. cryptiilldms. Leaves flat, pale (2" wide) ; the pyramidal panicle 

 bursting from the upper sheath which usually encloses its base, its spreading 

 branches hairy in the ^axils ; upper glume lanceolate, rather acute, twice the length of 

 the lower one, as long as the nearly equal palese ; sheaths strongly bearded at the 

 throat. U 1 ( Agr. Vilfa cryptandra, Torr.) Sandy soil, Buffalo, New York, 

 to Illinois, and south and westward. Ipswich, Massachusetts, Oakes. Aug. 

 Culm 2 -3 high. Panicle lead-color: spikelets small. 



* # Glumes almost equal, shorter than the broad palefe : panicle racemose-elongated, 

 open, thr pedicels capillary : sheaths naked at the throat : spikelets not wifrcqiuntfy 

 2-flowercd. (Colpodium ?) 



4. S. COmprcSSUS, Kunth. Very smooth, leafy to the top ; culms tufted, 

 stout, very flat ; sheaths flattened, much longer than the-internoder ; leavt^ 

 narrow, conduplicatc-channellcd ; gl nines aeutish, about one third shorter than 

 the obtuse palece. l| (Agrostls compressa, Tbrr. Vilfa, Trin.)- Bogs in the 

 pine ham-ns of New Jersey. Sept. Forming strong tussocks, l-2 high. 

 Panicle 8' - 12' long : spikelets 1" long, purplish. 



