542 GEAMINE^E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



the lateral and often the terminal concealed in the sheaths ; palecK somewhat equal^ 

 about 'he length of the nearly equal glumes ; only one third longer than the linear 

 grain. (Agrostis Virginica, Muhl., not of L. Crypsis Virg., Nutt.) Ban-en 

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

 3. V. Virgiliica, Bcauv. Root perennial ; culms tufted, slender (5' - 12' 

 long), often procumbent, branched ; leaves convolute ; paleae rather shorter than 

 the nearly equal acute glumes. (Agrostis Virginiea, L.} Sandy sea-shore, 

 Virginia (Clayton] and southward. Spikelcts much smaller and more numer- 

 ous than in the last. 



6. SPOROBOL,US, R. 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 (TTropa, seed, and jSdXXco, to cast forth). 

 * Glumes very unequal : panicle pyramidal, open, 



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

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

 ovate, rather obtuse, the lower one half as long as, the upper 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. lietCl*61epis. Leaves involute-thread-form, rigid, the lowest a3 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. 1J. (Vilfa heterolepis, Gray.) Dry soil, Connecticut, N. New York, 

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

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

 eter), shining, thick and coriaceous ! 



3. S. cryptisiidrus. Leaves flat, pale (2" wide) ; the pyramidal panicl 

 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 palea ; sheaths strongly bearded at the 

 throat. 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 palece. : panicle racemost-elongatea, 

 open, the pedicels capillary : sheaths naked at the throat : spikeltts not urifrequently 

 2-Jlowered. (Colpodium ?) 



4. S. COmpreSSUS, Kunth. Very smooth, leafy to the top; culms titfted, 

 gtout, very fiat ; sheaths flattened, much longer than the internodes ; leaves erect, 

 narrow, conduplicate-channelled ; glumes acutish, about one third shorter thar 

 the obtuse palea?. 1J. (Agrostis compressa, Torr. Vilfa, Trin.) Bogs in th 

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



8' - 12' long:: Kpik**let> I" long, purplish. 



