544 (ii;. \.MIM..K. (<;I;ASS i A.MILY.) 



4. A. CAxlxA, L. (BROWX Bi-vr GRASS.) Culms slender (1- 2 high) j 



root-leaves involute-bmtle-form; those of tin- mini Mat and broader, linear; 

 brunches of the short and loose erect-spreading panicle slender, branching a!>ovo 

 the middle; loin-r palm a little shorter than the. almost equal glumes, hc-inn<j a 

 long (at length l)entor somewhat twisted) aim on the. //./. a little b< loir the middle, 

 the upper one minate and inconspicuous (only half the length of the ovary); 

 spikelets greenish, turning hrown or purplish, about 1" long. 1J. Meadows, 

 &c., E. New England : scarce. (Nat. from Eu.) 



Var. alpina, Oakes (var. '( tenella, Y'o/v. ; A. rubra, L., ed. 1.; A. Picker- 

 ingii & A. concinna, Tnclerni.}, is a lower, often contracted mountain form, with 

 spikclcts 1|" long. Mountain-tops, Maine to New York. July, Aug. (Eu.) 



2. AGROSTJS PROPER. Upper jxilea manifest, ltt slu-rfcr than the lower. 



5. A. VlllguriS, With. (RED-TOP. IIicuD's-GuASS of Penn., c.) 

 Rootstocks creeping; culm mostly upright (l-2 high) ; panicle oblong, with 

 spreading slightly rough short hranches (purple) ; leaves linear; Uyulc. vert/ short. 

 truncate; lower paleu nearly equalling the glumes, chiefly awnless, 3-nervcd ; 

 the upper about one half its length. ]\. (A. polymorpha, Hnds. partly. Varies 

 with a rougher panicle (A. hispida, H7//V/.), and rarely with the flower awnecl 

 (A. pumila, L.) Low meadows; naturali/ed from Eu. Also native in North- 

 era New York and northward. (Eu.) 



6. A. ALP.A, L. (WHITE BENT-GRASS.) Culm ascending, rooting at the 

 lower joints (1- 2 high) ; panicle narrn/r, contracted after flowering (greenish- 

 white or barely tinged with purple), the hranches rough; liynle oblong or linear ; 

 lower palea rather shorter than the glumes, 5-nerved, awnless, or rarely short- 

 awned on the back; otherwise as in the last. 1J. Varies with the panicle 

 more contracted (A. stolon ifera, L., Fiona, (,'raxs) and var. APtiST\TA, with 

 the lower palea long-awned from near its base. (A. strieta, Willd.) Moist 

 meadows and fields. A valuable grass, like the foregoing. (Nat. from Eu.) 



8. POL,YPOGOl\ r , Desf. BEARD-GRASS. 



Spikelets 1 -flowered, in a contracted somewhat spike-like panicle. Glumes 

 nearly equal, long-awned, much longer than the membranaceous palea;, the lower 

 of which is commonly short-awned below the apex. Stamens 3. Grain free. 

 (Name composed of TroXv, much, and vrcoycov, hard; from the awns.) 



1. P. MONSPELIENSIS, Desf. Panicle interrupted ; glumes oblong, the awn 

 from a shallow notch at the summit; lower palea. awned. ('? On the coast, 

 Isle of Shoals, New Hampshire (Oakes fr Bobbins), Virginia^ and southward. 

 (Nat. from Eu.) 



9. C IN IV A, L. WOOD HEED-GRASS. 



Sj)ikelets 1 -flowered, much flattened, crowded in an open flaccid panicle. 

 Glumes lanceolate, acute, strongly keeled, hispid -serrulate on the keel ; the lower 

 rather smaller, the upper a little exceeding the paleic. Flower manifestly 

 stalked in the glumes, smooth and nuked; the palc;e much like the glumes ; 

 the lower longer than the upper, short-awned or l>ii--tli 



