560 GRAMINE;E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



lower paJea entire; loaves large (l-2 long, J' to ' wide). Wet meadows 

 &c. ; common northward. July. Culm stout, upright, 3 - 5 high. (Eu.) 



* * # Spikelets liiuar (I 1 -I' lung), terete, jxile, oppressed on the branches of the 

 long and narrow rac< mose. panicle,: palea 1 . inhintdji rotighish ; the. upper 2-toothed : 

 stamens 3: sgitamulce unilateral or nnill: lit/ale, Ian//: culm flat I cut d, a set -tiding 

 from a rooting base. (Glyeeria, R. Uroicn.) 



7. O. flilitans, K. JJrown. Spikelets 7-1. ".-flowered ; luirer pal<a oblong, 

 obtuse, or the sctivious tip acuiish, entire or obscurely 3-lobed, visually rather 

 longer than the blunt upper one. (G. plica ta, /V/r,s.) Shallow water; com- 

 mon, especially northward. June - Aug. Culm thickish, 1 - 5 long. Leaves 

 short and rather broad, very smooth. Panicle 1 long : the simple branches 

 appressed, finally spreading below. (Eu.) 



8. O. acutifldra, Torr. Spikelets 5- 12-flowered, few and scattered; 

 lower palea oblong-lanceolate, acute, shorter than the long tapering point of the upper 

 one. Wet places, Penn. to New England ; rather rare. June. Resembles 

 the last; but the erect leaves smaller, the separate flowers twice the length (' 

 long) and less nerved. 



2. HELE6CHLOA, Fries. (Scleroehloa, /. 1.) Lower palea inconspicuousfy 

 or obsoletely 5-nervedj stigmas nearly sessile and simply plumose: grain hardly 

 grooved: saline species: ]>anicle cuntractid with age. 



9. O. inaritima, Wahl. (SKA RI-K.VK-GRASS.) Sterile shoots procum- 

 bent runner-like; flowering culms erect (I -!. 1 ,- high); branches of the panicle 

 solitary or in pairs ; spikelets oblong or linear, 4 - 8-flowered ; lower palea round- 

 ed at the summit, slightly pubescent towards the base ; leaves somewhat invo- 

 lute; ligule elongated. (Poa inaritima, Ifuds.) Sea-coast; not rare. (Eu.) 



10. O. d Istans, Wahl. Culms geniculate at the base, ascending, des- 

 titute of running shoots; branches of the panicle 3-5 in a half whorl, spreading; 

 spikelets 3 - 6-flowered ; lower palea truncate-obtuse ; leaves mostly flat ; ligule 

 short. (P. fascieulata, Torr. P. distans, L. P. arenaria, Retz.) Salt marsh- 

 es along the coast. Probably only a form of the last. (Eu.) 



32. BRIZOPYRUM, Link. SPIKE-GRASS. 



Spikelets and numerous flowers compressed, crowded in a densely spiked or 

 capitate panicle. Glumes herbaceous or membranaceous ; the lower faintly 

 many-nerved. Lower palea rather coriaceous, flattened-boat-shaped, indistinctly 

 many-nerved, acute. Ovary stalked. Flowers mostly dioecious, pretty large. 

 Leaves crowded on the culms, involute, commonly rigid. (Name compounded 

 of Bri-d (Xn. .'!;")), and 7ru/)oy, wheat.) 



1. B. spicatlllll, Hook, ("alms tufted, from creeping rootstocks (9 ; - 

 18' high); spike oblong, flattened (I' long) ; spikelets ovate or oblong, 15- 10- 

 flowered ; flowers smooth and naked ; grain pointed. (Uniola spicata, /,. Poa 

 Michauxii, Kunth.) Salt marshes and shores. Aug. Pistillate flowers more 

 rigid and almost keeled, with very long plumose stigmas; the sterile sir &llei 

 and somewhat rounded on the back. 



