26 



POACEAE. 



1. Phleum pratense L. Timothy. 

 Herd-grass. (Fig. 35.) Glabrous and 

 smooth or very nearly so throughout. Culms 

 l°-4° tall, erect, simple; sheaths usually 

 exceeding the internodes, sometimes shorter, 

 the upper one long and not inflated, or 

 very slightly so; leaves 3'-9' long, 2"-3" 

 wide, smooth or scabrous; spike usually 

 elongated, cylindric, IJ'-T' in length, 2V'- 

 4" in diameter; outer scales of the spikelet, 

 exclusive of the awn, l"-2^" long, ciliate on 

 the keel, the awn less than half their length. 



Occasional in fields and waste grounds. 

 Introduced as hay, from the United States, 

 but not naturalized, tlie climate being too 

 warm. Native of the north temperate zone. 



Alopecunis prat6nsis L., Meadow Fox- 

 tail Grass, is recorded by Eeade as occa- 

 sionally met with, and also mentioned by 

 Jones and by Lefroy. It resembles Tim- 

 othy, but the spikelet s readily fall away 

 from the spike at maturity. 



1. 8. virginicus. 



2. 8. Berteroani 



14. SPOROBOLUS E. Br. 



Perennial or rarely annual grasses, with flat or convolute leaves and open 



or contracted panicles. Spikelets generally small, 1-flowered, occasionally 2-3- 



flowered. Scales in the 1-flowered spikelets 3, membranous; the 2 outer empty, 



the first somewhat shorter; the third scale equalling or longer than the empty 



ones; palet 2-nerved. Stamens 2-3. Styles very short, distinct. Stigmas 



plumose. Grain free, and often early deciduous. [Greek, referring to the 



deciduous grain.] About 100 species, in tropical and temperate regions, very 



numerous in America. Type species: Agrostis indica L. 



Rootstocks elongated ; leaves short, spreading. 

 Rootstocks short ; leaves long, erect. 



1. Sporobolus virginicus (L.) Kunth. 

 Seashore Rush-grass. (Fig. 36.) Culms 

 6'-2° tall, erect or sometimes decumbent, 

 from a stout rootstock. Sheaths numer- 

 ous, short, overlapping and crowded at 

 the lower part of the culm, smooth, gla- 

 brous or sometimes pilose on the margins 

 and at the throat; leaves 1-8' long, 2" 

 wide or less at the base, distichous, acu- 

 minate; Involute on the margins and at 

 the apex, smooth beneath, scabrous above 

 or sometimes sparingly hairy; panicle 

 l'-3' long, 2'''-5" thick, dense and spike- 

 like, usually exserted; spikelets l"-li" 

 long, the outer scales about equal, acute, 

 smooth and glabrous; third scale acute, 

 slightly shorter than the second. [Agros- 

 tis virginica L.; S. Uttoralis Kunth.] 



Common on beaches and in salt marshes. 

 Native. Southeastern United States and 

 tropical America. Probably transported to 

 Bermuda by floating. Flowers in summer 

 and autumn. (8. purgans of Rein?) 



