470 GRAMINEJE. [Panicum. 



Fields and waste places in S.E. England ; naturalized ; fl. July. — Annual. 

 Stems 1-4 ft., stout, ascending. Leaves \ in. diam., flat, glabrous, edges 

 rough, often waved; ligule 0. Panicle 3-6 in.; branches subuni lateral ; 

 rachis 3-quetrous, pubescent; pedicel hairy. Spikelets \ in., plano-convex, 

 greenish; upper empty glume hispid, pointed or rigidly awned; fl. glume 

 polished. — Distrib. All temp, and trop. regions. 



2. SETA'RIA, Bcauv. 



Spikelets in a dense cylindric spike-like panicle, as in Panicum, but awn- 

 less, and with stout rough bristles at the base on one si''e. — Distrib. All 

 warm and trop. regions ; species 10. — Etym. seta, a bristle. 



S. vir'idis, Beauv. ; bristles clustered scabrid. 

 Sporadic, from Aberdeen to Kent and Devon ; a colonist ; fl. July-Aug. — 

 Annual. Stems suberect, scaberulous above. Leaves flat, smooth, edges 

 rough ; sheaths smooth, edges ciliate ; mouth with a ring of hairs. Panicle 

 1-3 in., green ; branches whorled, hispid, 3-quetrous ; bristles J-§ in., flex- 

 uous, purplish. Spikelets f t in., elliptic, obtuse ; empty glumes membranous ; 

 fl. glumes shining, punctulate, striate. — Distrib. All warm climates ; introd. 

 in America. 



S. verticilla'ta, Beauv. ; bristles single or in pairs barbed. 

 Cultivated fields, Norwich, Surrey, and Middlesex; fl. July-Aug.— Habit of 

 S. vir'idis, but panicle usually narrower, and the bristles truly barbed, their 

 asperities pointing downwards.— Distrib. As of S. vir'idis. 



3. SPARTI'NA, Schrebcr. 



Spikelets long, laterally compressed, sessile in 2 ranks on one-sided 

 panicled erect 3-gonous appressed spikes, 1-fid., with rarely a rudimentary 

 2d flower. Empty glumes 2, narrow, unequal, pointed or awned ; upper 

 5-nerved, exceeding the flowering ; lower smaller. Fl. glume sessile, 

 coriaceous, edges membranous, awnless, 1 -nerved, palea long 2-nerved. 

 Scales 0. Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous ; style very long, stigmas long 

 hairy. Fruit terete or subcompressed, enveloped in the palea and fl. 

 glume. — Distrib. Chiefly warm climates; species 5 or 6. — Etym. 

 (nrapTivrj, a cord, from the use of the leaves. 



S. stric'ta, Roth ; point of rachis of spike subulate. 

 Muddy salt creeks and marshes, rare, from Lincoln to Devon and Kent; 

 Channel Islands; fl. July-Aug. — Rootstock long, branched, extensively 

 creeping. Stems 1-4 ft., erect, strict, stout, polished, leafy throughout. 

 Leaves *-$ in. broad, strict, erect, coriaceous, convolute, smooth, pungent, 

 glaucous above ; ligule short, silky. Panicle 3-8 in., strict ; spikes 2-8, 

 1-3 in.; rachis angled, smooth, point equalling or exceeding the upper 

 spikelet. Spikelets ^-§ in., erect, yellowish green; empty glumes acute, 

 lowest acuminate, upper 2-toothed and tipped with a stiff awn, a little 

 silky; keel somewhat scabrid.— Distrib. Belgium and Spain to Austria 

 and Italy, N\ America. — Very variable.— &. alternijlo'ra, Loisel, from 



