Spartina.] . GRAMlNEuE. 471 



Southampton, lias the tip of the rachis exceeding the spike.— S. Townsen'dii, 

 Groves, from Hythe (Hants), has shorter leaves and a flexuous tip to the 

 rachis. — American specimens show similar variations. 



4. LEER'SIA, Soland. 



Spikelets jointed on the pedicel, panicled, much compressed, imbricate, 

 gibbous, 1-fld. Empty glumes 0. Fl. glume hard, awnless, broad, 3- 

 nrved, often eiliate. P>dca as long, hard, 1 -nerved. Scales 2, ovate, 

 entire, short. Stamens 1-3, or 6. Ovary glabrous ; styles short, stigmas 

 feathery. Fruit laterally compressed, enclosed in the hardened glume and 

 palea. — Distrib. Temp, and trop. regions; species 5. — £tym. «/. D. 

 Leers, a German botanist. 



Ii. ory zoi'des, Swartz ; panicle effuse, stamens 3. 

 Wet meadows and watery places, rare ; Surrey, Hants, Sussex ; fl. Aug.-Oct. 

 — Perennial. Root creeping. Stems 2-3 ft., decumbent below, smooth, 

 shining, leafy, nodes villous. Leaves §-4 in. broad, flat, scabrid, glaucous ; 

 sheaths com pressed, almost smooth; ligule truncate, torn. Panicle 3-7 in., 

 very lax and few-fid., partially enclosed in the sheath when flowering, 

 branches in ^ whorls, capillary, flexuous; upper part open with imperfect 

 ovaries; lower part included in the sheath, with fertile ovaries. Spikelets 

 £ in., dimidiate-oblong, thin but rigid, translucent, smooth or scaberulous, 

 pale green, keels with long rigid cilia. — Distuib. From Denmark southd., 

 trop. Asia, Africa, and S. America. 



5. PHAL'ARIS, L. 



Spikelets much laterally compressed, in open or contracted or spike-like 

 panicles, 1-fld., with 2 or more rudimentary glumes (scales or pedicels) 

 beneath the fl. glume on one side. Empty glumes 2, enclosing the flowering, 

 subequal, keeled. Fl. glume broad. Palea much smaller. Scales 2, mi- 

 nute. Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous ; styles long, stigmas slender feathery. 

 Fruit compressed, enclosed in the coriaceous glume and palea. — Distrib. 

 Trop. and temp, regions ; species 9 or 10. — Etym. The old name. 



Section 1. Phal'aris proper. Panicle spike-like. Empty glumei 

 broadly-winged. 



P. canarien'sis, L. ; panicle ovoid. Canary grass. 

 Fields and waste places ; an escape ; fl. July. — Annual, glaucous. Stems 

 1-3 ft., erect, scaberulous. Leaves flat, upper sheaths inflated ; ligule large. 

 Panicle 1-1§ in., ovoid or subcylindric, compact, pale green. Spikelets 

 nearly £ in. diam., orbicular; empty glumes membranous, acute, wings 

 broad, keel green, nerves 2, stout; fl. glume much shorter, silky, obscurely 

 nerved ; scales 2, lanceolate, acute.— Distrib. Warm and temp. Europe, 

 N. Africa, W. Asia ; introd. in N. America. 



Section 2. Digra'phis, Trin. (gen.). Panicle contracted, interrupted. 

 Empty glumes hardly winged. 



