574 GRAMINKJE. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



53. II I It 6 111,0 A, Gmclin. HOLY-GRASS. 



Spikelets plainly 3-flowered, open-panicled ; the flowers all with 2 paleae the 

 two lower (lateral) flowers staminate only, 3-androus, sessile, often awned on the 

 middle of the back or near the tip ; the uppermost (middle) one perfect, short- 

 pcdicellcd, scarcely as long us the others, 2-androus, awnless* Glumes equalling 

 or exceeding the spikelet, scarious ; paleae chartaceous. Leaves linear or lan- 

 ceolate, flat. (Name composed of tfpos, sacred, and x\6a, grass; these sweet- 

 scented Grasses being strewn before the church-doors on saints' days, in the North 

 of Europe.) 



1. II.. borealis, Roem. & Schultes. (VANILLA or SENECA GRASS.) 

 Panicle somewhat one-sided, pyramidal (2' -5' long); peduncles smooth; 

 Btaminate flowers with the lower palea imicronate or bristle-pointed at or near 

 the tip ; rootstock creeping. 1J. (Holcus odoratus, L.) Moist meadows, Mass. 

 to Wisconsin, and northward, chiefly near the coast and along the Lakes. May. 

 Culm l-2 high, with short lanceolate leaves. Spikelets chestnut-color; 

 the sterile flowers strongly hairy -fringed on the margins, and the fertile one at 

 the tip. (Eu.) 



2. II. alpilia. Roem. & Schultes. Panicle contracted (l'-2' long); one 

 of the staniinate flowers barely pointed or short-awned near the tip, the other 

 long-awned from below the middle; lowest leaves very narrow. 1J. Alpine 

 mountain-tops, New England, New York, and northward. July. (Eu.) 



54. A N T II O X A W T H U II , L. SWEET-SCENTED VERNAL-GRABS. 



Spikelets spiked-panicled, 3-flowcred ; but the lateral flowers neutral, consist- 

 ing merely of one palea which is hairy on the outside and awned on the back : 

 the central (terminal) flower perfect, of 2 awnlcss chartaceous palea;, 2-androus. 

 (Jinnies very thin, acute, keeled; the upper about as long as the flowers, twice 

 the length of the lower. Squamulac none. Grain ovate, adherent to the enclos- 

 ing paleae. (Name compounded of (Iv0os, flower, and av&u>v, of flowers. L.) 



1. A. ODOR\TUM, L. Spikelets spreading (brownish or tinged with green); 

 one of the neutral flowers bearing a bent awn from near its base, the other short- 

 awncd below the tip. ty Meadows, pastures, &e. ; very sweet-scented in dry- 

 ing. May -July. (Nat. from Eu.) 



55. PIIALARIS, L. CANARY-GRASS. 



Spikelets crowded in a dense or spiked panicle, with 2 neutral mere rudiments 

 of a flower, one on each side, at the base of the perfect one, which is ilattish, 

 awnlcss, of 2 shining paleae, shorter than the equal boat-shaped and often winged- 

 keeled glumes, finally coriaceous or cartilaginous, and closely enclosing the 

 flattened free and smooth grain. Stamens 3. Leaves broad, flat. ( 'The an- 

 cient name, from <u\oy, sliinin;/, alluding either to the palea; or the <_rain.) 



1. P. ariindiiiacca, L. (KKED CANARY-GRASS.) Panicle more or 

 less branched, clustered, a little spreading when old; (/lames wingless, with flat- 

 tened pointed tips ; rudimentary flowers hairy, ] the length of the fertile one. ty 



