6S TRIANDllIA. DIGYMA. 



28. reptons. Ambiguous species. — $9. 7neUcoides.\ 50. 

 Jliroides.^ 



Of the 78 species of this g^enus in Persoon, there are 

 28 in Europe, the rest in North America, Barbary, India, 

 the tropical islands of America, a few species at the Cape 

 ol Good Hope, and some in the isle of New Zealand. As 

 yet there are only 2 species described as growing in the 

 whole continent of South America. 



A genus of the utmost importance in agriculture. 



^7, BRIZA. X. (Quakiii^^-grass.) 



Calix S-valved, many -flowered. Spikeleis 



^r^ostis, in which the larger valve of the calix is also 3-nerved, 

 similar to the corolla. 



Hab. Collected in the neiglibourhood of Philadelphia, by Dr. 

 W. Burton, professor of Botany. 



■\ Panicle small, composed of a few simple racemes; calix 

 unequal, obiuse, shorter than the corolla, 2 or 3-flowercd; flow- 

 ers oblong-obovate, obtuse, nerved, connected to the rachis by 

 a -omentose villus; culm long and slender; leaf short, smooth, 

 attenuated 



»iz>a melicoi.'es, IVIicH. ^i. trifora? El. 



t Culm 4 or 5 feet high, erect, leaves with very lon^ sheathes, 

 short and acute; panicle erect, attenuated; branches semiverti- 

 cillate, few and capilla;-} ; spikelets oblong, obtu.se, nearly ses- 

 sile, or u])on short peduncles, 4 to 6-t^o\\ered; calix very un- 

 equal, shorter than tlie corolla; flowers distinct, somewhat cy- 

 lindric, obtuse, shining', } U:j:)li8h, scariose, and often lacerate at 

 the point, obsoletely 5-nerved, inner val\ e scabrous on the 

 margin. 



Hab, In depressed si'uations around the Mandan village, on 

 the Missouri, v.v. 



Scarcely distinct from Poa distans, except in habit; being 4 

 or 5 feet high, with leaves sometime^ embracing the culm for 

 8 inches, scabrous on the mArgisi acute, and scarcely more 

 than an inch, or an inch and a half long. The panicle is also 

 attenuated, the branches capillaiy, loose, b\it erect, never re- 

 fracted. In most of which characters it differs from the P. 

 di^aits, ai;d does not at all agree with Curiis's figure. It is 

 another of those ambiguous grasses, which, (like the P.aistans 

 and Mra aquntica now considered the same plant,) combines 

 the characters of 2 gener;.; it has 'he artificial character of Poa, 

 but it is in fact an .izra, alth'.ui^h prod • icing 4, 5, and 6 flowers 

 in a sp'.kelet. It is probably ail important meadow-grass, like 

 the ^iira aquatica. 



