GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 117 



and sterile lemma scarcely equaling the fruit which is minutely pubescent at 

 the apiculate tip. More or less spreading in the autumnal state, branching from 

 the middle nodes, the upper leaves of the branches crowded and spreading. 

 (P. latifolium Am, auth., not L.) —Woods, Me. to Minn., and southw. 



Var. m611e (Vasey) Hitchc. & Chase. Usually not so tall, doicny-jmbescent 

 throughout. (P. latifoli^im, var. Vasey; P. piibifolium Nash.) — Commoner 

 southw. 



73. P. latifblium L. Like P. Boscii, but visually taller; culms and sheaths 

 (except the ciliate margin and pubescent ring at the summit of the sheaths) 

 glabrous or rarely pubescent below., nodes glabrous; blades commonly 1.5 dm. 

 long, 3 cm. wide, sometimes wider, ciliate toward the ver\' broad base, otherwise 

 glabrous, rarely minutely pubescent ; panicle 8-15 cm. long, the long feK-floicered 

 branches ascending ; spikelets 3.5-3.8 mm. long, obovate-elliptic, the apiculate 

 tip of the fruit usually glabrous. Autumnal state as in P. Boscii. (P. macro- 

 carpon Le Conte.) — Rocky woods and sand dunes, Me. to Wise, and southw. 



Steinchisma hians (Ell.) Nash, a lax perennial with narrow flat leaves and 

 terminal panicles with spreading branches naked at base, and crowded spikelets, 

 the palea of the sterile lemma subindurated, enlarged and forcing the spikelet 

 open, has been collected in se. Mo. (Bush) ; common in the South. 



12. SACCIOLEPIS Nash. 



Second glume gibbous at the base, 11-nerved, equal to the 3-5-nerved sterile 

 lemma (which incloses a large palea and often a staminate flower), about twice 

 as long as the slightly stipitate fruit ; lemma thinner at the apex, the palea free 

 at the tip ; spikelets otherwise as in Fanicum. Semi-aquatic perennials witli nar- 

 row spike-like panicles. (Name from o-dK-Aros, bag. and XeTr/s, scale, alluding 

 to the saccate second glume.) 



1. S. striata (L.) Nash. Perennial, stoloniferous ; culms erect from a creep- 

 ing base, 3-9 dm. high, branching ; sheaths hirsute, at least on the margins ; 

 blades 0.8-2 dm. long, about 1 cm. wide, flat, glabrous ; panicle 10-15 cm. long, 

 contracted, spike-like ; spikelets 3.5 mm. long, lanceolate, acute. {Panicum gib- 

 bum Ell.) — Low wet ground, Va. to 1. T., and southw. 



13. ECHINOCHLOA Beauv. 



Spikelets 1-flowered, sometimes a staminate flower below the perfect termi- 

 nal one, nearly sessile in 1-sided racemes ; glumes unequal, spiny-hispid, mucro- 

 nate ; sterile lemma similar and awned from the apex (sometimes mucronate 

 only), inclosing a hyaline palea; fertile lemma and palea chartaceous, acumi- 

 nate ; margins of the glume inroUed except at the summit, where the palea is 

 not included. — Coarse annuals with compressed sheaths, long leaves and termi- 

 nal panicles of stout racemes. (Name from ex'^vos, a hedgehog, and x^o**? grass, 

 in allusion to the bristling awns. ) 



1. E. CRUSGALLI (L.) Beauv. (Barnyard Grass.) Culms stout, rather 

 succulent, branching from the base, ascending or erect, 3-18 dm. high ; sheaths 

 and blades glabrous ; panicle dense, 1-3 dm. long, of numerous 

 erect or spreading racemes, very variable, deep purple to pale 

 green, erect or drooping ; spikelets long-awned or nearly awnless, 

 densely and irregularly crowded in 3 or 4 rows, about 3 nmi. 

 long. {Panicum L.) — Moist, chiefly manured soil and waste 

 ground, river banks, etc., common throughout, except in the 

 extreme North. Aug. -Oct. (Nat. from Eu.) Fig. 68. 



E. frumextXcea (Roxb.) Link (Panicum Roxb.), Japanese 

 Barnyard Millet, or Billion-Dollar Grass, is an occasional ^- . ^"""^"f 

 escape from cultivation. It is distinguished from short-awned ^^'^ ^^ 

 forms of the preceding chiefly by the more compact panicles with short often 

 incurved branches. 



2. E. Walter! (Pursli) Nash. Resembling the preceding, usually taller, at 

 least the loicer sheaths coarsely papillose-hispid ; panicle usually long, more 



