GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 



129 



Droad truncate 5-nerved hyaline lemma ; palea nearly equal, 

 narrow. — Krect simple perennials, with flat leaves and terminal 

 spike-like panicles. (From 0\eajs, a Greek name for a kind 

 of reed.) 



1. P. PRATENSE L. (Timothy, Herd's Grass.) Culms 

 4-10 dm. high, from a swollen base; panicle long-cylindrical ; 

 awn of glumes 1 mm. long — Meadow^s, commonly cultivated 

 for hay. (Nat. from Eu.) Fig. 9-4. 



2. P. alpinum L. Ctdms 2-6 dm. high ; panicle nart'oicly 

 ellipsoid or short-cylindrical; awn of glumes 2 mm. long. — 

 Alpine regions of N. E. and north %v. ; also Upper Mich. (Eurasia.) 



94. p. pratense. 



Floret raised from 



the glumes x 3. 



30. ALOPECURUS L. Foxtail Grass 



Spikelets 1-flowered, flattened, falling from the axis entire, in slender spike- 

 like panicles ; glumes equal, awnless, usually connate at the base, ciliate on 

 the keel, the broad 5-iierved obtuse lemma nearly equal in length, with a 

 slender erect dorsal awn from below the middle ; margins connate near the 

 base ; palea none. — Branching perennials with flat leaves and soft dense 

 spike-like panicles. (Name from dXibirr}^, fox, and ovpd. tail, from the shape 

 of the spike.) 



1. A. PRATENSis L. (Meadow F.) Erect, glabrous; culms 3-9 dm. high, 

 from short creeping rootstocks ; sheaths loose, the upper usually inflated ; 



leaves scabrous ; panicle 5-10 cm. long ; spikelets 5 mm. long ; 



the lemma equcding the acute long-ciliate glumes; awn usually 



exserted about 5 mm. — Meadows and pastures, eastw. May. 



(Nat. from Eu.) 



2. A. geniculatus L. (Floating F.) Glabrous or nearly 

 so ; culms slender, decumbent and branched at base, then erect 

 or ascending, 1.5-6 dm. high ; leaves slightly scabrous ; pani- 

 cles slender, 2.5-7.5 cm. long; spikelets about 3 m.m. long; 

 lemma shorter than the obtuse long-ciliate glumes; awn bent, 

 the exserted portion usually twice as long as the glumes. — 

 Moist meadows, banks of streams and ditches, Nfd. to B. C, 

 and throughout U. S. June-Aug. (Eurasia.) Fig. 95. 



Var. aristulatus Torr. Spikelets slightly smaller, awn very 

 slender and scarcely exserted. — In water and w^et places, 

 common. June-Aug. — In the Western States these two forms 

 seem inseparable and indigenous, but in the eastern portion of 

 our range the former appears to be introduced and is easily 

 distinguished by its longer aw^is and usually geniculate or 

 creeping base. The variety appears to be the same as A.fulvus 

 Sm. of Eurasia. 



3. A. agrestis L. Glabrous ; culms erect or decumbent at 

 base, 3-6 dm. high; leaves scabrous; panicle rather slender, 3.5-10 cm. long; 

 spikfdets 6-7 7nm. long ; glumes very short-ciliate on the keels, connate for I their 

 length, slightly shorter than the lemma; awn twice the length of the glumes or 

 moVe. — Waste places and ballast, Mass., N. J., Pa.; and on Pacific coast. 

 (Adv. from Eu.) 



95. A. geniculatus. 

 Inflorescence x y^. 

 Bit of same x 1. 

 Spikelet and lemma 

 x3. 



31. SPOROBOLUS R. Br. Drop-seed. Rush Grass 



Spikelets 1-flowered, awnless, in narrow and spike-like, or loose and spreading, 

 often partly included, panicles ; leumia as long as or longer than the usually 

 unequal glumes, 1-nerved ; palea equaling or exceeding the lemma, often splitting 

 between the strong nerves at maturity ; grain readily falling from the spikelet, 

 pericarp loosely inclosing the seed, often thin and evanescent. — Annuals or 

 perennials with involute or flat leaves. (Name from awopd, seed, and (idWetv, to 

 cast forth. ) 



gray's manual — 9 



