grami:n'eae (grass family) 151 



the florets less densely imbricated, the bases or rhachilla-joints 

 vm6Ze ; lemmas nearly smooth. (E. Eragrostis Ksivst.) — Waste 

 ground, not common, N. E. to Va., and soathw. (Nat. from Eu.) 

 Fig. 151. 



7. E. trich5des (Nutt.) Nash. Erect, 6-15 dm. high; sheaths 

 overlapping, smooth, pilose at the throat ; blades 1-7 dm. long, 

 2-6 mm. wide, rather rigid, involute-taper-pointed ; panicles pale, 

 oblong, the lower axils sparingly pilose ; spikelets 

 3-10-tlowered, ^-10 mm. long, on capillary flexu- ^^^ j^ ^-^^^^ 

 ous usually long pedicels ; glumes and lemmas SDikeletx'> 

 acute, scabrous. {E. tenuis GiV2i\ , not Steud.) — 

 Sandy soil, O. to 111., Kan., and south w. Aug. -Oct. Fig. 152. 

 8. E. pectinacea (^Nlichx.) Steud. Erect or ascending, 3-8 

 dm. high; culms rigid, from short stout rootstocks ; sheaths over- 

 lapping, sparingly pilose, densely bearded at the throat ; blades 

 152, E. trichodes. ^~^ ^^^' ^ong, 4-8 mm. wide, often involute in drying ; panicles 

 Spikelet x 2. ' P^W^^i included at base or exserted after the upper spikelets 

 have fallen, branches pilose in the axils ; spikelets ^lO-floicered, 

 8-8 mm. long, on stiff pedicels ,' glumes and lemmas acute, minutely scabrous. — 

 Sandy dry ground. Me. to S. Dak., and southw. July-Oct. Fig. 153. Var. 

 sPECTABiLis Gray. Sheaths glabrous or nearly so ; panicles 

 rather more exserted than in the species ; spikelets 8-lo-flow- 

 ered. — Range of the species, but the commoner form toward 

 the west. 



9. E. refracta (Muhl.) Scribn. Erect; culms less stout than 

 in the last, 3-i) dm. high ; sheaths overlapping, glabrous, spar- 

 ingly villous at the throat; blades 1-3 dm. long. 2-1 mm. wide, 

 nearly smooth ; panicle usually included at the base, the slender 153. E. pectinacea. 

 remote branches sparsely pilose in the axils and bearing few Spikelet x 2. 

 short-pediceled appressed spikelets 6-25-floicered, 6-12 mm. 

 i<^'W f glumes and lemmas acuminate. (E. campestris Trin. ; E. pectinacea, 

 var. refracta Chapm. ; Poa refracta Muhl.) — Sandy open ground, Del. and 

 Md. to Fla. and Ala. 



64. CATABRdSA Beauv. 



Spikelets usually 2-flowered ; glumes unequal, shorter than the lemmas, erose 

 at the broad summit ; lemmas subcoriaceous, erose-truncate, strongly 3-nerved ; 

 palea as long as the lemma, the strong nerves near the margin. — A creeping 

 perennial aquatic with flat leaves and open panicles of small spikelets. (Name 

 from KaTOL^pcoais, an eating, referring to the eroded glumes.) 



1. C. aquatica (L.) Beauv. Smooth throughout, decumbent and rooting at 

 the lower nodes, the ascending culms 1-6 dm. high ; the loose sheaths overlap- 

 ping ; blades soft, 2-12 cm. long, 2-6 mm. wide ; panicle 0.5-2 dm. long, the 

 wliorled branches spreading; spikelets 3-4 mm. long. — In water or wet places, 

 coast of N. B., Nfd., and north w. (Eurasia.) 



65. MELICA L. Melic Grass 



Spikelets 2-several-flowered ; rhachilla prolonged beyond the fertile florets, 

 and bearing 2 or 3 gradually smaller empty lemmas, convolute together or 

 inclosing one another at the apex ; glumes large, unequal, membranaceous, or 

 papery, scarious-margined, 3-5-nerved, little shorter than the florets; lemmas 

 convex, 7-13-nerved, firm, with scarious margins, awnless or awned below the 

 bifid apex ; paleas shorter than their lemmas, the strong nerves nearly marginal. 

 — Perennials with simple culms, closed sheaths, usually soft flat leaves and 

 rather large spikelets in usually narrow panicles. (An old Italian name for 

 Sorghum, from mel, honey.) 



