GKAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 



159 



170. G. nervata. 



loiet X 4. 

 Base of leuima x 6. 



below; spikelets 5-10-fl()\vered. ovate, tumid, Briza-like, 5-7 mm. long; lemmas 

 obtuse or abruptly acute. — Bogs and wet places, Nfd. to Out. and Minn., s. to 

 N.J. and e. Kan. July. Fk;. '69. 



4 G. laxa Scribn. Similar to tall forms of the preceding, 1-1.5 m. high; 

 blades sometimes 6 dm. or more long ; panicle diffuse, 3-4 dm. long, nearly as 

 wide ; spikelets o-o-Jloirered. 4-5 mm. long, o mm. icide, oblong : florets rirm hut 

 not tumid; lemmas abruptly acuminate; palea nearly as 

 long. — Swampy places, Me. to N. J. July-Sept. 



5. G. nervata (Willd.) Trin. Fowl Meadow Grass. 

 Often in large clumps ; culms erect, 3-10 dm. high ; sheaths 

 scabrous, closed almost to the summit, the lower overlap- 

 ping ; blades 1.5-8 dm. long, 4-10 mm. wide, scabrous above ; 

 panicle expanded, nodding, 1-2 dm. long, the capillary 

 branches drooping, naked below ; spikelets purplish, 8-7- 

 flowered, 8-4 mm. l>>ng ; glumes minute., the second about g -C] t" /ia 

 1 mm. long, ticice as long as the first. — Moist meadow^s i,L„ ^^i.l".„„' 

 and wet places, common, Nfd. to Fla., and westw. June, 

 (Eu.) Fig. 170. — A low strict form (var. stricta Scribn.) occurs from Nfd. 

 to s. Me., and also in western mts. 



6. G. grandis Wats. (Heed Meadow Grass.) Culms clustered, stout, erect, 

 1-1.5 m. high ; sheaths loose, the lower rough, o%'erlapping ; blades 1.8-3 dm. long, 

 6-15 mm. wide, smooth or slightly scabrous ; panicle 2-4 dm. long, very com- 

 pound, loose and open, nodding at the summit ; sjyikelets numerous, vith purple 

 florets and ichitish glumes, 4-7 -flowered, 5-6 mm. long ; the palea nearly as long 

 as the 7-nerved lemma. {Panicularia americana MacM.) — Banks of streams, 

 wet meadows, ditches, etc., e. Que. to Alaska, s. to Pa., and westw. July. 



7. G. pallida (Toit.) Trin. Citlms slender, o-lO dm. high, ascending from a 

 creeping base ; leaves 5-15 cm. long, 2-8 mm. wide ; panicles lax, few-flowered, 

 7-15 cm. long, the few slender branches ascending or spreading at the ends, 

 naked at the base; spikelets pale green, loosely 4-9-flowered, 6-7 mm. long; 

 glumes obtuse ; lemmas 7-nerved, scabrous, dentate or erose at the obtuse 

 apex. — Shallow water, N. S. to Va., w. to Ont., Ind., and Ky. May, June. 



Var. Fernaldii Hitchc. Culms very slender, usuallj^ geniculate and spread- 

 ing, 2-4 dm. high ; leaves 4-8 cm. long, 2-3 mm. wide ; panicles 5-7 cm. long, 

 the fascicled branches lax, flexuous ; spikelets S-o-floicered, 4-5 mm. long ; 

 glumes and lemmas obtuse, usually erose at the summit. — Wet places, e. Que. 

 to Me. and Minn. Jn\j, Aug. 



8. G. fluitans (L.) R. Br. Culms somewhat flattened, erect from a creeping 

 base, 6-10 dm. high; sheaths overlapping, closed nearly to the summit, smooth ; 



blades 6-12 cm. long, 4-8 mm. wide; panicle finally exserted, 

 2.5-4 dm. long, very slender, the few remote branches appressed 

 or finally horizontal, a spikelet subsessile in each axil ; spikelets 

 7-12-flowered, 2-2.5 cm. long, nearly sessile ; glumes acute, scari- 

 ous and shining ; lemmas 7-nerved, scabrous, with a shining 

 scarious margin and summit, narrowed above but obtuse, erose ; 

 the tip of the palea exceeding the lemma. {Panicularia brachy- 

 phylla Nash.) — Shallow water, Gulf of St. Lawrence ; near N. Y. 

 City. June-Aug. (Eurasia.) 



9. G. septentrionalis Hitchc. Culms erect, 1-1.5 m. high, 

 thick and soft; sheaths overlapping, loo.se, smooth, the upper 

 371. G. septen- closed nearly to the summit, ligule 5-() mm. long, decurrent ; 

 trionalis. blades 1.2-2.5 dm. long, 6-8 mm. wide, nearly smooth, rather 

 Spikelet x i^^. obtuse ; panicle 2-2.5 dm. long, the subflexuous branches ascend- 

 ing, a spikelet subsessile in each axil ; spikelets 8-12-flowered, 

 1.5-2 era. long, subsessile or on short pedicels ; glumes obtuse, scarious and 

 shining; lemmas 4-4.5 mm. long, faintly 7-nerved, hispidulons, icith a shining 

 scarious summit, erose-obtuse, slightly exceeded by the tip of the palea. 

 {G. fluitans Am. auth., not R. Br.) —In shallow w^ater, N. E. to Va., and 

 westw. — Intermediate between G. fluitans and the following, but usually stouter 

 and broader leaved than either. Fig. 171. 



