CIO GRAMINE.E. (gRASS FAMILY.) 



4. V. "Virginica, Bcanv. Root per-rnnial ; ctthiis tufted, slender (5'- 12' 

 long), often prociunbcnt, branched; loaves convolute, rigid ; palcts rather shorter 

 tlian the nearly equal acute glumes. (Agrostis Virginica, Z.) — Sandy sea- 

 shore, Virginia (Ciai/Zoii) and southward. — Siiikelets much smaller and more 

 numerous than in the others. 



7. SPOROBOLUS, R. Br. Dkop-seed Guass. (PI. 7.) 



Spikelets 1- (rarely 2-) flowered, in a contracted or open panicle. Flowers 

 ncarlv as in Vilfa ; the palets longer than the unequal glumes. Stamens 2-3. 

 Grain a globular utricle (hyaline or rarely coriaceous), containing a loose seed, 

 deciduous (whence the name, from (rnopd, seed, and /SaXXw, to cast forth). 



* Glumes very unequal : panicle pyramidal, open : ours perennials, except No. 3. 



1. S. jlinceus, Kunth. Leaves involute, narrow, rigid, the lowest elon- 

 gated ; culm (l°-2° high) naked above, bearing a narrow loose panicle; glumes 

 ovate, rather obtuse, the lower one half as long as, the upper etjuallint/, the nearly 

 equal pdlets. (Agrostis juncea, jl//c7i.r. Vilfa juncea, Trin.) — Dry soil, Penn- 

 sylvania to Wisconsin, and (chiefly) southwai-d. Aug. — Spikelets l"-2" long, 

 shining. 



2. S. h.eter61epis, Gray. Leaves involute-thread-Jbrm, rigid, the lowest as 

 long as the culm ( 1° - 2°) which is naked above ; panicle very loose ; (flumes very 

 unequal; the lower awl-shnped (or bristle-pointed from a broad base) and some- 

 what shorter, the upper ovate-oblong and taper-pointed and longer, than the equal 

 palets. (Vilfa heterolepis, Gray.) — Dry soil, Connecticut, and New York to 

 Illinois and Wisconsin! Aug. — Plant exhaling an unpleasant scent (Sidlicant), 

 stouter than the last, the spikelets thrice larger. Utricle spherical (1" in diam- 

 eter), shining, thick and coriaceous ! 



3. C. cryptandrus, Gray. Leaves flat, pale (2" wide) ; the pyramidal 

 panicle bursting from the upper sheath which usually encloses its base, its spreading 

 branches hairy in the axils ; upper glume lanceolate, rather acute, twice the length of 

 the lower one, as long as the nearly equal palets ; sheaths strongly bearded at the 

 throat ; root annual ? (Agr. & Vilfa cryptandra, Torr.) — Sandy shores, coast 

 of New England, and of the Great Lakes. Aug., Sept. — Culm 2° - 3° high 

 Panicle lead-color: spikelets 1" long. 



* * Glumes almost equal, short rr than the broad palets : panicle racemose-elongated, 

 open, the pidirels capillary : shiatlis nabd at the throat : spikelets not iinfequently 

 tuoflorci red : root perennial. (CoLPODlUM ?) 



4. S. COmpr6ssus, Kunth. Very smooth, /w/vy to the top: culms tufied, 

 stout, very flat: sheaths flattened, much longer than the internodes; leaves erect, 

 narrow, conduplicate-channelled ; glumes acutish, about one third shorter than 

 the obtuse palets. (Agrostis comprcssa, Torr. Vilfo, Trin.) — Bogs in the 

 pine-l)arrcns of New Jersey. S?pt. — Forming strong tussocks, l°-2° high. 

 Panicle 8'- 12' long: spikelets 1" long, purplish. 



.5. S. serdtinUS, Gray. Smooth \ odms i^ry slender, flattish(^' -\'j'h\(rM), 

 few-leaved ; leaves very slender, channelled ; panicle soon much crserted, the diffuse 

 capillary branches scattered ; glumes ovate, obtuse, about half the length of the 



