GK amines:, (grass family.) 61 f 



palcts. ( Agr. & Vilfa scrotina, 7brr. V. tenera, Trin. Poa ? tmiflofa, Muld. 

 P. niodesta, TucJcprm.) — Sandy wet places, Maine to New Jersey and Michigan. 

 Sept. — A very delicate grass ; the spikelcts half a line long. 



8. AGROSTIS, L. Bent-Grass. (PI. 7.) 



Spikclets 1 -flowered, in !in open jianiele. Glumes somewhat equal, or the 

 lower rather longer, usually longer than the palets, jiointless. Palcts very thin, 

 pointless, naked; the lower 3 - 5-nerved, frequently awncd on the back; the. 

 upper often minute or none. Stamens chiefl_v .3. Grain (caryopsis) free. — 

 Culms usually tufted, slender; root commonly iicrcnnial. (Name from ayitus, 

 a Jitld, the place of growth.) 



§ 1. TRICHODIUM, Michx. — Upper palet nhoii ice, minute, or none 



1. A. el^ta, Trin. Culms firm or sfoM< (2° -3° high) ; leaves flat (1"- 2" 

 wide) ; upper ligules elongated (2" -3" long) ; xpikehts aoicdtd on the branches 

 of the spread'nui panicle above the middle (1^" long) ; lower palct awnless, slightly 

 shorter than the rather unequal glumes ; the npjK'r wanting. (A. Seliweinitzii, 

 Trin.? A. altissima, Tiickerm., excl. var. laxa. Trich. elatiim, Pursh.) — 

 Swamps, New Jersey and soutliAvard. October. 



2. A. perennans, Tuekerm. (Tiux-Gkass.) C((/;hs s/e«rfo-, erect from 

 a decumbent base (l°-2° high) ; leaves flat (the upper 4'- C long, l"-2''wide) ; 

 panicle at length diffiisoti/ sprt-ading, pale green ; the branches short, divided and 

 fiower-bearing from or hfloLV the middle; lower palet awnless (rarely short-awned), 

 shorter than the unequal glumes ; the upper minute or obsolete. (Cornucopite 

 perennans, Walt. Trich. perennans. Ell. T. decumbens, Michx. T. scabrum, 

 Midd. Agr. andmala, Willd.) — Damp shaded places. July, Aug. — Spikelcts, 

 &c. as in No. 3, into which it seems to vary. 



3. A. Scabra, Willd. (IIair-Guass.) Culms very slender, erect (l°-2° 

 high) ; leaves short and narrow, tlic lower soon involute (the upper l'-3' long, 

 less than 1" wide) ; panicle i-cri/ loose and divergent, purplish, the long capdlary 

 branches fiower-bearing at and near the apex; lower palet awnless or occasionally 

 short-awned on the back, shorter than the rather unequal very acute glumes ; the 

 upper minute or obsolete ; root biennial ? (A. laxiflora, i?/c//arrf. A. Michauxii, 

 Trin. partly. Trich. laxiflorum, Michx. T. montanum, Torr.) — Exsiccated 

 places : common. June- Aug. — Remarkable for the long and divergent capil- 

 lary branches of the extremely loose panicle ; these are whorled, rough with 

 very minute bristles (under a lens), as also the keel of the glumes. Spikelcts 

 1 ' long. ^ A variety ? from about the White Mountains, &c. (var. montana, 

 Tuekerm.), has a more or less exserted awn, thus differing from the T. monta- 

 num, Torr. (A. ore(5phila, Trin.}, which is a dwarfed form, growing in tufts in 

 hollows of rocks, &c. 



4. A. canina, L. (Browv Bext-Grass.) Culms 8'- 2° high; root- 

 leaves involute-bristle-form, those of the culm flat and broader ; panicle loose ; 

 glumes slightly unequal, ovate-lanceolate, very acute ; prdet ersertlg awncd on 

 the back at or below the middle ; spikelcts brownish or purplisli, rarely pale or 

 greenish (1"-!^" long). — Meadows, sparingly naturalized eastward. A 

 mountain form with shorter and more spreading panicle (A. Pickeringii 



