GRAMINE^. (grass FAMILY.) 613 



«els spreading in flower, afterwards erect. Spikclets 2^"-3" long. Awn of 

 the palet either obsolete or nianifost. 



Var. p6ndula, Gray. Panicle loose and more slender, the branches nearly 

 capillary and drooping in flower; pedicels very rough ; glumes and palets thin- 

 ner, the former less unequal ; spikclets 1^"- 2" long ; upper palet obtuse. (C. 

 pendula, Trin. C. latifoiia, Grisel>. C. expansa, Link. Blyttia suaveolens, 

 Fries.) — Deep damp woods, N. New England to Lake Superior and northward, 

 and on mountains southward.' — A slender variety of the last, as is shown by 

 intermediate si)ecimens, always monandrous. (Eu.) 



11. MUHLENBERGIA, Schreber. Drop-seed G. (PI. 8.) 



Spikelets 1-flowered, in contracted or rarely in open panicles. Glumes mostly 

 acute or bristle-pointed, persistent ; the lower rather smaller or minute. Flower 

 very short-stalked or sessile in the glumes ; the palets usually minutely bearded 

 at the base, herbaceous, deciduous with the enclosed grain, often equal ; the 

 lower 3-nerved, mucronate or awned at the apex. Stamens 3. (Dedicated to 

 the Rev. Dr. Ilmmj Muhlenberg, a distinguished American botanist of the early 

 part of this century. ) 



§ 1. MUHLENBERGIA proper. Panicles contracted or fjlomcrate, terminal 

 and axillary : perennials {in our species) with branchirirj rirjid culms, from scu/ij 

 creefiing rootstocks : leaves short and narroiv. 

 * Lower paid bartljj mucronate or sharp-poinled. (Sp. of Cinna, Knnth, Trin.) 



1. M. SObolifera, Trin. Culms ascending (l°-2° high), rarely branching; 

 the simple contracted jianicle very slender or filiform ; glumes barely pointed, almost 

 equal, one third shorter titan the equal palets ; lower ])alet abruptly short-mucronate. 

 (Agrostis sobolifera, il/«/(/. ) — Open rocky woods, Mass. to Michigan, Illinois, 

 and southward. Aug. — Spikelets less than 1" long. 



2. M. glomerkta, Trin. Culms upright (1° -3° high), sparingly branched 

 or simple ; panicle oblong-linear, contracted into an interrupted glomerate spike, long- 

 peduncled, the branches sessile ; glumes awned, nearly equal, and (with the 

 bristle-like awn) about twice the length of the imequal very acute palets. (Agr. 

 racemosa, Michx. A. setosa, Muhl. Polypogon racemosus, Nutt.) — Bogs: 

 common, especially northward. Aug. — Panicle 2' -3' long. 



3. M. Mexic^na, Trin. Culms ascending, much branched (2° -3° high); 

 panicles lateral and terminal, often included at the base, contracted, the branches 

 densely spiked-clustered, linear (green and purplish); glumes awnless, sharp-pointed, 

 unequal, the upper about the length of the very acute lower palet. (Agr. 

 Mexicana, L. A. lateriflora, Michx.) — Varies with more slender panicles (A. 

 filif(5rmis, j1/((A/.) — Low grounds : common. Aug. 



* * Lower paid bristle-awned from the tip : flowers short-pedicelled. 



4. M. Sylv^tiea, Torr. & Gr. Culms ascending, much branched and 

 diff"usely spreading (2° -4° long); contracted panicles densely manyflmvered; 

 glumes almost equal, brisllc-pointed, nearly as long as the Iowa- palet, which bears an 

 awn twice or thrice the length of the spikelet. (Agr. difl["usa, Muhl.) — Low or 

 rocky woods : common. Aug., Sept. — In aspect between No. 3 and No. 5. 



