GKAJIINE.E. (grass FAMILY.) 651 



64. ERIAISTTHUS, Michx. Woolly Beard-Grass. (PI. U.) 



Spikelets spiked in ]iuirs uiioii each juiiit of the slender rliaehis ; one of them 

 sessile, the other pedieelled ; otherwise lioth alike ; with the lower flower neutral, 

 of one menibranaeeous palet; the upper perfeet, of 2 hyaline palets, whieh are 

 thinner and shorter than tlie nearly ecjual membranaceous glumes, the lower 

 palet awncd from the tip. Stamens I - 3. Grain free. — Tall and stout reetl-like 

 perennials, with the spikes crowded in a panicle, and clothed with long silky 

 hairs, especially in a tuft around the base of each spikelet (whence the name, 

 from epiov, wool, and nvdosijloicer). 



1. E. alopecuroides, Kll. Culm (4°-G0 high) woolly-bearded at the 

 joints; punide contmciid ; the ailkij Iiniis loiiytr than the sj)iL-ckts, shorter than the 

 awn ; stamens 2. — Wet pine barrens, from New Jersey and Illinois southward : 

 rare. Sept., Oct. 



2. E. brevibarbis, Michx. Culm (2° -5° high), somewhat bearded at 

 the uj>per joints ; punic/e rather open; silky hairs shorter than the spikelets. — 

 Low grounds, Virginia and southward. 



65. ANDROPOGON, L. Beard-Grass. (PI. U.) 



Spikelets in p;iirs upon each j(jiut of the slender rhachis, spiked or racemcd; 

 one of them pedieelled and sterile, often a mere vestige; the other sessile, with 

 the lower flower neutral and of a single palet ; the upper perfect and fertile, of 2 

 thin and hyaline palets shorter than the herbaceous or chartaceous glumes, the 

 lower awned from the tip. Stamens 1-3. Grain free. — Coarse, mostly rigid 

 perennials, mostly in sterile or sandy soil ; with lateral or terminal spikes com- 

 monly-clustered or digitate; the rhachis hairy or plumose-bearded, and often 

 the sterile or staminate flowers also (whence the name, composed of di'ijp, av8pos, 

 man, and TTcoywi/, Ixard). 

 * Sjiikcs diijitate, thick-inh, short -bearded, the sterile spikelet staminate: stamens 3. 



1. A. furcatUS, Muhl. Tall, 3° -4° high, rigid, the naked summit of the 

 culm (and usually some lateral branches) terminated by 2 - 5 rigid spikes ; spike- 

 lets approximated, apprcssed ; hairs at the base of the fertile spikelet, on the 

 rhachis and on the stout pedicel of the awnless staminate spikelet short and 

 rather sparse; awn of fertile flower long and bent; leaves flat, roughish, the 

 lower ones long. — Common in dry sterile soil. Aug. - Oct. 



* * Spikes with slender often zigzag rhachis, silki/-riUoHS, 



■*- Single and scattered along the. branches, with the silhg hairs shorter than thefiowirs : 



sterile spikelet conspicuous but most!// neutral; thefirtile triandrous. 



2. A. seoparius, Michx. Culms slender (l°-3° high), with numerous 

 paniculate blanches; lower sheaths and narrow leaves hairy; spikes slender, 

 scattered, mostly peduncled (l'-2' long), very loose, often purplish, silky with 

 lax dull-white hairs ; sterile S])ikelet awn-pointed or awnless ; the fertile about 

 half the length of its twisted or bent awn. — Dry ground. July - Sept. 



•*- -1- In pairs or clustered ; the coju'ous sofi-siikg hairs much longer than the flowers: 

 sterile spikelet a small neutral rudiment (in No. 3), or altogether leant ing on the 

 summit of the veri/ plunmse-hairi/ jxdicel : fertile, flower monandrous, its awn 

 capilluri/ : leaves narrow, the. lower or their sheaths often rather hairj. 



