TaiTictiM. GRAMINEJE. 475 



Fields and cultivated grounds : common. Fl. June - August. The common variety here 

 described, is probably an introduced plant ; but there are other forms of this grass, found in 

 Canada and the Northwestern States, that seem to be indigenous. 



2. Triticum caninum, Linn. Fibrous-rooted Wheat-grass. 



Spike distichous ; spikelets about 5-flowered ; glumes lanceolate, 3 - 5-nerved, acute ; 

 lower palea awned ; root fibrous. — Linn. sp. 1. p. 86; Engl. hot. t. 1372; Muhl. gram. 

 p. 196 ; Kunth, enum. 1. p. 442. Agropyrom caninum, Roem. <^ Schult. syst. 2. p. 756 ; 

 Ton: fl. I. p. 136. 



Near Penn-Yan {Dr. Sartwell). I have seen no specimen of the plant from this State. 

 There can scarcely be a doubt of its being an introduced species. It is best distinguished 

 from the preceding, by its fibrous root. 



42. ELYMUS. Linn.; Kunth, enum. 1. p. 449, , , LYME-grass. 



[£2^m<u was a name given by the Greeks to certain species of Panic nu, because growing abundantly about Elyma; 



afterwards it was applied to the present genus.] 



AsPRELLi, Cavan. ; Gtmnostachum, Schreb. 



Spikelets 2 - 4 at each joint of the rachis, 2 - 7-flowered, the upper flower imperfect. Glumes 

 2, both of them situated on one side of the spikelet (sometimes nearly wanting or rudi- 

 mentary). Paleae 2 ; the lower one usually awned. — Perennial (or sometimes annual) 

 grasses, nearly allied to Hoedeum. 



1. Elymus Virginicus, Linn. Virginian Lyme-grass. Wild Rye. 



Spike erect, dense ; spikelets in pairs, 2 - 3-flowered, the flowers nearly smooth ; glumes 

 lanceolate, strongly nerved, as long as the spikelet. — Linn. sp. 1. p. 83; Michx. fl. 1. 

 p. 65 ; Pursh, fl. I. p. 89 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 180. f. 12. /. 2 ; Muhl. gram. p. 176 ; Bigel. fl. 

 Bost. p. 46 ; Torr. fl. \.p. 137 ; Beck. hot. p. 415 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 83. 



Perennial. Culm 2-4 feet high, terete, erect. Leaves broadly linear, bright green, rough ; 

 sheaths smooth or pubescent : ligule very short. Spike rigidly erect, thick. Glumes colla- 

 teral, thickened and somewhat cartilaginous, about 5-nerved externally, rough, tapering at the 

 summit to a short bristle. Lower palea oblong-lanceolate, obscurely nerved, abruptly ending 

 in a slender bristle which is usually longer than the valve. Stamens 3. Ovary densely 

 bearded at the summit. 



Banks of rivers : frequent along the lower part of the Hudson. Fl. July - August. Easily 

 distinguished from all the following species, by its rigid spike and broad thick glumes. 



60* 



