Z(Z 



GRAMINE.E. Ayro^tcs. 



proper, with elongated acute ligule, and the panich; contracted after flowering ; known as Fiorin 

 Grass, White Bent, Creejiing Kent, Marsli Bent, or White Top; — var. vahjnris, with the lifjule 

 short and truncate, and the panicle alter lluwtring more or less sjjreading ; usually called Bed 

 Top, or Herd's-Grass (in some oi' the Kastern States), al.-,o Fine Bent or Fine Toji. This grass in 

 its ditterent forms makes up a considerahle part of the permanent pastures of the older States, 

 and Red Top is sometinu's sown for hay ; on account of its line close turf it is one of the Lest lawn 

 grasses, especially in light sandy soils. 



3. A. vei'ticillata, Vill. Culms 1 ov 2 feet lii^li, (lecuiiibeiit and taking' root 

 below, several cd' the lower nodes yeiiiculato : leaves short. Hat, 1 tt) 3 lines wide, 

 roughened, especially on the upper surface and margins; ligule 1 or 2 lines long, 

 truncate ; sheaths loose, shorter than the interuodes : ])anicle 2 to inches long or 

 more, dense, lobed and interrupted ; rays crowded, branched and liower-bearing 

 from the base : spikelets scarcely a line long, often purplish : glumes about ecpial, 

 acute, 1-nerved and roughened with minute pubescence, often open : Horet about 

 half the length of the glumes ; lower palet 5-nerved and minutely 5-toothed at its 

 obtuse apex, the nerves often indistinct below ; ujjper jjahjt nearly as long as the 

 lower. — Trin. Spec. Gram, i, t. 3G, and Agrost. ii. 112. I'il/a stolunifera, llook. & 

 Arn. Lot. IJeechey, IGl, probably. 



San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and other localities along the coast ; common in Texas, New 

 Mexico and Northern Mexico, and found also in Soulhein Kurojieand Asia. A widely distrihuted 

 species, sumelimes with a regidarly hjbed ])aiiicle nearly a foot long, hut more freiiuently with a 

 .shorter and much inlerrui)ted one, the lower part of the axis having naked spaets of an inch. 

 The jianicle is sometimes purplish. Found in moi>t plaees, Cbpecially near water-courses, and of 

 no agricultural value. 



++ ++ Panicle short, dense and spike-like. 



4. A. mucronata, Presl. Culms in tufts from an annual iibrousand pubescent 

 root, 3 to 9 inches high : leaves mostly Hat, slightly rigiil, erect, the uppermost 

 about an inch long, the lower longer, about a line wide anil slightly ronghened on 

 the margins ; ligule obtuse or truncate, decurrent ; sheaths longer than the internodes, 

 very loose, crowded at the base, smooth : panicle 1 to \\ inches long and 2 to 3 

 lines in diameter, at length e.xserted from the upper .sheath ; rays in crowded fasci- 

 cles, appressed, ami like the common axis scabnnis : si)ikelets rather exceeding a 

 line in length, on pedicels as long or shorter, very pale, occasionally purplish : 

 glumes very acute and mucronate, tlie lower barely longer, hispid on the back and 

 very minutely scabrous throughout : lloret nearly equalling the glumes, the minute 

 callus smooth ; lower palet minutely pubescent, obtuse with four minute teeth, the 

 raidnerve excurrent just below the apex as a short rather stout rough awn, barely 

 exserted beyond tiie i)oint!; of the glumes ; upper i)ah-t ne;irly half the length of the 

 lower, extremely delicate: stamens 3, linear-oblong. — Kel. Ihenk. i. 238; Trin. 

 Agrost. ii. lOG. 



Sea-coast, Mendocino County, Bolandcr. This agrees very well with I'resl's description of a 

 grass in Ihenke's collection, the locality for which is not given. Ap|)arently an annual, which 

 makes its growth of foliage in autumn', as the stems are thickly clothed below with withered 

 sheaths. The specimens liave the half-blanehed ajipearance often presented by .sea-side ]ilants. 

 The scabrous jmbescence of the glumes ami lower palet is so minute that it can only be seen 

 with a strong glass. No one except ]\Ir. Boluuder ajipcars to have met with this sj)ecies, and he 

 collected at the same time what is apparently a mueli WL-ather-worn awnless form of it, but it is 

 too imperfect for satisfactory determination. 



-1- -1- Uj^per palat i^resent, scarcelij longer tlian the ovary. 



5. A. Scouleri, Trin. Culm strict, a foot high or more, from a [>erennial root, 

 somewhat rigid: Itjaves 3 or 4 inches long, the uppermost I to l| inches, Hat or 

 involute, U lines wide, tapering to a long point, minutely roughened above; ligule 

 about a line" long, obtuse, often lacerate ; sheaths longer than the internodes, smooth : 

 panicle long-exserted, lanceolate, open and few-Howered, the lower rays over an inch 

 long and eijualling the intervening spaces, clustered, the longer few-Howered above 

 the middle : spikelets barely exceeiling a line, very pale or tinged with purple : 



