300 GRAMINE.E. Fhragmites. 



1. P. communis, Trin. A tall perennial, with extensively creeping jointed 

 rootstucks, and stunt culms 5 to 12 feet high, clothed to the iianicle with ample 

 leaves, which are glaucous beneath, rough on the margins and 1 or 2 inches wide : 

 panicle 10 to KS inches long, loose and nodding, usually jjurple ; spikelets G to t) 

 lines long, the up[)t;r joint of the rhachis bearing a rudimentary palet or a mere 

 ])oint : the very narn)\v tip of the lower palet sometimes twistetl : the silky hairs of 

 the rhachis lengthen as the seed ripens, becoming very conspicuous. — Fund. Agrost. 

 IS!; Reichenb. Icon. Fl. Germ. t. 185; Nees, Clen. t. 37. Arundo Phnujmites, 

 Linn. 



San Francisco and elsewhere common ; extends tliroiigliout Nortli America. The common 

 Reed is found in nearly every i)art ol' tlie world ; growing in wet jjlaces, esiiecially along the mar- 

 gins of rivers, its creeping rootstocks are of service in preventing tlie washing away of the banks. 

 Its young shoots are eaten by cattle, and its mature stems are useful for many purposes, espe- 

 cially as thatching material, it being said to outlast all others. From its stately habit, it is 

 often ])lanted for ornament, as are the closely related Arundo Donax and Gijnerinm argcntcum, 

 the "Pampas-Grass." 



40. EREMOCHLOE, Watson. De.seut-Guass. 

 Panicle short and contracted, simple or nearly so. Spikelets l-Howered, the lower 

 two florets neutral, the uppermost reduced to a stipitate villous triple awn. Glumes 

 membranous, keeled, 1 -nerved, acute, glabrous, rather exceeding the flowers, the 

 lower a little the shortcir. Palets membranous, the lower 2-cleft to the middle, 

 3-nerved, the strongly villous nerves produced as awns, the middle one longest and 

 between the lobes, which in the neutral florets are obtuse and in the perfect floret 

 attenuate. Upper palet shorter, bicarinate, 2-nerved, 2-lobed or 2-toothed at the 

 apex, imperfectly developed in the neutral florets. Stamens 2. Styles 2, the elon- 

 gated stigmas very minutely hairy. (Jrnin free, sessile, obovatc, smooth. — 13ot. 

 King Expcd. 382, t. 40. 



Low biennial desert grasses with fibrous roots, the sheaths bearded at the throat and often cili- 

 ate, the leaves .short, rigid, revolute-setaceons, striate and pungent. Only two sjiecics are tlius 

 far known, one of which, first discovered in Nevada, seems likely to occur within the State. 

 The second species (E. Biijdocii, Watson) is conlined to the liio Grande region. 



1. E. Kingii, Watson, 1. c. Very low and tufted, 1 to 3 inches high, nearly gla- 

 brous ; sheaths ciliate, dilated ; leaves 6 to 9 lines long : panicle short, spicate, 

 usually sheathed at base ; spikelets few : glumes 2>\ lines long, acununate, purplish : 

 lower jialet of the nearly sessile florets 2 lines long, very villous at base, lobes 

 rounded at the apex, lateral nerves marginal and but very shortly produced : upper 

 palets one-half shorter, oblanceolate, acutely 2-lobed at the apex, the nerves obscure, 

 marginal, and slightly ciliate ; the palet of the lower florets the larger : lower palet 

 of the perfect floret similar, but naked at base, the lateral lobes narrower and attenu- 

 ate upward, the middle awn somewhat margined above the sinus ; upper palet ovate, 

 2-lobed at the apex, the lobes rounded and irregularly short-serrate. 



Nevada, on dry barren foot-hills of Trinity Mountains, Watson, Dr. Torrcy. This has so much 

 the aspect of Tricusjiis puldu/ln. Ton:, of Arii^ona and New Mexico, that it may be passed over 

 for that .species in localities where it grows. 



41. TRICUSPIS, Beauv. 

 Panicle compound, often reduced to a simple few-flowered raceme. Spikelets 

 3-12-flowered, the uppermost floret imperfect or abortive; florets separated by the 

 short joints of the rhachis, Avhich are bearded throughout or just below the florets. 

 Glumes membranous, 1 -nerved. Palets mendmmous, the lower convex, 2-(li It, 

 3-nerved, conspicuously bearded on the nerves, the lateral nerves marginal or nearly 



