646 GEAMINE^E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



ing glume and palet somewhat equal, acute, about the length of the nearly equal 

 lower glumes, only J longer than the oval grain. (Vilfa vaginaeflora, Torr.) 

 Barren and sandy dry fields ; common, especially southward. Sept. 



3. S. CUSpid&tus, Torr. Erect culms and appressed leaves more slen- 

 der than in the preceding ; panicle exserted, very simple and narrow ; spike- 

 lets smaller, the lower glumes acuminate, little shorter than the cuspidate upper 

 one. (Vilfa cuspidata, Torr.) Maine (on the St. John's River, G. L. Good- 

 ale) ; also Iowa, Minn., and common westward. 



4. S. depauperatus, Vasey. Resembling n. 3, but the culms decum- 

 bent at base and matted, the leaves short and usually widely spreading, and 

 the lower glumes barely acute, not half the length of the upper one. W. 

 Minn, to Kan., and southwestward. 



5. S. Virginicus, Kunth. Culms tufted, slender (5-12' long), often 

 procumbent, branched ; leaves convolute, rigid ; palets rather shorter than the 

 nearly equal acute glumes. (Vilfa Virginica, Beauv.) Sandy seashore, Vir- 

 ginia (Clayton) and southward, Spikelets much smaller and more numerous? 

 than in the others. 



6. S. minor, Vasey. Culms tufted, very slender, geniculate and ascend- 

 ing, simple, 1 high; leaves short and narrow ; peduncles little exserted from 

 the sheaths; spikelets (l^--2 // long) in a very narrow simple compressed pan- 

 icle ( 1 - 2' long), not crowded ; glumes and palet nearly equal, acute or some 

 what acuminate. Va. to M C., Tenn. and Tex. 



S. INDICUS, R. Br. Culms stout, erect, 2-3 high; leaves elongated, at- 

 tenuate; panicle very narrow, 6-18' long, the densely crowded spikelets \" 

 long. On ballast, and naturalized southward. (From Trop. Am.) 



# # Panicle pyramidal, open; glumes very unequal; grain globose, utricular f 



perennials. 



7. S. jlinceus, Kunth. Leaves involute, narrow, rigid, the lowest elon- 

 gated; culm (1-2 high) naked above, bearing a narrow loose panicle; 

 empty glumes ovate, rather obtuse, the lower one half as long as, the upper 

 equalling, the nearly equal flowering glume and palet. Dry soil, Penn. to 

 Wise, and Minn., and (chiefly) south to Fla. Aug. Spikelets 1 - 2" long, 

 shining. 



8. S. heter61epis, Gray. Leaves involute-thread : form, rigid, the lowest as 

 long as the culm (1-2) which is naked above; panicle very loose; empty 

 glumes very unequal; the lower awl-shaped (or bristle-pointed from a broad 

 base) and somewhat shorter, the upper ovate-oblong and taper-pointed and longer, 

 than the equal flowering glume and palet. Dry soil, Conn, and N. Y. to Minn., 

 Neb., and Mo. Aug. Plant exhaling an unpleasant scent (Sullivant), stouter 

 than the last, the spikelets thrice larger. Utricle 1" in diameter, shining, 

 thick and coriaceous ! 



9. S. cryptndrus, Gray. (PI. 7, fig. 1 -3.) Culm 2-3 high ; leaves 

 flat , pale (2" wide) ; the pyramidal lead-colored panicle bursting from the up- 

 per sheath which usually encloses its base, its spreading branches hairy in the 

 axils; spikelets Y' long; upper empty glume lanceolate, rather acute, twice the 

 length of the lower one, as long as the nearly equal flowering glume and palet; 

 sheaths strongly bearded at the throat. Sandy shores, coast of New Eng. 

 and of the Great Lakes, Minn, to Kan., and westward. Aug., Sept. 



