GRASS FAMILY. 



6. Aristida lanata Poir. Woolly Aristida. (Fig. 302.) 



135 



Aristida lanata Poir. in I,am. Encycl. Suppl. 1:453. 



1810. 

 Arislida lanosa Muhl. Gram. 174. 1817. 



Culms 2-4 tall, erect, simple, smooth and glab- 

 rous. Sheaths longer than the internodes, 

 crowded at the base of the culm, woolly; ligule 

 very short, minutely ciliate; leaves i long or 

 more, about 2 /r wide, attenuate into a long 

 der point, smooth beneath, scabrous above; 



nicle i-2 long, strict, branches erect or occa- 



onally somewhat spreading ; outer scales of the 

 spikelet awn-pointed, the first $"-"]" long, cxceed- 



g the second; third scale slightly shorter than 



e second, middle awn 8 // -i2 // long, usually hori- 

 zontal, the lateral awns about two-thirds as long, 

 erect or divergent. 



Pry sandy soil, Delaware to Florida, west to Texas. 

 Lug.-Sept. 



7. Aristida oligantha Michx. Few-flowered Aristida. 'Fig. 303.) 



Aristida oligantha Michx. Kl. Bor. Am. i. 41. i&oj. 



Glabrous, culms i-2 tall, erect, slender, dicbot- 

 omously branched, smooth or rough ish. Sheath* 

 exceeding the internodes, loose ; ligule very bort, 

 minutely ciliate ; leaves \'-V lon^ 

 smooth, the larger ones attenuate into a long slen- 

 der point ; spikelets few, borne in a lax spike like 

 raceme or panicle ; first scale 5-nerved. occasion- 

 ally 7-nerved at base, acuminate or short -awned, 

 equalling or somewhat shorter than the *ecood. 

 which bears an awn 2"-4" long; third scale shorter 

 than the first, awns divergent or spreading, the 

 middle one i^'-2#' long, the lateral somewhat 

 shorter. 



Dry soil. New Jersey and MarvMml t.. N t>nuka, 

 south to Louisiana and Texas. .' 



8. Aristida purpurea Xutt. Purple Aristida. (Fig. 304.) 



Aristida purpurea Nutt. Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. (II.) 

 5: 145- 1833-37- 



Glabrous, culms 8'-iS' tall, erect, slender, sim- 

 ple, smooth or rough. Sheaths xxsually shorter 

 than the internodes, smooth or slightly scabrous; 

 %ule short, ciliate; leaves i l / z '-4' long, %" wide, 

 involute, at least when dry, generally scabrous ; 

 spikelets few in spike-like racemes or panicles 

 which are 4 / -8 / in length; first scale one-nerved or 

 sometimes with an obscure additional nerve on 

 each side; second scale -]"-<)" long, about twice as 

 long as the first; third scale equalling or a little 

 exceeding the first, awns divergent, the middle one 

 l '-3&' long, the lateral ones a little shorter or 

 of the same length. 



Dry soil, Minnesota to Idaho and British Columbia. 

 south to Kansas, Texas and Arizona. Plant purple or 



purplish. July-Sept. 



