GRASS FAMILY. 



6. Sporobolus brevifdlius (Nutt.) Scribn. 



(Fig. 346.) 



Agrostis hrevifolia Nutt. Gen. i: 44. 1818. 



bolus depauperatus vScribn. Bull. Torr. Club o- lot 

 I,, part. 1882. 

 Sporobolus brevifolius Scribn. Mem. Torr. Club, 5: 39. 1895. 



Smooth and glabrous, culms 6'-i8' tall, arising from a 

 horizontal rootstock, erect, slender, decumbent and 

 branching at the base. Sheaths much shorter than the 

 internodes ; ligule }"-\" long, acutish ; leaves %'-*' 

 long, involute-setaceous ; panicle j'-3' in length, usu- 

 ally about i^', linear, its branches %'-%' long, erect 

 orappressed; spikelets iX"-:^" long, the outer scales 

 unequal, less than half as long as the third, obtuse or 

 abruptly acute, scabrous on the keel and at the apex ; 

 third scale long-acuminate, sometimes cuspidate, scabrous 

 toward the apex. 



Anticosti Island and Maine to British Columbia, smith in 

 the mountains to New Mexico and California. Suniim t . 



53 



Short-leaved Rush -grass. 



7. Sporobolus cuspidatus iTorr.) Wood. 

 Prairie Rush-grass. (Fig. 347.) 



Vilfa cuspidala Torr.; Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. a: aj8. iftfx 

 Sporobolus cuspidatus Wood, Bot & PI. 385. 18701 

 Sporobolus brevifolius Scribn. Mem. Torr. Clut* 

 In part. 1894. 



Smooth and glabrous, culms i-2 tall, erect, sim- 

 ple or somewhat branched. Sheaths shorter than 

 the internodes ; ligule a mere ring, ^4 " long or ICM. 

 erose-truncate ; leaves i'-4' long, less than I " wide 

 at the base, erect, involute-setaceous, at least when 

 dry; panicle i%'~5' in length, slender, its branches 

 %'--l' long, appressed; spikelets i .'4 "- 1 ', " long, the 

 outer scales half to three-quarters as long, acuminate 

 or cuspidate, scabrous on the keel; third scale long- 

 acuminate and cuspidate, sparingly scabrous. 



In dry soil, Manitoba to the Northwest Territory, tooth 



to Missouri and Kansas. Ann ft 



8. Sporobolus Virginicus (L,.) Kunth. Seashore Ru- V|8.) 



Agrostis I'irginica L. Sp. PI. 63. 1753. 

 Sporobolus Virginicus Kunth. Rev. Gram, i: 67. 



1835- 



Culms 6 x -2 tall, erect or sometimes decumbent, 

 simple or branched at the base, smooth and glab- 

 rous. Sheaths numerous, short, overlapping and 

 crowded at the lower part of the culm, smooth, 

 glabrous or sometimes pilose on the margins and 

 at the throat; ligule a ring of short hairs; leaves 

 i'-S' long, 2" wide or less at the base, distichous, 

 acuminate into a long point, involute on the mar- 

 gins and at the apex, smooth beneath, scabrous 

 above or sometimes sparingly hairy; panicle \'-$' 

 long, 2 // -5 // thick, dense and spike-like, usually 

 exserted; spikelets i"-iX" long, the outer scales 

 about equal, acute, smooth and glabrous; third 

 scale smooth and glabrous, acute, slightly shorter 

 than the second and about equalling the obtuse 

 palet. 



On sandy shores, Virginia to Florida, west to Texas 

 and Mexico. Also in Cuba. Aug. -Sept. 



