GRASS FAMILY. 



3- Avena fatua I,. Wild Oat. (Fig. 395.) 



Avena fatua L,. Sp. PI. 80. 1753. 



Culms i- 4 tall, erect, simple, stout, smooth and 

 glabrous. Sheaths smooth, or cabtom at the win 

 sonu-tinies sparingly hirsute, the lower often orabp- 

 ping; ligule i"- 2 " long; leave* 3' ^ . % j^. 



panicle open, 4' -12" in length, the branchc* asrendfay; 

 spikelets 2-4-flowered, drooping; <uu-r .1! 

 length, smooth, enclosing tin- ! flower- 



ing scales G"-y" long, with I *Uff brown 



hairs at the bast-, puU-r.-m with long rigid brovn 

 hairs, bearing a long U-nt and twisted awn. 



Dakota and Minnesota- 

 Naturalized from Kwopr 



In Acids and \\.i-i. 

 abundant <>n tin- Pacific GMM 

 or Asia. July-Sept 



45. ARRHENATHERUM Beauv. Agrost. 55. />/. //. /. ,-. 1812. 



Tall perennial grasses, with flat leaves and contracted or open panicle*. Spikeleta 7 -flow - 

 1; lower flower staminate, upper perfect; rachilla extended U-yond the flower*. S< alr4, 

 2 lower empty, thin-membranous, keeled, very acute or awn-jmintt-d, unequal. prrustent, 



jwering scales rigid, 5~7-nerved, deciduous, the first lH.-aring a l<ni{ bi-nt and twisted dorMl 

 i, inserted below the middle, the second unawnt-d; pak-t hyalim-. Stamen* 5. 



^les short, distinct. Stigmas plumose. Grain ovoid, free. (' ij to the ; 



the staminate scale.] 

 Six species, natives of the Old World. 



Arrhenatherum elatius (L.) Beauv. 

 Oat-grass. (Fig. 396.) 



'ia elatior L,. Sp. PI. 79. 1753. 

 Arrhenaiherum avenaceum Beauv. Agrost. 132. Nairn- 



only. 1812. 

 Arrhenatherum elalius Beauv.; M. & K. Deutsch. I'l. i: 



546. 1823. 



Glabrous, culms 2-4 tall, erect, simple. Lower 

 sheaths longer than the internodes; ligule \" long; 

 leaves 2 / ^ / -i2 / long, i // -4 // wide, scabrous; panicle 4'- 

 12' in length, contracted, the branches erect, the lower 

 i / -2 / long; empty scales finely roughened, the second 

 4" long, the first shorter; flowering scales about 4" long. 



In fields and waste places, Maine and Ontario to Geor- 

 gia and Tennessee. Also on the Pacific Coast. Naturalized 

 frutn Europe. June-Aug. 



46. DANTHONIA DC. Fl. France, 3: V- "805. 



Mostly perennial grasses, with flat or convolute k-avi-s and COOl "pen pn< 



Spikelets 3-many-flowered, the flowers all perfect, or tin- upj^-r st.mr 

 cent, extending beyond the flowers. Scales 5-many. the- 2 li. \vi-r i inpty. keele 

 equal, persistent, generally extending beyond the upi>crnii*t ll.m' 

 rounded on the back, 2-toothed, deciduous, the- awn ari-ing fnun IK-IWI-. n tlu- .. 

 teeth, flat and twisted at base, bent; palet hyaline. 2-ki-vU-d iu-:ir the margin 

 2-toothed. Stamens 3. Styles distinct. Stigmas plumose. Grain 

 [Name in honor of Etienne Danthoine, a Marseilles *>tani-t ..i t! 



A genus of about 100 species, widely distributed in warm and temperate region*. < 

 South Africa. 

 Empty scales K' long or less; sheaths glabrous or sometimes sparingly Mitel 



Teeth of the flowering scale about %" long, acuU-; culm leaves sh />^' 



Teeth of the flowering scale i"-i Ji" long, awned; culm leaves elongated; panic' 

 Empty scales more than 1 A' long; sheaths usually villous. 



