GRASS FAMILY. 



175 



47. 



CAPRIOLA Adans. Fam. PI. 2: 31. 1763. 



[CvxODOx Rich.; Pers. Syn. 1:85. 1805.] 

 Perennial grasses with short flat leaves and spicate inflorescence, the spikes digitate. 

 -Spikelets i-flowered, secund. Scales 3; the 2 lower empty, keeled; tl<>u< ring scale broadar 

 membranous, compressed; palet a little shorter than the seal. J keeled. Stame 



,. Styles distinct. Stigmas short, plumose. Grain free. [Name mediaeval Latin for the 

 did goat, that feeds on this grass in waste rocky places.] 



Four known species, of which three are Australian, the following widely distributed. 



i. Capriola Dactylon . I,. , Kuntze. 



Bermuda-grass. Scutch-gram 



Dog's-tooth Grass. ( Fig. 400. ) 



Panicum Dactylon I.. Sp. PI. 58. 173^. 

 Qmodon Dactylon I'. 15. 1805. 



Capriola Dactylon Kuntze, R-\ -4. 1891. 



Culms 4'-i2' tall, erect, from long creeping and 

 branching stolons, smooth and glabrous. a **^kff 

 glabrous or somewhat hairy, crowded at the bases 

 of the culms and along the stolons; ligule pilose; 

 leaves i / -2 / long, i"-2" wide, flat, rigid, smooth 

 beneath, scabrous above; spikes 4-5, #'-2' >n 

 length, digitate; rachis flat; spikelets i" long; outer 

 scales hispid on the keel, narrow, the first shorter 

 than the second, about two-thirds as long as the 

 broad and strongly compressed third one. 



In fields and waste places, southern New \ 

 Pennsylvania and Tennessee, south to Florida and 

 Texas. Abundant in the South. . ated 



for pasture. Naturalized from Kurope. July Sept. 



48. SPARTINA Schreb. Gen. 43. 1789. 



Perennial glabrous grasses, with long horizontal rootstocks, flat or involute leaves, and an 



iflorescence of one-sided spreading or erect alternate spikes. Spikelets i -flowered, narrow, 



ieciduous, borne in two rows on the rachis, articulated with the very short pedicels below 



ic scales. Scales 3; the 2 outer empty, keeled, very unequal; the third subtending a perfect 



flower, keeled, equalling or shorter than the second; palet often longer than its scale, 2- 



nerved. Stamens 3. Styles filiform, elongated. Stigmas filiform, papillose or shortly 



plumose. Grain free. [Greek, referring to the cord-like leaves of some species.] 



About 7 species, widely distributed in saline soil, a few in fresh-water marshes. 

 First scale awn -pointed, equalling the third; second long-awned. 

 First scale acute, shorter than the third, usually one-half as long. 

 First scale strongly scabrous-hispid on the keel. 

 Leaves M' wide or more, flat. 

 Leaves %' wide or less. 



Spikes ascending or erect; leaves narrow, involute; coast plant. 

 Spikes appressed; leaves usually flat at the base; western species. 

 First scale smooth on the keel or occasionally slightly scabrous. 



i. Spartina cynosuroides (L. ) Willd. 

 Tall Marsh-grass. (Fig. 401.) 



Dactylis cynosuroides L. Sp. PI. 71. 1753. 



.Spartina cynosuroides Willd. Enum. 80. 1809. 



Culms 2-6 tall, erect, simple, smooth. Sheaths 

 long, overlapping, those at the base of the culm 

 crowded; ligule a ring of hairs; leaves i long or more, 



.Z"~l' f wide, scabrous on the margins, becoming in- 

 volute in drying, attenuate into a long slender tip; 

 spikes 5-30, 2'-5' long, often on peduncles ^ / -i / in 

 length, ascending or erect; rachis rough on the mar- 



.gins; spikelets much imbricated, 6"-7" long; outer 

 scales awn-pointed or awned, strongly hispid-scabrous 

 on the keel; third scale as long as the first, the sca- 

 brous midrib terminating just below the emarginate or 

 2-toothed apex; palet sometimes exceeding the scale. 



In swamps and streams of fresh or brackish wat< 

 Scotia to Assiniboia, New Jersey and Texas. Sometimes 



-.glaucous. Called also Fresh-water Cord-grass. Aug. -Oct. 



12 



i. S. 



3. S. 



