GRASS FAMILY. 



Narrow Sieglingia. (Fig. 432.) 



2. Sieglingia stricta (Nutt.) Kuntze. 



U'indsoria stricta Nutt. Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. (II.) 



5: 147. 1833-37. 

 Triodia stricta Vasey, Spec. Rept. U. S. Dept. Agric 



63: 35- 1883. 

 Sieglingia stricta Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 789. 1891. 



Culms i}4-4 tall, erect, a little compressed, 

 simple, smooth and glabrous. Sheaths shorter 

 than the iuternodes; ligule a ring of short hairs; 

 leaves 6'-! long or more, flat, long-acuminate, 

 smooth beneath, scabrous above; spike-like pan- 

 icle 5'-i2' in length, the branches appressed, the 

 lower i / -2 / long; spikelets 4-io-flowered, 2 // ~3 // 

 long, the joints of the rachilla very short; lower 

 scales usually about two-thirds as long as the spike- 

 let, rarely extending beyond the flowering scales, 

 acute, glabrous; flowering scales ovate, the nerves 

 pilose for more than half their length, the middle 

 and often the lateral excurrent as short points. 



Moist soil, Mississippi to Kansas and Texas. 

 July-Oct. 



3. Sieglingia decumbens (L,.) Kuntze. Heather-grass. (Fig. 4. 



Festuca decumbens I,. Sp. PI. 75. 1753. 

 Triodia decumbens Beauv. Agrost. 76. 181*. 

 Sieglingia decumbens Kuntze, Rev. <i-n. PI. 789. 



" 



Culms 6'-i8' tall, erect, often decumbent at the 

 base, simple, smooth and glabrous. Sheath* 

 shorter than the internodes, villous at the sum tint, 

 ligule a ring of very short hairs; leaves smooth 

 beneath, usually scabrous above, >"-!#" wide, 

 the basal 3 / -6 / long, those of the culm i'-j' 

 long; panicle i'~2' long, contracted, the branches; 

 i' long or less, erei?t; spikelets 3-5-flowen 

 long, the joints of the rachilla very short; lower 

 scales equalling the spikelet, acute; flowering scales 

 broadly oval, ciliatc on the margins below, obtusely 

 3-toothed, with two tufts of hair on the callus. 



Introduced into Newfoundland 

 and Asia. Summer. 



Native of Europe 



4. Sieglingia purpurea (Walt.) Kuntze. Sand-grass. (1 



Aira purpurea Walt. Fl. Car. 78. 1788. 

 Tricuspis purpurea A. Gray, Man. 589. 1848. 

 Sieglingia purpurea Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 789. 



1891. 



Culms i-3 tall, erect, prostrate or decumbent, 

 smooth and glabrous or the nodes pubescent. Sheaths 

 shorter than the internodes, rough; ligule a ring of 

 short hairs; leaves ^'-2^' long, i" wide or less, 

 rigid, scabrous, sometimes sparsely ciliate; panicle 

 i'-3' in length, the branches rigid, finally widely 

 spreading, the lower ^'-i^' long; spikelets 2-5- 

 flowered, 2X // ~4 // long, the joints of the rachilla 

 half as long as the flowering scale; lower scales gla- 

 brous; flowering scales oblong, 2-lobed at the apex, 

 the lobes erose-truncate, the nerves strongly ciliate, 

 the middle one excurrent as a short point; palets 

 long-ciliate on the upper part of the keel. 



In sand, especially on sea beaches, Maine to Texas, 

 and along the Great Lakes. Also from Nebraska to New 

 Mexico. Plant acid. Aug.-Sept. 



