198 



GRAMINEAE. 

 3. Uniola paniculata I,. Sea Oats. (Fig. 453.) 



Uniola paniculata L,. Sp. PI. 71. 1753. 



Glabrous thoroughout, culms 3-8 tall r 

 erect, simple, smooth. Sheaths often longer 

 than the internodes; ligule a ring of hairs 

 about YZ" long; leaves i long or more, about 

 %' wide, involute when dry, attenuate into a 

 long slender tip; panicle g'-i in length or 

 more, the branches erect or ascending, strict, 

 rigid, the lower 2%'-^' long; spikelets many- 

 flowered, short-pedicelled, ovate to oval when 

 mature, ^ / -i / long; lower scales much shorter 

 than the flowering ones, which are 4 // -5 // 

 long and scabrous on the keels; stamens 3. 



In sands of the seacoast, Virginia to Florida 

 and west to Texas. Also in the West Indies and 

 South America. Spikelets persistent into the 

 winter. Oct. -Nov. 



73. DISTICHLIS Raf. Journ. Phys. 89: 104. 1819. 



Dioecious grasses, with rigid culms creeping or decumbent at the base, flat or convo- 

 lute leaves and spike-like paniculate inflorescence. Spikelets flattened, more numerous on 

 the staminate plants than on the pistillate, 6-i6-flowered; rachilla continuous in the stam- 

 inate spikelets, articulated in the pistillate. Two lower scales empty, narrow, keeled, acute, 

 shorter than the flowering ones; flowering scales broader, many-nerved, acute, rigid; palets 

 2-keeled. Stamens 3. Styles thickened at the base, rather long, distinct. Stigmas 

 long-plumose. Grain free, enclosed in the scale and palet. [Greek, signifying two-ranked, 

 probably in reference to the spikelets.] 



Four known species, natives of America, inhabiting the sea coast or alkaline soil; one of them 

 is also found in Australia. 



i. Distichlis spicata (L,. ) Greene. Marsh Spike-grass. (Fig. 454.) 



Uniola spicata L. Sp. PI. 71. 1753. 

 Distichhs maritima Raf. Journ. Phys. 89: 104. 1819. 

 Uniola stricta Torr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. i: 155. 1824. 

 Distichlis spicata Greene, Bull. Cal. Acad. 2: 415. 



1887. 



Distichlis spicata var. stricta Scribn. Mem. Torr. 

 Club, 5: 51. 1894. 



Glabrous throughout, culms 3'-2 tall, erect 

 from a horizontal rootstock, or often decumbent at 

 the base. Sheaths overlapping and often crowded; 

 ligule a ring of very short hairs; leaves >^ / -6 / long, 

 i"_ 2 // wide, flat or involute; panicle dense and 

 spike-like, ^'-z,^' in length, the branches i' 

 long or less, erect; spikelets 6-i6-flowered, 4 // -9 // 

 long, pale green; empty scales acute, the first 1-3- 

 nerved, two-thirds as long as the 3~5-nerved 

 second one; flowering scales \W-2%" long, 

 acute or acuminate. 



On salt iin-adows along the Atlantic coast from 

 Maine to Florida, in saline soil throughout the inte- 

 rior, and on the Pacific coast north to British Columbia. 

 The main figure is that of the staminate plant. June- 

 Aug. 



