226 



GRAMINEAE 



i. Lepturus filiformis (Roth) Trin. 

 Slender Hardgrass. (Fig. 523.) 



Rottboellia filiformis Roth, Catal. i: 21. 1797. 



Lepturus filiformis Trin. Fund. Agrost. 123. 

 1820. 



Culms $ f -i2' long, decumbent, much 

 branched, smooth and glabrous. Sheaths 

 loose, shorter than the internodes; ligule %" 

 long, auriculate; leaves #'-2' long, i" wide 

 or less, usually involute, smooth beneath, 

 rough above; spikes i / -f> / in length, slender, 

 strict or curved; spikelets 2 // -2^ // long; 

 empty scales acute; flowering scales about 

 i^'Mong, i-nerved. 



In waste places, southern Pennsylvania to 

 Virginia, near or along" the coast. Adventive 

 from Europe. Summer. 



88. AGROPYRON J. Gaertn. Nov. Comm. Petrop. 14: Part i, 539. 1770. 



Annual or perennial grasses, with flat or involute leaves and terminal spikes. Spikelets 

 3-many-flowered, sessile, single and alternate at each notch of the usually continuous rachis, 

 the side of the spikelet turned toward the rachis. Two lower scales empty; flowering scales 

 rigid, rounded on the back, 5-7-nerved, usually acute or awned at the apex; palets 2-keeled, 

 the keels often ciliate. Stamens 3. Styles very short, distinct. Stigmas plumose. Grain 

 pubescent at the apex, usually adherent to the palet. [Greek, referring to the growth of 

 these grasses in wheat fields.] 



About 32 species, in all temperate regions. Besides the following, some 5 others occur in the 

 western parts of North America. 



Plants with running rootstocks. 

 Flowering scales glabrous. 

 Flowering scales villous. 

 Plants without running rootstocks. 



Flowering scale terminating in an awn shorter than its body. 



Spikes short and broad; empty scales broad, 5-7-nerved. 3. A. violaceum. 



Spikes long and slender; empty scales narrow, 3-5-nerved. 4. A. tenerum. 



Flowering scale terminating in an awn longer than its body. 5. A. caninum. 



i. Agropyron repens (L.) Beauv. Couch- 

 grass. Quitch-grass. (Fig. 524.) 



Triticum repens L. Sp. PI. 86. 1753. 

 Agropyron repens Beauv. Agrost. 146. 1812. 



Culms i-4 tall, from a long jointed running root- 

 stock. Sheaths usually shorter than the internodes, 

 smooth and glabrous; ligule very short; leaves 3'-l2' 

 long, i // -5 // wide, smooth beneath, rough above; 

 spike 2 / -8 / in length, strict; spikelets 3-7-flowered; 

 empty scales strongly 5-7-nerved, usually acute or 

 awn-pointed, sometimes obtuse; flowering scales 

 smooth and glabrous, acute or short-awned at the 

 apex. 



In fields and waste places, almost throughout North 

 America except the extreme north. Naturalized from 

 Europe and often a troublesome weed. Very variable. 

 Native also of Asia. July-Sept. 



Agropyron rfcpens glaucum (Desf.)Scribn. Mem. Torr. Club, 5: 57. 1894. 

 Triticum glaticum Desf. Tabl. Bot. Mus. 16. 1804. 

 Agropyrum glaucum R. & S. Syst. 2: 752. 1817. 



larger and stouter, pale green or glaucous; spikelets $-i5-flowered, the empty scales' long- 

 acuminate. Minnesota and Manitoba to Alaska, south to Missouri, Texas and Arizona. Reported 



1. A. repens. 



2. A. dasystachyum. 



. , 



from New England. Probably a distinct species. 



