GR AMINES. (GRASS FAMILY.) 555 



23. I.EPTOCHL.OA, Beauv. (OXYDENIA, Nutt.) 



Spikelets 3 - many-flowered (the uppermost flower imperfect), loosely spiked 

 on one side of a long filiform rhachis : the spikes racemed. Glumes membra- 

 naceous, keeled, often awl-pointed, the upper one somewhat larger. Lower pa- 

 lea 3-nerved, with the lateral nerves next the ciliate or hairy margins awnless, or 

 bristle-awned at the entire or 2-toothed tip, larger than the upper. Stamens 2 or 

 3. Seed sometimes loose in the pericarp. Leaves flat. (Name composed of 

 Xeirros, slender, and x^oa, grass, from the long attenuated spikes. ) 



1. LEPTOCHLOA PROPER. Lower palea awnless or simply aimed. 



1. It. mucronata, Kunth. Sheaths hairy; spikes numerous (20-40, 

 2' -4' in length), in a long panicle-like raceme; spikelets small; glumes more 

 or less mucronate, nearly equalling or exceeding the 3-4 awnless flowers. 

 Fields, Virginia to Illinois, and southward. August. 



$2. DIPLACHNE, Beauv. Lower palea bristle-awned from the 2-toothed apex ; 

 the marginal nerves often excurrent into lateral teeth or points. 



2. It. fascicillaris. Smooth; leaves longer than the geniculate-decum- 

 bent branching culms ; the upper sheathing the base of the crowded panicle-like 

 raceme, which is composed of many strict spikes (3' - 5' long) ; spikelets slightly 

 pedicelled, 7-11-flowered, much longer than the lanceolate glumes; palea 

 hairy-margined towards the base ; the lower one with 2 small lateral teeth and a 

 short awn in the cleft of the apex. ; ! (Festuca fascicularis, Lam. F. polysta- 

 chya, Michx. Diplachne fascicularis, Beauv., Torr. ) Brackish meadows, 

 from Rhode Island southward along the coast, and from Illinois southward on 

 the Mississippi. Aug. Makes a direct transition to the next genus. 



24. TRICIJSPIS, Beauv. (URALEPIS & WiNDs6niA, Nutt.) 



Spikelets 3-12-flowcrcd, somewhat terete; the terminal flower abortive. 

 Glumes unequal. Rhachis of the spikelet bearded below each flower. Palea 

 membranaceous or somewhat chartaceous ; the lower much larger than the 2- 

 toothed upper one, convex, 2 3-toothed or cleft at the apex, conspicuously 

 hairy-bearded or villous on the 3 strpng nerves, of which the lateral are mar- 

 ginal or nearly so and usually excurrent, as is the mid-nerve especially, into a 

 short cusp or awn. Stamens 3. Stigmas dark purple, plumose. Grain ob- 

 long, mostly gibbous. Leaves taper-pointed : sheaths bearded at the throat. 

 Panicle simple or compound ; the spikelets often racemose, purplish. (Nama 

 from the Latin tricuspis, three-pointed, alluding to the lower palea.) 



I. TRICUSPIS PROPER. (Windsoria, Nutt.) Glumes shorter than the 

 crowded flowers : lower palea ^-cuspidate by the projection of the nerves, and usu- 

 ally with 2 intermediate membranaceous teeth ; the upper palea naked. 

 1. T. seslerioldes, Torr. (TALL RED-TOP.) Culm upright (3 -5 

 high), very smooth, as are the flat leaves ; panicle large and compound, the rigid 

 capillary branches spreading, naked below : spikelets very numerous, 5 - 7-flow- 

 ered, shining, purple (J'long); the flowers hairy toward the base. 1J. (Poa 

 flava, L. ! P. seslerioides, Mich*. P. quinquelida, Purali. Windsoria poso- 



