578 GRAMINE^E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



neutral flower, which exceeds the perfect one. (P. agrostidiforme, Lam. f P. 

 multiflorum, Poir.) "Wet meadows, E. Massachusetts to Virginia, Illinois, 

 and southward. Aug. 



w- *+ Neutral flower consisting of a single palea. 



6. P. jH'Ol sfei'liiai, Lam. Smooth throughout ; culms thickened, succulent, 

 branched and geniculate, ascending from a procumbent base ; sheaths flattened ; 

 ligule ciliate ; panicles terminal and lateral, compound, pyramidal, the slender 

 primary branches at length spreading ; spikelets oppressed, lance-oval, acute (pale 

 green), lower glume broad, J to the length of the upper; neutral flower little 

 longer than the perfect one. (j) Brackish marshes and meadows ; common 

 along the coast from Massachusetts southward : also along the Ohio and Mis- 

 sissippi. Aug. 



7. P. capillare, L. Culm upright, often branched at the base and form- 

 ing a tuft; leaves (large) and especially the flattened sheaths very hirsute; panicle 

 pyramidal, capillary, compound and very loose (6' -12' long), the slender straight 

 branches somewhat reflexed when old ; spikelets scattered on long pedicels, oblong- 

 ovoid and pointed; lower glume half the length of the neutral palea, which is 

 longer than the ovoid-oblong obtuse perfect flower. @ Sandy soil and cultivated 

 fields everywhere. Aug., Sept. 



8. P. autumn ale, Bosc ! Culm ascending, very slender (1 high), branch- 

 ing below ; leaves small (!' - 2' long, linear-lanceolate) and upper sheaths glabrous ; 

 panicle as in depauperate states of the last, but glabrous, except the strongly 

 bearded main axils, its capillary much elongated divisions mostly simple and 

 bearing solitary spindle-shaped spikelets ; lower glume minute ; perfect flower nar- 

 rowly oblong or lance-oblong, acute, nearly equalling the lance-oblong obtusish up- 

 per glume and the neutral palea. 1J. ? (P. dichotomiflorum, Michx. ?) Sand- 

 hills, Mason County, Illinois (Mead), and southward. This well-marked spe- 

 cies is either rare, or has been generally overlooked. 



*- - Sterile flower staminate, of 2 palece, ; lower glume nearly equalling it : spikelets 

 large (2"-2" long). 



9. P. virgii turn, L. Very smooth; culms upright (3 -5 high) ; leaves 

 very long, flat; branches of the compound loose and large panicle (9' -2 long) at 

 length spreading or drooping; spikeleta scattered, oval, pointed: glumes and 

 sterile paleae pointed, usually purplish. U Moist sandy soil; common, espe- 

 cially southward. ..Aug. 



10. P. amarum, Ell. Nearly smooth, rigid ; culms (l high) sheathed 

 to the top ; leaves involute, glaucous, coiiaceous, the uppermost exceeding the contracted 

 panicle, the simple racemose branches of which are appressed, very smooth ; 

 spikelets ovate, pointed (pale) ; lower glume little shorter than the sterile flow- 

 er. 1J. Sandy shores, Connecticut (Barratt, Bobbins), Virginia, and south- 

 ward. Aug., Sept. 



# * Panicle loosely spreading or diffuse, short. 



*- Lower (sterile) flower formed of 2 palece (the upper one scarious and sometimes 

 small and inconspicuous), neutral, except in No. 11, and occasiomily in No. 14, 

 where it is staminate. 



