GRAMINE^E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 611 



palets. ( Agr. & Vilfa serotina, Tan. V. tenera, Trin. Poa ? uniflora, Muld. 

 P. modesta, Tuckerm.) Sandy wet places, Maine to New Jersey and Michigan. 

 Sept. A very delicate grass ; the spikelets half a line long. 



8. AGROSTIS, L. BENT-GRASS. (PI. 7.) 



Spikelets 1 -flowered, in an open panicle. Glumes somewhat equal, or the 

 lower rather longer, usually longer than the palets, pointless. Palets very thin, 

 pointless, naked ; the lower 3 - 5-nerved, frequently awned on the back ; the 

 upper often minute or none. Stamens chiefly 3. Grain (caryopsis) free. 

 Culms usually tufted, slender ; root commonly perennial. (Name from aypdy, 

 a fitld, the place of growth.) 



1. TRICH6DIUM, Michx. Upper palet abortive, minute, or none. 



1. A. elata, Trin. Culms firm or stout (2 -3 high); leaves flat (l"-2" 

 wide) ; upper ligules elongated (2" -3" long) ; spikelets crowded on the branches 

 of the spreading panicle above the middle (l" long) ; lower palet awnless, slightly 

 shorter than the rather unequal glumes; the upper wanting. (A. Schweinitzii, 

 Trin. f A. altissima, Tuckerm., excl. var. laxa. Trich. elatum, Pursh. ) 

 Swamps, New Jersey and southward. October. 



2. A. per^nnans, Tuckerm. (THIN-GRASS.) Culms slender, erect from 

 a decumbent base (l-2high); leaves flat (the upper 4' -6' long, 1"- 2'' wide); 

 panicle at length diffusely spreading, pale green ; the branches short, divided and 

 flower-bearing from or below the middle; lower palet awnless (rarely short-awned), 

 shorter than the unequal glumes ; the upper minute or obsolete. (Cornucopia? 

 perennans, Walt. Trich. perennans, Ell. T. deciimbens, Michx. T. scabrum, 

 Muhl. Agr. andmala, WiUd.) Damp shaded places. July, Aug. Spikelets, 

 &c. as in No. 3, into which it seems to vary. 



3. A. SCabra, Willd. (HAIR-GRASS.) Culms very slender, erect (l-2 

 high) ; leaves short and narrow, the lower soon involute (the upper 1' -3' long, 

 less than 1" wide); panicle very loose and divergent, purplish, the long capillary 

 branches flower-bearing at and near the apex; lower palet awnless or occasionally 

 short-awned on the back, shorter than the rather unequal very acute glumes ; the 

 upper minute or obsolete ; root biennial 1 (A. laxiflora, Richard. A. Michauxii, 

 Trin. partly. Trich. laxiflorum, Michx. T. montanum, Torr.) Exsiccated 

 places : common. June - Aug. Remarkable for the long and divergent capil- 

 lary branches of the extremely loose panicle ; these are whorled, rough with 

 very minute bristles (under a lens), as also -the keel of the glumes. Spikelets 

 1'long. A variety? from about the White Mountains, &c. (var. montana, 

 Tuckerm.), has a more or less exserted awn, thus differing from the T. monta- 

 num, Torr. (A. oredphila, Trin.), which is a dwarfed form, growing in tufts in 

 hollows of rocks, &c. 



4. A. canina, L. (BROWN BENT-GRASS.) Culms 8' -2 high; root- 

 leaves involute-bristle-form, those of the culm flat and broader ; panicle loose ; 

 glumes slightly unequal, ovate-lanceolate, very acute ; palet exsertly awned on 

 the back at or below the middle ; spikelets brownish or purplish, rarely pale or 

 greenish (l"-l" long). Meadows, sparingly naturalized eastward. A 

 mountain form with shorter and more spreading panicle (A. Pickeringii 



