GRAMINE^:. (GRASS FAMILY.) 623 



1. E. INDICA, Gasrtn. (DOG'S-TAIL or WIRE GRASS.) Culms ascending, 

 flattened; spikes 2-5 (about 2' long, greenish). Yards, &c., chiefly south- 

 ward. (Nat. from Ind. ?) 



24. LEPTOCHLOA, Beauv. (OXYD^NIA, Nutt.) (PL 9.) 



Spikelefs 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 

 palet 3-nerved, with the lateral nerves next the ciliate or hairy margins awn- 

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

 Stamens 2 or 3. Seed sometimes loose in the pericarp. Ours annuals. 

 Leaves flat. (Name composed of Xerrroy, slender, and x^ a ' 9 rass , from the 

 long attenuated spikes.) 



1. LEPTOCHLOA proper. Lower palet awnless or simply aimed. 



1. L. 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 palet bristle-awned from the 2-toothed apex; 

 the marginal nerves often excurrent into lateral teeth or points. 



2. L. fascicularis, Gray. Smooth ; leaves longer than the geniculate- 

 decumbent and branching culms, the upper sheathing the base of the crowded 

 panicle-like raceme, which is composed of many strict spikes (3'- 5' long) ; spike- 

 lets slightly pedicelled, 7 - 1 1 -flowered, much longer than the lanceolate glumes ; 

 palets 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. polystachya, Michx. Diplachne fascicularis, Beauv., Torr.) Brackish 

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

 southward on the Mississippi. Aug. - Sept. Makes a direct transition to the 

 next genus. 



25. TRICIJSPIS, Beauv. (PL 10.) 



Spikelets 3 - 1 2-flowered, somewhat terete; the terminal flower abortive. 

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

 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 strong 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, nearly gibbous. Leaves taper-pointed : sheaths bearded at the throat. 

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

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

 1. TRICUSPIS proper. (Windsoria, Nutt.) Glumes shorter than the crowded 

 flowers : lower palet 3-cuspidate by the projection of the nerves, and usually with 

 intermediate membranaceous teeth ; the upper palet naked. 



