(GRASS FAMILY.) 02!) 



# Law and spreading (3' 6' high) froin an annual or biennial root, flaccid : branches 



of the short panicle single or in pairs. 



1. P. annua, L. (Low SPEAR-GRASS.) Culms flattened ; panicle often 

 1 -sided; spikelets crowded, very short-pedicelled, 3 - 7 -flowered. Cultivated 

 and waste grounds, everywhere : but doubtful if indigenous. April - Oct. (Eu. ) 



* * Low; the culms (6'-20' long) geniculate-ascending from a running rootstock, 



rigid, very much flattened : panicle simple and contracted. 



2. P. compressa, L. (WIRE-GRASS.) Pale, as if glaucous; leaves 

 short; panicle dense and narrow, somewhat one-sided (l'-3' long), the short 

 branches mostly in pairs; spikelets almost sessile, 3- 10-flowered, flat. Dry, 

 mostly sterile soil, in waste places ; rarely in woods : probably introduced with 

 other and more valuable grasses : apparently indigenous northward. (Eu.) 



* * * Low alpine or alpestrine species, erect, in perennial tufts. 



*- Soft and flaccid, smooth or nearly so, even to the branches of the panicle: leaves 



short and flat, short-pointed; ligule elongated. 



3. P. alpina, L. Culms rather stout (8'- 14' high) ; leaves broadly linear, 

 especially those of the culm (!'- 2' long, l"-3" wide) ; panicle short and 

 broad; spikelets broadly ovate, 3 - 9-flowered (about 3" long); lower palet vil- 

 lous on the midrib and margins. Isle Royale, Lake Superior, C. G. Loring, 

 Jr., Prof. Porter, N. Maine? and northward. (Eu.) 



4. P. laxa, Haenke. Culms slender (4' -9' high); leaves narrow; panicle 

 somewhat raceme-like, narrow, often one-sided and nodding ; spikelets 2 - 4-flow- 

 ered, one half smaller. Alpine mountain-tops of Maine, New Hampshire, and 

 N. New York, and high northward. (Eu.) 



- -- More strict and rigid, roughish, especially the panicle : ligule short. 



5. P. c&sia, Smith. Culms 6' -20 high; leaves narrow, short, soon in- 

 volute ; branches of the panicle 2-5 together, very scabrous ; spikelets purplish 

 (or sometimes pale), 2 - 5-flowered ; glumes ovate-lanceolate and taper-pointed; 

 flowers lanceolate, somewhat webby at the base ; the lower palet villous on the 

 keel and margins below the middle, its nerves obscure. (P. aspera, Gaudin.) 

 N. "Wisconsin, I. A. Lapham; a form with loose open panicle (P. nemoralis, 

 Ed. 2). Var. STRfcxiOR, is 6' -12' high, with a contracted grayish-purple 

 panicle, of smaller flowers. N. shore of Lake Superior, C. G. Loring, Jr., es- 

 pecially Isle Royale, Prof. Whitney, &c., and northward. (Eu,) 



* # * * Taller (l-3), meadow or woodland grasses : panicle open. 

 H- Spikelets mostly very numerous and crowded on the rather short rough branches 

 (usually in Jives) of the oblong or pyramidal panicle, green, or sometimes violet- 

 tinged: flowers acute, crowded, more or less webbed at base. 



6. P. ser6tina, Ehrhart. (FALSE RED-TOP. FOWL MEADOW-GRASS.) 

 Culms tufted without running rootstocks ; leaves narrowly linear, soft and 

 smooth; ligules elongated; spikelets 2-4- (rarely 5-) flowered (l"-2"long), all 

 short-pedicelled in an elongated panicle, often tinged with dull purple ; flowers 

 and glumes narrow; lower palet very obscurely nerved. (P. nemoralis, Pursh. 

 P. crocata, Michx.) Wet meadows and low banks of streams: common, espe- 

 cially northward. July, Aug. A good grass for moist meadows. (Eu.) 



