632 GRAMINE^E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



4. E. Frankii, Meyer. Much branched, diffuse (3'- 8' high); panicle 

 ovate-oblong, rather dense, spreading; spikelets 2-5-flowered (1"-!^" long), 

 on slender pedicels; glumes very acute; lower palet ovate, acute, rather obscurely 

 3-nerved. (E. erythrdgona, Nees, from the joints of the culm being mostly 

 reddish.) Low or sandy ground, S. Pennsylvania to Illinois, and south- 

 westward. Aug. 



5. E. Plirshii, (Bernh. ?) Schrader. Sparingly branched at the decumbent 

 base, then erect (|-2 high) ; panicle elongated, the branches widely spread- 

 ing, very loose; spikelets 5 - 1 S-flowered, oblong-lanceolate, at length linear 

 (2" -4^" long), mostly much shorter than their capillary pedicels ; glumes and lower 

 palet ovate and acute, or the latter acutish, 3-nerved, (Poa tenella? Pursh. P. 

 Caroliniana, Spreng. P. pectinacea of authors, not of Michx.) Sandy or 

 sterile open grounds, New Jersey to Virginia, and southward. 



- *- Culms simple or branching only at the very base, firm, erect from an annual or 

 perennial root, mostly forming thick tufts: leaves very long : panicle very large, 

 compound, often longer than the culm, with elongated and loosely-flowered branches, 

 their axils often bearded. (Doubtful perennials, or No. 7 annual.) 



6. E. tenuis, Gray. Panicle virgately elongated (l-2^ long), very loose, 

 the spreading branches bearded in some of the lower axils, their remote divisions 

 and long diverging pedicels capillary ; spikelets 2-6- (sometimes 7 - 12- ) flowered, 

 pale or greenish ; glumes lanceolate or awl-shaped, vei-y acute (l^"-2" long), mem- 

 branaceous, as are the oblong-lanceolate acute flowers ; lower palet distinctly 3-nerved ; 

 the upper ciliate-scabrous. (Pba tenuis, EIL P. capillaris, Michx. P. trichodes, 

 Nutt. E. Geyeri, Steud.) Sandy soil, Illinois, Virginia? and southward. 

 Aug. -Oct. Leaves rather rigid, l-2 long, glabrous or sparingly hairy: 

 the sheaths hairy or glabrous ; the throat strongly bearded. Flowers much 

 larger than in the next, fully l" long. 



7. E. capillaris, Nees. Panicle widely expanding, usually much longer 

 than the culm, its spreading branches (mostly naked in the axils) and long di- 

 verging pedicels capillary ; spikelets rather terete, very small, 2 - 4-flowered, green- 

 ish or purplish; glumes and flowers ovate, acute (less than 1" long); lower palet 

 obscurely 3-nerved, scarcely keeled ; the upper rough-ciliate. (Poa capillaris, L. 

 P. hirsuta, Michx.) Sandy dry soil and fields : common, especially southward. 

 Aug., Sept. Leaves and sheaths very hairy, or nearly glabrous ; the former 

 about 1 long, not rigid. Panicle 1 - 2 long, soon diffuse. 



8. E. pectinacea, Gray. Panicle widely diffuse, its rigid divergent main 

 branches bearded in the axils ; the capillary pedicels more or less oppressed on the 

 secondary branches; spikelets flat, 5 - 1 5-flowered, becoming linear, purple or 

 purplish ; glumes and flowers ovate or oblong-ovate, acutish ; lower palet strongly 

 3-nerved; the upper hirsute-ciliate. (Poa pectinacea, Michx., ex char. P. hirsuta, 

 of Amer. authors. E. Unibnis & cognata Steud. ?) Leaves long, rigid, mostly 

 hairy, the sheaths especially so. Var. SPECTABILIS. Leaves and sheaths mostly 

 glabrous; branches of the panicle (the lower reflexed with age) and pedicels 

 shorter ; spikelets rather larger. (E. spectabilis, Ed. 1 . Poa spectabilis, Pursh.) 

 Sandy dry ground, from E. Mass, near the coast, and from Ohio and Illinois 

 southward. Aug. - Oct. Plant 1 -3 high. Spikelets 2" - 3" long, 1" wide, 

 closely flowered. 



