GRAMINE^E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 633 



36. BRIZA, L. QUAKING GRASS. (PL 10.) 



Spikelets many-flowered, ovate or heart-shaped, flattish-tumid ; the flowers 

 closely imbricated. Glumes roundish, unequal (purple). Lower palet round- 

 ish and entire, flattened parallel with the glumes, ventricose on the back, heart- 

 shaped at the base, papery-membranaceous and becoming dry, scarious-mar- 

 gined, obscurely many-nerved ; the upper palet much smaller, ovate, flat. Sta- 

 mens 3. Stigmas branched-plumose. Grain flattened parallel with the palets, 

 adhering to the upper one. Leaves flat. Panicle loose, diffuse, with the large 

 and showy spikelets often drooping on delicate pedicels (whence the name, an 

 ancient Greek appellation for some kind of grain, from /3pt'co, to slumber (Linn.), 

 or /3pt$o>, to bend downwards.) 



1. B. MEDIA, L. Panicle erect, the branches spreading; spikelets 5-9- 

 flowered (3" long) ; glumes shorter than the lower flowers ; root perennial. 

 Pastures : sparingly eastward. June. (Adv. from Eu.) 



37. PESTUCA, L. FESCUE-GRASS. (PI. 10.) 



Spikelets 3 - many -flowered, panicled or racemose ; the flowers not webby at 

 the base. Glumes unequal, mostly keeled. Palets chartaceous or almost coria- 

 ceous, roundish (not keeled) on the back, more or less 3-5-nerved, acute, 

 pointed, or often bristle-awned from the tip, rarely blunt ; the upper mostly ad- 

 hering at maturity to the enclosed grain. Stamens 1-3. Flowers, and often 

 the leaves, rather dry and harsh. (An ancient Latin name.) 



* Flowers awl-shaped, bristle-pointed or awnedfrom the tip : panicle contracted. 

 H- Annuals or biennials, slender, 5'- 18' high: leaves convolute-bristle-form. 



1. P. MYURUS, L. Panicle spike-like, one-sided ; spikelets about 5-flowered ; 

 glumes very unequal ; awn much longer than the palet, fully 6" in length ; stamen 1 . 

 Dry fields, New Jersey, S. Penn., and southward. July. (Nat. from Eu.) 



2. P. tenella, Willd. Panicle spike-like, one-sided, or more compound 

 and open ; spikelets 7-13-flowered; awn 1"~3" long, shorter than or equalling the 

 palet ; stamens 2. Dry, sterile soil, especially southward. June, July. . 



*- <- Perennial, tufted, 6' - 24' high : stamens 3. 



3. P. ovina, L. (SHEEP'S FESCUE.) Panicle somewhat one-sided, short, 

 usually more or less compound, open in flowering ; spikelets 3 - 8-flowered ; awn 

 not more than half the length of the flower, often much shorter or almost want- 

 ing. Indigenous in Northern New England, Lake Superior, and northward : 

 naturalized farthdr south as a pasture grass. June. Varies greatly. Var. 

 vivfpARA (which with us has running rootstocks), a state with the spikelets 

 partially converted into leafy shoots, is found on the alpine summits of the 

 White Mountains of New Hampshire, and high northward. * Var. DURIUSCULA, 

 (F. duriuscula, L.) is a tall form, with spikelets rather larger, usually in a more 

 compound panicle ; culm-leaves often flat or less convolute, and the lower with 

 their sheaths either smooth or hairy. New England to Virginia ; nat., and in- 

 digenous northward. Var. RUBRA (F. rubra, L.) has running rootstocks and 

 forms looser tufts ; the leaves often reddish and pubescent above. Naturalized 

 eastward: wild, Lake Superior, ZV. Bobbins, and northward. (Eu.) 



