542 GRAMINEJE. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



the lateral and often the terminal concealed in the sheaths ; palece someichat equal, 

 about l/ie length of the nearly equal glumes ; only one third longer tl an the linear 

 grain. (Agrostis Virginica, MuhL, not of L. Grypsis Virg., Natt.) Barren 

 and sandy dry fields, New England to Illinois, and common southward. Sept. 

 3. V Virgitiica, Beauv. Root perennial ; culms tufted, slender (5' -12' 

 long), often procumbent, branched ; leaves convolute ; pale* rather shorter than 

 the nearly equal acute glumss. (Agrostis Virginica, L.) Sandy sea-shore, 

 Virginia (Clayton) and southward. Spikelets much smaller and more numer 

 ous than in the last. See Addend. 



6. SPOKO BOLUS, R. Brown. DROP-SEED GUASS. 



Spikelets 1- (rarely 2-) flowered, in a contracted or open panicle. Flowers 

 nearly as in Vilfa; the paleae longer than the unequal glumes. Stamens 2-3 

 Grain a glohular utricle (hyaline or rarely coriaceous), containing a loose seed, 

 deciduous (whence the name, from ariropd, seed, and /3dXAo>, to cast forth). 

 % Glumes very unequal : panicle pyramidal, open. 



1. S. jtaiiceiis, Kunth. leaves involute, narrow, rigid, the lowest elongat- 

 ed; culm (l-2high) naked above, hearing a narrow loose panicle; glumes 

 ovate, rather obtuse, the lower one half as long as, the upper equalling, the nearly 

 equal palece. 1J. (Agrostis juncea, Michx. Vilfa juncea, Trin.) Dry soil, 

 Pennsylvania to Wisconsin, and (chiefly) southward. Aug. Spikelets l"-2 

 long, shining. 



2. S. heterolepis. Leaves mvolule-threaJ-form, rigid, the lowest as long 

 as the culm (1- 2), which is naked above; panicle very loose; glumes eery 

 unequal; the lower awl-shaped (or bristle-pointed from a broad base) and some- 

 what shorter, the upper ovate-oblong and taper-pointed and longer, than tfie equal 

 palece. 11 (Vilfa heterolepis, Gray.) Dry soil, Connecticut, N. New York, 

 Ohio, ana Wisconsin. Aug. Plant exhaling an unpleasant scent (Snllivant), 

 stouter than the last, the spikelcts thrice larger. Utricle spherical (1" in diam- 

 eter), shining, thick and coriaceous ! 



3. S. cryptiilldl'llS. Leaves Jlat, pale (2" wide) ; the pyramidal panicle 

 bursting from the upper sheath which usually encloses its base, its spreading 

 branches hairy in the axils ; tipper glume lanceolate, rather acute, twice the length oj 

 the lower one, as long as the nearly equal paleae ; sheaths strongly bearded at the 

 throat. 1|. ? (Agr. & Vilfa cryptandra, Torr.) Sandy soil, Buffalo, New York, 

 to Illinois, and south and westward. Ipswich, Massachusetts, Oakes. Aug. 

 Culm 2 -3 high. Panicle lead-color : spikelets small. 



* * Glumes almost equal, shortei' than the broad palece : particle racemose-elongated, 

 open, the pedicels capillary : sheaths naked at the throat : spikelels not ^infrequently 

 2-Jloicered. (Colpodium ?) 



4. S. COnipreSSUS, Kunth. Very smooth, leafy to the top; culms tufted, 

 stout, very flat ; sheaths flattened, much longer than the internodec ; leaves erect. 

 narrow, conduplicate-channelled ; glumes acutish, about one third shorter than 

 the obtuse palese. 1| (Agrostis compressa, Torr. Vilfa, Trin.) - Bogs in the 

 pine barrens of Nevr Jersey. Sept. Forming strong tussocks, l-2 high. 

 Panicle 8' - 12' long : spikelets 1'' long, purplish. 



