7 i GHAMINEJE. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



53. HIEttOCIILOA, Gmelin. HOLY-GRASS. 



Spikelets plainly 3-flowcrcd, opcn-p:mick'd ; the flowers all with 2 paleac the 

 two lower (lateral) flowers stain iiuitc only, 3-androus, sessile, often awncd on the 

 middle of the back or near the tip; the uppermost (middle) one perfect, short- 

 pedicclled, scarcely as long as the others, 2-androus, awnless. Glumes equalling 

 or exceeding the spikelct, scarious ; palcse chartaceous. Leaves linear or lan- 

 ceolate, flat. (Name composed of tfpos, sacred, and %\6a, grass; these sweet- 

 scented Grasses being strewn before the church-doors on saints' days, in the North 

 of Europe.) 



1. II, bGl'CHlis, Rocm. & Schultes. (VANILLA or SENECA GRASS.) 

 Panicle somewhat one-sided, pyramidal (2' - 5' long) ; peduncles smooth ; 

 staminate flowers with the lower palca mucronate or bristle-pointed at or near 

 the tip; rootstock creeping. U. (Holcus odoratus, L.) Moist meadows, Mass. 

 to Wisconsin, and northward, chic-fly near the coast and along the Lakes. May. 

 Culm l-2 high, with short lanceolate leaves. Spikelets chestnut-color; 

 the sterile flowers strongly hairy-fringed on the margins, and the fertile one at 

 the tip. (Eu.) 



2. II. alpina. Room. & Schultes. Panicle contracted (!'- 2' long); one 

 of the staminate flowers barely pointed or short-awned near the tip, the other 

 long-awned from below the middle; lowest leaves very narrow. 1J. Alpine 

 mountain-tops, New England, New York, and northward. July. (Eu.) 



54. A N T H O X A N V II U I?I , L. SWEET-SCENTED VERNAL-GRASS. 



Spikelets spiked-paniclcd, 3-flowercd ; but the lateral flowers neutral, consist- 

 ing merely of one palca which is hairy on the outside and awned on the back : 

 the central (terminal) flower perfect, of 2 awnless chartaceous palca?, 2-androus. 

 Glumes very thin, acute, keeled ; the upper about as long as the flowers, twice 

 the length of the lower. Squanuilas none. Grain ovate, adherent to the enclos- 

 ing palerc. (Name compounded of avtios, flower, and avBw, of flowers. Z.) 



1. A. ODORATUM, L. Spikelets spreading (brownish or tinged with green); 

 one of the neutral flowers bearing a bent awn from near its base, the other short- 

 awned below the tip. y. Meadows, pastures, e. ; very sweet-scented in dry- 

 ing. May -July. (Nat. from Eu.) 



55. PHAI.ARIS, L. CANARY-GRABS. 



Spikelets crowded in a dense or spiked panicle, with 2 neutral mere rudiments 

 of a flower, one on each side, at the base of the perfect one, winch is flattish, 

 awnless, of 2 shining paleas, shorter than the equal boat-shaped and often Avinged- 

 keelcd glumes, finally coriaceous or cartilaginous, and closely enclosing the 

 flattened free and smooth grain. Stamens 3. Leaves broad, flat. (The an- 

 cient name, from <aAoy, shining, alluding either to the palese or the grain.) 



1. P. ai'imditiacca, L. (REED CANARY-GRASS.) Panicle more or 

 less branched, clustered, a little spreading when old ; ylumes winy/ear., with flat- 

 tened pointed tips ; rudimentary flowers liuiry, % the length of the fertile one. ty 



