32 GRAMINEAE 



41. KOELERIA Pers. 



Spikelets 2-5-flowered. Two lower empty glumes narrow, keeled, 

 acute and unequal in length. Flowering glumes obscurely 3-5-nerved. 

 Palet hyaline, 2-nerved. 



1. K. crfstata (L.) Pers. Culms tufted, l-2 high panicle spike- 

 like, long-peduncled, 2 / -4 / long, 6 /x wide : branches very short and com- 

 pactly flowered : spikelets 2 /x long. Rocky prairies near Lee's Summit 

 and rarely found along railroads. May-June. 



42. MELICA L. 



Perennial grasses with 2-8-flowered spikelets in open panicles. Glumes 

 with broad, scarious margins or the lower scarious throughout, the lower 

 empty glumes 3-5-nerved, the.upper flowering ones 7-13-nerved. Rachilla 

 extending beyond the flowers, and bearing several small scales convolute 

 around each other. 



1. M. diffusa Pursh. MELIC GRASS. 2-4 high : panicle 4 X -8 X long, 

 its branches spreading, ascending or erect : spikelets usually 3-flowered, 

 4i // -5 // long, with scabrous flowering glumes. In rocky woods especially 

 in the southern part. Well distributed and very abundant locally. 

 May-June. 



43. KORYCARPUS Zea. 



Perennial with running rootstocks and long flat leaves. Spikelets in a 

 very simple panicle, 3-4-flowered. Two lower glumes empty, acute and 

 coriaceous, much shorter than the flowers. Flowering glumes rounded, 

 shortly mucronate, coriaceous and shining, but with a narrow scarious 

 margin. Uppermost glumes empty and convolute. 



1. K. diandrus ( Michx. ) Kuntze. 2-4 high. Rich woods along the 

 bluffs three miles west of Sibley. Not uncommon locally. July. 



44. UNIOLA L. 



Spikelets flat and two-edged in panicles, several-many-flowered, 3-6 of 

 the lower glumes empty, the flowering glumes much-keeled and many- 

 nerved. Uppermost glumes often smaller and empty. Palets sharply 

 2-keeled, half the size of the glume. 



1. U. latifolia Michx. SPIKE GRASS. 2-5 high : panicle about 6 X 

 long, one-sided, its branches spreading or pendulous : spikelets 7 // -10 // 

 long, 6 // -8 // wide, oblong, 5-10-flowered, very flat, on long capillary 

 often drooping pedicels. In rocky woods. Local. Swope's Park to 

 south of Dodson, Little Blue Tank and Sibley. August-October. 



45. DISTICHLIS Raf. 



Dioecious perennials with many-flowered spikelets in a dense spike- like 

 panicles. Leaves flat at base but involute, pointed. Spikelets com- 

 pressed. Glumes coriaceous, the two lower empty, keeled, few-nerved, 

 shorter than the broader, acute, many-nerved flowering ones. Palet two- 

 keeled. 



