36 GRAMINEAE 



Flowering glumes hairy. 2. B. hordeaceus. 

 Flowering glumes smooth. 



Awns the length of the glumes. 



Leaves and sheaths hairy. 3. B. racemosus 



commutatus. 



Leaves and sheaths densely whitish pubescent. 4. B. arvensis. 



Awns shorter than the glumes. 5. B. secalinus. 



1. B. purgans L. WILD CHESS. Culms erect, 2-4 high : whole 

 plant more or less pubescent : panicle 5 / -10 / long, the branches erect, 

 spreading or drooping : spikelets W-12" long, 5-10-flowered : flowering 

 glumes densely appressed-pubescent all over, and bearing an awn 2 // -4 // 

 long. Common in rocky woods. May-July. 



Var. incanus Shear. GRAYISH WILD CHESS. Culms tall and very 

 leafy : sheaths overlapping and densely soft pilose-pubescent. Along 

 Little Blue River in low land. July-August. 



2. B. hordeaceus L. SOFT CHESS. l-3 high, pubescent all over : 

 panicle often somewhat nodding : flowering glumes 4$ x/ or less long, 

 prominently nerved, bearing an awn of their own length. Sparingly 

 adveutized along railroads at Sheffield. June. 



3. B. racemosus commutatus Hook. f. FALSE CHESS. LARGER 

 CHEAT GRASS. Closely resembles B. secalinus, but it is reflexed hairy on 

 the sheaths : flowering glumes plainly nerved, 4 // -5 // long and bearing an 

 awn of their own length. In similar situations as B. secalinus^ but much 

 less common. May-June. 



4. B. arvensis L. FIELD CHESS. Culms erect, l-3 high : sheaths 

 and leaves softly and densely pubescent : panicle S'-S' long, simple, its 

 branches widely spreading or ascending, bearing 1-3 spikelets above the 

 middle, the longer often 5 X long : spikelets over 9 X/ long, lanceolate, 

 8-12-flowered. Sparingly adventized along railroads at Sheffield. June. 



5. B. secalinus L. CHESS. An erect annual, l-3 high : sheaths 

 glabrous : panicle 3 / -8 / long, the branches ascending : spikelets 9 X/ or less 

 long, 5-11-flowered, erect or somewhat pendulous : flowering glumes 

 obscurely nerved, 3 // -4 // long, bearing a more or less flexuous awn 4 X/ 

 or less long, or sometimes awuless. Common in fields and waste places. 

 May-June. 



51. LOLIUM L. 



Spikelets flattened, several-many-flowered, sessile and solitary at each 

 join of the continuous rachis, the edges turned towards the rachis. 

 Flowering glume rounded, 5-7-nerved. 



1. L. perenne L. RYE GRASS. A smooth erect perennial, l -2^ 

 high : spikes 3 7 -9 x long : spikelets 5-10-flowered, 4 // -6 // long, the 

 empty glumes strongly nerved and shorter than the flower : flowering 

 glumes acute. Rarely adventized along railroads from Courtney to 

 Sheffield. May-June. 



Var. Italicum (R. Br. ) Scribn. Flowering glumes bearing awns of 

 their own length. With the species. 



