BEACH GRASS. 49 



than the taper-pointed tips of the lanceolate glumes, 

 almost twice the length of the hairs, with a rigid, short 

 awn above the middle. 



CLOSE-FLOWERED SMALL REED (Calamagrostis inex- 

 pansa) appears with a contracted panicle, longer than 

 that of the preceding species ; stem about three feet 

 high, erect; leaves smooth. The panicle is usually 

 from four to six inches long, and slender ; the lateral 

 branches short, four or five together, rough. This is 

 distinguished from the last by a more slender and less 

 crowded panicle. Flourishes in swamps and boggy 

 places. 



ALPINE REED BENT (Calamagrostis Pickeringii) is a 

 species found near the summit of the White Mountains, 

 of New Hampshire. Of no agricultural value. 



PURPLE BENT (Calamagrostis brevipilis) is a species 

 found in the swamps and pine barrens of New Jersey. 



WOOLLY BENT (Calamagrostis longifolia) is found 

 along the sandy shores of the lakes of northern Michi- 

 gan, and further to the north-west. Sheaths clothed 

 with wool. 



BEACH GRASS, SEA-SAND REED, MAT GRASS (Calama- 

 grostis arenaria, or Ammophila arundinacea), Fig. 34, 

 grows to the height of two or three feet, with a rigid 

 culm, from stout roots running often to the distance of 

 twenty or thirty feet ; leaves wide, rather short, of a 

 sea-green color ; panicle contracted into a close, dense 

 spike, from six to twelve inches long, nearly white. It 

 is found in the sands of the sea-shore, where its thick, 

 strong, creeping, perennial roots, with many tubers the 

 size of a pea, prevent the drifting of the sand from the 

 action of the winds and waves, thus forming a barrier 

 against the encroachments of the ocean. 



5 



