114 GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 



less densely puberulent, short-ciliate on the margin ; blades often approximate 

 toward the summit, 5-8 cm. long, 5-12 mm. wide, rigid, spreading or ascending, 

 ciliate at the subcordate base, otherwise glabrous ; panicle 5-10 cm. long, hardly 

 as wide ; spikelets 2.6 mm. long, oblong-elliptic, obtuse ; second glume and sterile 

 lemma subequal, obtuse or withering to a point, slightly exposing the minutely 

 umbonate fruit. In autumnal state the culms bearing widely divergent branches 

 from all or sometimes from only the upper nodes ; the crowded leaves rigid, widely 

 spreading; plants often top-heavy and reclining from repeated branching; 

 leaves little reduced except those of late autumn. Dry, especially rocky, 

 woods, Mass, to Ga., w. to Mich, and Mo. 



59. P. mutabile Scribn. & Smith. Blue green, almost glaucous, erect, rather 

 slender, 5-8 dm. high, solitary or few in a tuft; culms glabrous or crisp- 

 puberulent below ; sheaths ciliate, otherwise glabrous ; blades 8-12 cm. long, 

 1-1.6 cm. wide, horizontally spreading, conspicuously ciliate, especially the 

 wider basal ones, otherwise glabrous ; panicles 8-10 cm. long, about as wide ; 

 spikelets purple, 3 mm. long, elliptical ; first glume i-i as long as the spikelet, 

 the second barely as long as the fruit. Internodes much elongated in the 

 autumnal state, culms somewhat spreading, early branches elongated, later 

 ones short and somewhat crowded. Sandy soil, mostly in shade, se. Va. 

 to N. C. and Miss. 



H- 11. Lancearia. Densely tufted ; olive-green; culms slender, wiry, puberu- 

 lent ; blades short, flat, flrm, the thin cartilaginous margins papillose-ciliate 

 toward the base ; ligule obsolete or nearly so ; spikelets pyriform, turgid, 

 stronglg nerved. 



60. P. lancearium Trin. Culms erect or geniculate at base, often reddish, 

 1.5-4 dm. high, crisp-puberulent as are the short sheaths ; blades ascending or 

 spreading, 2.5-4.5 cm. long, 3-5 mm. wide, usually ciliate for |- their length, 

 puberulent beneath, glabrous above ; panicles short-exserted, loosely flowered, 

 3-5 cm. long, f- as wide, the few very flexuous branches spreading or droop- 

 ing, spikelet-bearing from the base ; spikelets 2 mm. long, 1 mm. wide ; first glume 

 about | as long as the glabrous or puberulent subequal second glume and sterile 

 lemma, the glume scarcely covering the fruit, which is obscurely pubescent at 

 the apex. Autumnal state decumbent, ascending at the ends, with short fasci- 

 cled branches from the upper nodes ; the densely crowded leaves reduced, involute- 

 pointed. (P. Nashianum Scribn.) Low pine lands near the coast, se. Va. to 



61. P. patulum (Scribn. & Merr.) Hitchc. Culms lax, prostrate, 2-6 dm. long ; 

 sheaths and both surfaces of the blades softly pubescent ; the blades thin, spread- 

 ing, 4.5-8 cm. long, 5-8 mm. wide, often ciliate nearly to the apex ; panicles 

 4.5-7 cm. long, hardly as wide, the slender branches spreading, spikelet-bearing 

 from near the base ; spikelets 2 mm. long, 1.3 mm. wide ; first glume about \ as 

 long as the densely papillose-pubescent second glume and sterile lemma, the 

 glume scarcely covering the fruit, which is obscurely pubescent at the apex. 

 Autumnal state widely spreading, almost vine-like, the numerous branches slen- 

 der and elongated ; leaves and panicles not greatly reduced. (P. Nashianum, 

 var. Scribn. & Merr.) Moist sandy soil, se. Va. to Fla., near the coast. 



- 12. Oligosdnthia. Culms stout, erect ; blades firm, rarely over 1.5 cm. wide, 

 usually narrower; ligule from nearly obsolete to 3 mm. long ; spikelets ob- 

 ovate, turgid, usually papillose-hispid, 3-4 mm. long. 



62. P. oligosanthes Schultes. In small tufts ; culms 3-8 dm. high, often pur- 

 plish, appressed-pubescent below ; sheaths rather loose, ascending-papillose-pubes- 

 cent ; ligule 1-2 mm. long, with long hairs intermixed ; blades stiffly spreading or 

 ascending, 6-10 cm. long, 5-8 (rarely 10) mm. wide, sharply acuminate, glabrous 

 on the upper, harshly puberulent on the lower surface ; panicles 6-10 cm. long, 

 nearly as wide, loosely flowered, branches ascending ; spikelets 3.5-4 mm. 

 long, narrowly obovate, subacute, sparsely pubescent; first glume less than \ 

 the length of the second glume, which is shorter than the fruit. In the autum- 

 nal state somewhat spreading, branching sparingly from the lower nodes, and 



