122 



GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 



7S. H. odorata. 

 Closed spikelet ; 

 same opened and 

 with glumes sep- 

 arated x 2. 



Fragrant perennials, with flat leaves and terminal panicles. (Name from Iep6s, 

 sacred, and %^ 07 7> grass ; these sweet-scented grasses being strewn before church- 

 doors on saints' days in the North of Europe.) SAVASTANA Schrank. 



1. H. odorata (L.) Wahlenb. (VANILLA or SENECA GRASS.) Culms 3-6 dm. 

 high, from a creeping rootstock ; leaves short, lanceolate, scab- 

 rous or smoothish ; those of the sterile shoots long and scabrous ; 

 panicle pyramidal, 4-12 cm. long, usually compact but some- 

 times loose, the slender branches drooping ; spikelets 5 mm. 

 long, brownish ; staminate lemmas hispid-ciliate on the margins 

 and below the apex on the keel, awnless ; fertile lemma hairy 

 at the apex. (H. borealis R. & S.) Moist meadows, chiefly 

 north w., near the coast, and along the Great Lakes. May-July. 

 (Eurasia.) FIG. 78. The loose-panicled form, Savastana 

 Nashii Bicknell, is not specifically distinct. 



2. H. alpina (Sw.) R. & S. Culms 1-4 dm. high, tufted ; 

 upper sheaths inflated ; Hades very small, the lowest and those 

 of the sterile shoots long and linear, smooth; panicle con- 

 tracted, 2-5 cm. long ; spikelets 7-8 mm. long, olivaceous ; 

 staminate lemmas ciliate on the margins, the first short-awned 

 below the apex, the second with a longer (5-8 mm.) bent awn 



from below the middle ; fertile lemma mucronate. Alpine regions, N. E., N. Y., 



and north w. July, Aug. (Eu.) 



22. MILIUM [Tourn.] L. MILLET GRASS 



Spikelets 1-flowered, rhachilla articulated below the floret ; 

 glumes equal ; lemma slightly shorter, shining, indurated, the 

 margins inrolled over a similar palea; grain inclosed within the 

 lemma and palea, free. Our species perennial with flat leaves 

 and open panicles. (The ancient Latin name of the millet 

 which, however, belongs to a different genus of uncertain 

 meaning. ) 



1. M. effusum L. Smooth ; culms rather slender, simple, 

 1-1.5 m. high ; leaves 1-3 dm. long, 8-15 mm. wide ; panicle 

 1-2 dm. long, the slender branches in remote pairs or fascicles, 

 widely spreading or drooping, spikelet-bearing from about the 

 middle; spikelets 3-3.5 mm. long; glumes minutely scabrous. 



Cold damp woods and mountain meadows, N. S. to 111., 

 and north w. The fruit (mature floret) resembles that of 

 Panicum. June-Aug. (Eu.) FIG. 79. 



79. M. effusum. 

 Part of panicle X %. 

 Closed and open 

 spikelets x 3. 



23. ORYZ6PSIS Michx. MOUNTAIN RICE 



Spikelets 1-flowered, in narrow few-flowered panicles ; glumes rather broad, 

 obtuse or abruptly acute ; floret with a short obtuse callus ; lemma (not over 

 1 cm. long) convolute, somewhat indurated, including the rather large palea and 

 perfect flower, terminating in a deciduous simple slender awn ; grain oblong- 

 ellipsoid, tightly included in the indurated lemma. Tufted perennials. (Name 

 composed of 6pvfa, rice, and dty'is, appearance, from a fancied resemblance to 

 that grain.) 



* Spikelets, excluding awn, 3-4 mm. long. 



1. 0. piingens (Torr.) Hitchc. Culms densely tufted, 2-5 dm. high, erect, 

 slender, simple ; sheaths usually crowded at the base, smooth or slightly scabrous ; 

 blades involute-filiform, the basal ones sometimes as long as the culm, usually 

 half its length, those of the culm short ; panicle 3-6 cm. long, branches erect or 

 ascending ; glumes subequal, obscurely 5-nerved ; lemma usually as long as 

 the glumes, appressed-pubescent ; awn 1-2 (rarely 5) mm. long, sometimes 

 wanting ; palea as long as the lemma. (0. canadensis Man. ed. 6 ; O. juncea 

 BSP.) Dry rocky or sandy soil, Lab. to N. Y., and westw. 



