GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 



143 



keeled, flat, but quickly involute in drying, smooth except the margins ; spikes 

 5-20, scattered, spreading, 0.5-10 cm. long ; rhachis rough on the margins ; 

 glumes serrulate-hispid on the keel, the first acuminate and 

 equaling the floret, the second tapering into an awn 7 mm. 

 long ; lemma 7-9 mm. long, glabrous except the serrulate- 

 scabrous midnerve which abruptly terminates below the 

 emarginate or 2-toothed apex. (8. cynosuroides Am. auth., 

 not Roth.) Banks of rivers and lakes, or on wet prairies, 

 N. S. to Assina., s. to N. J. and Okla. Aug.-Oct. FIG. 128. 

 2. S. cynosuroides (L.) Roth. (SALT REED GRASS.) Culms 

 stout, 1-3 in. high, often 2 cm. in diameter near the base ; leaves 

 1-2.5 cm. wide, flat or nearly so, roughish underneath as well 

 as on the margins ; spikes 20-50, forming a 

 dense oblong purplish raceme ; glumes barely 

 mucronate, the first J the length of the P detached 1 2 

 lemma, of which the rough hispid midrib 

 reaches the apex. (S. polystachya Willd.) Salt and brackish 

 marshes, Ct., and southw. Aug.-Oct. Specimens from 

 Dismal Swamp, Va., have only 10-15 spikes. FIG. 129. 



3. S. glabra Muhl. (SALT MARSH GRASS.) Culms 0.6- 

 2.4 m. high, leafy to the top ; leaves 5-7 dm. long, 1-1.5 cm. 

 129 s c nos id wide i usually flat, sometimes involute ; spikes appressed, 

 snikeiet with rinn ^^ cm> long ' the rhachis slightly projecting beyond the 

 detached x 2 spikelets; spikelets 10-14 mm. long; glumes glabrous or 

 sparingly scabrous on the keel, the first scarcely f the length 

 of the second ; lemma 8-10 mm. long. (S. stricta, var. 

 Gray.) Salt marshes, Va., and southw. Odor strong 

 and rancid. Var. piLdsA Merr. has glumes with scabrous 

 keels and lemmas sparingly pilose, thus approaching the 

 European S. stricta Roth. Mass., and southw. FIG. 130. 

 Var. alternifl6ra (Loisel.) Merr. Spikes more slender, 

 7-12 cm. long, the spikelets somewhat remote, barely over- 

 lapping, the rhachis continued into a more conspicuous 

 bract-like appendage ; lemma sparingly pilose ; otherwise 

 as in the preceding form, into which it passes. (S. stricta, 

 var. Gray.) Lower St. Lawrence, and southw. (Eu.) 



* * Culms slender, rarely I m. high ; leaves not over 

 5 mm. wide, strongly involute when fresh. 



4. S. patens (Ait.) Muhl. Culms slender, wiry, 

 3-8 dm. high, from long slender rootstocks ; sheaths 

 overlapping; blades 1-3.5 dm. long, involute, spreading; panicle short-exserted 

 or included at base, of 2 to several ascending spikes (2-5 cm. long); rhachis 

 smooth ; spikelets 10-12 mm. long ; first glume linear, mucronate, scarcely 

 half as long as the lanceolate acuminate second glume, 

 which is scabrous on the nerves ; lemma 5-6 mm. long, thin, 

 obtuse, slightly emarginate; palea slightly longer. Salt 

 marshes and sandy coasts, Nfd. and e. Que. to Va. July, 

 Aug. 



Var. juncea (Michx.) Hitchc. Differs from the species in 

 its greater size, culms 5-12 dm. high, longer erect or ascend- 

 ing leaves, and stouter rootstocks ; panicles exserted ; spikes 

 nearly erect; spikelets 7-10 mm. long. (S. juncea Willd.) 

 Salt marshes and sandy beaches along the coast, N. H. to 

 Fla. and Tex. June-Sept. FIG. 131. 

 Var. caespit6sa (A. A. Eaton) Hitchc. Differs from the species in its tufted 

 habit, no creeping rootstocks, taller culms, and awned second glume; blades 

 approximate near the middle of the stem, glaucous above, as much as 6 dm. 

 long, with long involute scabrous points. (S. caespitosa A. A. Eaton.) Border 

 of brackish marshes, N. H. and Mass. 



130. 8. glabra, v. pilosa. 

 Part of inflorescence x %. 

 Spikelet x iy 2 . 

 Same displayed x 1%. 



181. S. pat., v. junc. 



Spikelet with glumes 



detached x 2. 



