150 



GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 



148. E. capillaris. 

 Spikelet x 2. 



Spikelets 5-many-flowered, 5mm. or more long. 



Spikelets not more than 1.5 mm. wide 4. E. pilosa. 



Spikelets 2-3 mm. wide. 



Florets densely imbricated ; rhachilla-joints and base of florets hidden 5. E. megastachya, 

 Florets rather loosely imbricated ; rhachilla-joints or base of florets 



visible 6. E. minor. 



Perennials. 



Panicle elongated, the branches flexuous 7. E. trichodes. 



Panicle diffuse, the branches stiff and spreading. 



Pedicels as long as the spikelets or longer 8. E. pectinacea. 



Pedicels shorter than the appressed spikelets 9. E. refracla. 



1. E. hypnoides (Lam.) BSP. Extensively creeping ; culms slender, 2-5 dm. 

 long, with short erect or ascending panicle-bearing branches 5-12 cm. high ; 

 leaves 1-4 cm. long ; panicles nearly simple, of rather few lanceolate-oblong 

 spikelets (or in the more fertile plant almost capitate) ; spikelets 10-35-flowered, 

 5-15 mm. long, the flowers perfect and fertile, staminate or pistillate; glumes 

 and lemmas acuminate. (E. reptans Nees.) Gravelly or sandy 

 shores and ditches, Vt. to Ont., westw. and southw. Aug. 



2. E. capillaris (L.) Nees. Slender, erect, 1.5-6 dm. high, 

 branching at the base, simple above ; sheaths overlapping, spar- 

 ingly pilose or nearly glabrous ; blades long and narrow ; panicle 

 more than half the entire height of the plant, oblong-ovoid, the 

 capillary branches spreading, the lower ascending; spikelets 

 2-3 mm. long, on long divergent pedicels ; glumes and lemmas acute, the latter 

 faintly 3-nerved. Sandy dry soil, N. E. to Mo., and southw. Aug., Sept. 

 Often lemon-scented. FIG. 148. 



3. E. Frankii (Fisch, Mey. & Lall.) Steud. Erect from a decumbent base, or 

 spreading, diffusely branched, 1.5-4 dm. high ; sheaths glabrous ; ligule pilose ; 

 blades 5-12 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide, scabrous above ; panicles oblong, less 

 than half the length of the plant, many-flowered, the short branches spreading ; 

 spikelets 2-3 mm. long, on more or less appressed pedicels, 



1-5 mm. long ; glumes and lemmas very acute, the latter faintly 

 3-nerved. Low or sandy ground, Mass, to Kan., and south- 

 westw. Aug. The taller sparingly branched forms, with 

 rather loose panicles, are difficult to distinguish from glabrous 

 specimens of the preceding ; the relative length of the panicle 

 is the best distinction. 



4. E. pi!6sa (L.) Beauv. Erect, decumbent at base or 

 spreading, 1 .5-4. 5 dm. high ; culms slender, diffusely branching 8 P ikelets x 2 - 

 near the base ; sheaths sparingly pilose at the summit ; blades Flor f and lemma 

 3-12 cm. long, 2-3 mm. wide ; panicle diffuse, 0.8-2 dm. long, 



lower axils usually sparingly bearded; spikelets 5-18-flowered, becoming linear, 



4-9 mm. long, 1-1.6 mm. wide, equaling or shorter than the pedicels; lemmas 

 subacute, the lateral nerves faint or rather strong. Sandy 

 or gravelly open ground, Me. to Minn., and south westw. 

 July, Aug. (Mex., Eu., etc.) FIG. 149. Variable, the 

 commoner form in the north, with rather appressed spikelets 

 (1.5 mm. wide) about equaling the pedicels, is considered 

 distinct by some (E. Purshii Schrad.), but the characters 

 used to distinguish it are very inconstant. 



5. E. MEGASTACHYA (Koeler) Link. Erect or ascending 

 from a decumbent base, rather flaccid, freely branching ; 

 culms 2-9 dm. high ; leaves 5-15 cm. long, 3-6 mm. wide ; 

 panicles greenish-lead-color, 5-15 cm. long, rather densely 



150 E megastachya flowered ; spikelets 5-15 mm. long, 3 mm. wide, 10-40-flow- 



Spikelet x 2. ered ' the florets closely imbricated ; pedicels and keels of the 



acute glumes and lemmas sparingly glandular ; lemmas thin, 



scabrous, the lateral nerves prominent. (E. major Host.) Waste places, 



common, especially southw. June-Sept. Strong-scented, hence called STINK 



or SNAKE GRASS. (Nat. from Eu.) FIG. 150. 



6. E. MINOR Host. Similar to the preceding, smaller, more slender; panicles 



less densely flowered ; spikelets 5-10 mm. long, 2-2.5 mm. wide, 8-20-flowered, 



149. E. pilosa. 



