GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 



159 



170 G ner vata 

 gpikelet and floret x4 

 Base of lemma x 6 



below; spikelets 5-10-flowered. ovate, tumid, Briza-like, 5-7 mm. long ; lemmas 

 obtuse or abruptly acute. Bogs and wet places, Nfd. to Ont. and Minn., s. to 

 N. J. and e. Kan. July. FIG. 169. 



4. G. laxa Scribn. Similar to tall forms of the preceding, 1-1.5 m. high ; 

 blades sometimes 6 dm. or more long ; panicle diffuse, 3-4 dm. long, nearly as 

 wide ; spikelets 3-5-floivered, 4-5 mm. long, 3 mm. wide, oblong; florets firm but 

 not tumid; lemmas abruptly acuminate; palea nearly as 



long. Swampy places, Me. to N. J. July-Sept. 



5. G. nervata (Willd.) Trin. FOWL MEADOW GRASS. 

 Often in large clumps ; culms erect, 3-10 dm. high ; sheaths 

 scabrous, closed almost to the summit, the lower overlap- 

 ping ; blades 1.5-3 dm. long, 4-10 mm. wide, scabrous above ; 

 panicle expanded, nodding, 1-2 dm. long, the capillary 

 branches drooping, naked below ; spikelets purplish, 3-7- 

 flowered, 3-4 mm. long; glumes minute, the second about 

 1 mm. long, twice as long as the first. Moist meadows 

 and wet places, common, Nfd. to Fla., and westw. June. 



(Eu.) FIG. 170. A low strict form (var. STRATA Scribn.) occurs from Nfd. 

 to s. Me., and also in western mts. 



6. G. grdndis Wats. (REED MEADOW GRASS.) Culms clustered, stout, erect, 

 1-1.5 m. high ; sheaths loose, the lower rough, overlapping ; blades 1.8-3 dm. long, 

 6-15 mm. wide, smooth or slightly scabrous ; panicle 2-4 dm. long, very com- 

 pound, loose and open, nodding at the summit ; spikelets numerous, with purple 

 florets and whitish glumes, 4-7 -flowered, 5-6 mm. long ; the palea nearly as long 

 as the 7-nerved lemma. (Panicularia americana MacM.) Banks of streams, 

 wet meadows, ditches, etc., e. Que. to Alaska, s. to Pa., and westw. July. 



7. G. pallida (Torr.) Trin. Culms slender, 3-10 dm. high, ascending from a 

 creeping base ; leaves 5-15 cm. long, 2-8 mm. wide ; panicles lax, few-flowered, 

 7-15 cm. long, the few slender branches ascending or spreading at the ends, 

 naked at the base; spikelets pale green, loosely 4-9-flowered, 6-7 mm. long; 

 glumes obtuse ; lemmas 7-nerved, scabrous, dentate or erose at the obtuse 

 apex. Shallow water, N. S. to Va., w. to Ont., Ind., and Ky. May, June. 



Var. Fernaldii Hitchc. Culms very slender, usually geniculate and spread- 

 ing, 2-4 dm. high ; leaves 4-8 cm. long, 2-3 mm. wide ; panicles 5-7 cm. long, 

 the fascicled branches lax, flexuous ; spikelets 3-5-flowered, 4-5 mm. long; 

 glumes and lemmas obtuse, usually erose at the summit. Wet places, e. Que. 

 to Me. and Minn. July, Aug. 



8. G. fluitans (L.) R. Br. Culms somewhat flattened, erect from a creeping 

 base, 6-10 dm. high ; sheaths overlapping, closed nearly to the summit, smooth ; 



blades 6-12 cm. long, 4-8 mm. wide; panicle finally exserted, 

 2.6-4 dm. long, very slender, the few remote branches appressed 

 or finally horizontal, a spikelet subsessile in each axil ; spikelets 

 7-12-flowered, 2-2.5 cm. long, nearly sessile ; glumes acute, scari- 

 ous and shining; lemmas 7-nerved, scabrous, with a shining 

 scarious margin and summit, narrowed above but obtuse, erose ; 

 the tip of the palea exceeding the lemma. (Panicularia brachy- 

 phylla Nash.) Shallow water, Gulf of St. Lawrence ; near N. Y. 

 City. June-Aug. (Eurasia.) 



9. G. septentrionalis Hitchc. Culms erect, 1-1.5 m. high, 

 thick and soft; sheaths overlapping, loose, smooth, the upper 

 ill. G. septen- closed nearly to the summit, ligule 5-6 mm. long, decurrent ; 

 trionalis. blades 1.2-2.5 dm. long, 6-8 mm. wide, nearly smooth, rather 

 Spikelet x 1%. obtuse ; panicle 2-2.5 dm. long, the subflexuous branches ascend- 

 ing, a spikelet subsessile in each axil ; spikelets 8-12-flowered, 

 1.5-2 cm. long, subsessile or on short pedicels; glumes obtuse, scarious and 

 shining ; lemmas 4-4.5 mm. long, faintly 7-nerved, hispidulous, ivith a shining 

 scarious summit, erose-obtuse, slightly exceeded by the tip of the palea. 

 (G. fluitans Am. auth., not R. Br.) In shallow water, N. E. to Va., and 

 westw. Intermediate between G. fluitans and the following, but usually stouter 

 and broader leaved than either. FIG. 171. 



