162 



GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 



176. F. elatior x 1%. 

 Spikelet, floret, and 



base of lemma 



(opened). 



5-10 cm. long, branches ascending; spikelets 5-7.5 mm. long, 

 3-6 (rarely 9)-flowered, usually pale ; florets rather close ; lemma 

 smooth or slightly scabrous, 3-8.5 mm. long, attenuate into an 

 awn 1 mm. long or more. Occurs native in nearly typical form 

 about the Great Lakes and in the White Mts. ; also introduced 

 from Eu. FIG. 175. The native form tends to have a strict narrow 

 panicle, differing in this respect from the typical European plant. 

 Var. HispfDULA Hack. Lemmas hirsute. Sparingly introduced, 

 N. Y. and Pa. (Eu.). Var. CAPILL\TA (Lam.) Hack. Lemma 

 awnless ; leaves very slender. Me. to N. J., Mich., and north w. 

 (Nat. from Eu.) Var. BREVIFC^LIA (R. Br.) Hack. Culms 5-10 

 cm. high; sheaths closed; blades soft. Calcareous cliffs, Nfd., 

 175. F. ovina. e. Que., Vt., and northw. Var. DURIUSCULA (L.) Koch. Leaf- 

 Spikeletx5. blades thick, flattened, 0.7-1 mm. wide. Sparingly introduced, 

 Wis. and la. (Adv. from Eu.) 



7. F. ELATIOR L. (TALLER or MEADOW FESCUE.) Loosely tufted, often 

 with short creeping rootstocks ; culms erect, 5-12 dm. high, smooth ; blades 

 1-6 dm. long, 4-8 mm. wide, scabrous above ; panicle erect, 



1-2 dm. long, contracted after blooming, branches spikelet- 

 bearing nearly to the base; spikelets 9-11 mm. long ; glumes 

 lanceolate ; lemma oblong-lanceolate, scabrous at the summit, 

 the scarious apex acute, rarely short-awned. (F. pratensis 

 Huds.) Meadows and waste places, throughout the U. S. 

 and s. Can. June-Aug. (Nat. from Eu.) FIG. 176. 



8. F. nutans Spreng. Culms solitary or few, erect, 4-12 

 dm. high ; sheaths glabrous or pubescent ; blades 1-3 dm. 

 long, 4-7 mm. wide, scabrous, sometimes puberulent above ; 

 panicle very loose, 1-2 dm. long, usually subsecund, and 

 more or less nodding, branches spikelet-bearing near the 

 ends, at first erect, finally spreading ; spikelets 3-5-flowered, 



5-7 mm. long ; glumes firm, the first 3 mm., the second 4 mm. long ; lemma 

 smooth, oblong-ovate, subacute, the narrow margin hyaline. 

 Moist woods and copses, N. S. to Minn., and southw. June, 

 July. FIG. 177. 



9. F. Sh6rtii Kunth. Similar to the preceding ; panicle more 

 compact, the branches spikelet-bearing from about the middle; 

 the glumes slightly longer ; the lemma broader, more obtuse. 

 Wet prairies, 111., la., Kan., and southw. 



10. F. GIGANTEA (L.) Vill. Culms 6-12 dm. high ; blades 

 1.2-4 dm. long, 5-15 mm. wide, paler and roughened on the 

 upper surface, margins very scabrous ; panicle 1-4 dm. long, at 

 length spreading, somewhat drooping ; spikelets 10-13 mm. long, 



5-9-flowered; glumes hyaline-margined; lemma sparsely scabrous, bidentate 

 at the scarious apex, bearing an awn more than twice as long. Waste places, 

 near the coast, Me. to N. Y., rare. (Adv. from Eu.) 



76. BR6MUS L. BROME GRASS 



Spikelets few-many-flowered; glumes unequal, acute, 1-5-nerved ; lemmas 

 longer than the glumes, convex or sometimes keeled, 5-9-nerved, usually 

 2-toothed at the apex, awnless or awned from between the teeth or just below ; 

 palea a little shorter than the lemma, 2-keeled ; grain furrowed, adnate to the 

 palea. Annuals, biennials, or perennials with flat leaves and terminal panicles 

 of rather large spikelets. (An ancient name for the oat, from /3pw/x,a, food.} 



Annuals or biennials. 



Lemma broadly elliptical ; awn wanting or not over 1 cm. long. 

 Awn, if present, straight. 



Sheaths glabrous 1. B. secalinus. 



Sheaths pubescent. 



Awn about as long as the narrow lemmas. 

 Panicle rather dense, erect 2. B. Jiordeaceus. 



177. F. nutans. 



