GRAMINEAE (;GRASS FAMILY) 



143 



128. 8. Alichanxiana. 



Spikelet with glumes 



detached x '2. 



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 fioret, 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 m. 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 ohlong purplishraceme ; glumes barely 

 mucronate, the first \ the length of the 

 lemma, of which the rough hispid midrib 

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

 marshes, Ct., and south w. 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. 

 wide, usually flat, sometimes involute ; spikes appressed, 

 129. s. cynosuro es. g_-j- ^^^ long, the rhachis slightly projecting beyond the 

 Spikelet with glumes g^^j-^i^fg . gpikelets 10-U mm. long; glumes glabrous or 

 e ac e x . 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. pil6sa. Merr. has glumes withscabrous 

 keels and lemmas sparingly pilose, thus approaching the 

 European S. stricta Roth. — Mass., and southw. Fig. 130. 

 Var. alternifldra (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^ 

 yar. Gray.) — Lower St. Lawrence, and southw. (Eu.) 



* * Culms slender, rarely 1 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, 

 mij fi obtuse, slightly emarginate ; palea slightly longer. — Salt 



Wl|/i marshes and sandy coasts, Nfd. and e. Que. to Va. July, 



Aug. 



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



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



, ^ „ ing leaves, and stouter rootstocks ; panicles exserted ; spikes 



\o\. S. pat., V. junc. ^^^^,, ^^^^^ spikelets 7-10 mm. long. {S. juncea Willd.) — 



Spikelet with glumes g^j^. jjjarshes and sandy beaches along the coast, N. H. :.o 



detached X 2. pia. and Tex. June-Sept. Fig. 131. 



Var. caespitbsa (A. A. Eaton) Hitchc. Differs from the species in :ts tufted 

 habit, no creeping rootstocks, taller culms, and aioned 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. 9. glabra, v. pilosa. 

 Part of inflorescence x i^. 

 Spikelet x 1^4. 

 Same displayed x l*^. 



