144 



GJRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY^ 



49. BECKMANNIA Host 



Spikelets 1-fl.owered in our species, broad, laterally compressed, closely imbn. 



cated in 2 rows along one side of a continuous rhachis, forming short unilateral 



spikes ; rhachilla articulated below the glumes ; glumes subequal, inflated, boat- 

 shaped, chartaceous, margin scarious ; lemma lanceolate, 

 acuminate, palea nearly as long ; grain free within the 

 rigid lemma and palea, — A rather tall erect perennial, 

 with flat leaves and a terminal elongated narrow nearly 

 simple panicle. (Named for Johann Beckmann, 1730- 

 1811, professor of botany at Goettingen.) 



1. B. erucaef6rmis (L.) Host. Light green; culms 

 5-10 dm. high ; sheaths loose, overlapping ; blades 1-2.5 

 dm. long, 5-8 mm. wide, scabrous; panicle 1-2.5 dm. 

 long, the spikes appressed ; spikelets nearly circular, 

 132. B erucaeformis. 3 mm. long ; the glumes transversely wrinkled ; the acu- 



Part of inf orescence X Vs- ^ninate apex of the lemma protruding beyond the glumes. 



Part of same x Vj. — Wet ground, Minn., la., and westw. ; adv. in O. Fig. 



Spikelets and floret x 2. 132. 



60. CYNODON Richard. Bermuda or Scotch Grass 



Spikelets 1-flowered, laterally compressed, awnless, singly sessile in 2 rows 

 along ouo aide of a slender continuous axis, forming unilateral spikes ; rhachilla 

 prolonged behind the palea into a blunt pedicel ; glumes un- 

 equal, narrow, acute, keeled ; lemma broad, boat-shaped, 

 obtuse, ciliate on the keel ; palea as long as the lemma, the 

 prominent keels close together, ciliolate; grain free within the 

 lemma and palea. — Low diffusely branched and extensively 

 creeping perennials, with flat leaves and slender spikes digitate 

 at the apex of the upright branches. (Name composed of kijoov, 

 a dog^ and ddojjs, a tooth.) Capriola Adans. 



1. C. DAcTYLON (L.) Pers. Glabrous; culms flattened, 

 wiry ; ligule a conspicuous ring of white hairs ; spikes 4-5, 

 2-5 cm. long ; spikelets imbricated, 2 mm. long ; lemma longer 

 than the glumes. (Capriola Ktze.) — Fields and waste places, 133. c. Dactylon. 

 Mass., and south w., where it is cultivated for pasturage. (Nat. inflorescence x Vt, 

 from Eu.) — Seldom perfects seed. Fig. 133. Spikeletx4. 



51. SCHEDONNARDUS Steud. 



Spikelets 1-flowered, sessile and appressed, alternate and distant along one 

 side of a slender triangular rhachis, forming very slender spikes ; glumes narrow, 

 unequal, with strong rigid keels, pointed, shorter than tlie 

 lanceolate acuminate scabrous lemma ; palea nearly as long 

 as the lemma; grain free within the subrigid lenmia and 

 palea. — A low diffusely branching annual with short narrow 

 leaves and slender paniculate spikes. (Name from a-x^Sdv, 

 near, and Nardns, from its resemblance to that genus.) 



1. S. paniculatus (Nntt.) Trel. Culms 3-5 dm. highj erect 

 or decumbent at base, leafy below ; sheaths and blades smooth ; 

 panicle half or more than ha,lf the entire height of the plant, 

 its axis usually falcate, the spikes solitary and remote, mostly 

 along the convex side, rigid; spikelets 4 mm. long. [8. tex- 

 anus Steud.) — Open ground and salt licks, 111. to Mont., Col., 

 and Tex. — At maturity the panicle becomes much elongated and tiecumbent 

 the axis extending in a large loose spiral. Fig. 134. 



134. S. paniculatus. 

 Part of spike x 1%. 

 S pikelet X 3. 



