148 



GRAMTNEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 



2. L. fascicularis (Lam.) Gray. Smooth; leaves longer than the erect or 

 genicu'uite-decumbent and branching culms, the upper sheathing the base of the 

 panicle; spikes 8-12 cm. long; spikelets slightly pediceled, l-\\-Jloii:ered, the 

 florets much longer than the lanceolate glumes ; lemmas hairy-margined toward 

 the base, with 2 small lateral teeth and a short awn in the cleft of the apex. 

 {Diplachne Beauv. ; D. acuminata Siud procumb ens Nash.) — Brackish meadows, 

 from Mass. southw. along the coast ; and from 111. southw. along the Miss. R. 

 Aug., Sept. 



59. BITCHLOE Engelm. Buffalo Grass 



Spikelets unisexual ; plants monoecious or dioecious ; staminate spikelets 2-3- 

 flowered, sessile in 2 rows along the short 1-sided spikes ; glumes unequal, 

 obtuse ; lemmas larger, 3-nerved ; palea a little shorter 

 than the lemma ; pistillate spikelets 1-flowered, in nearly 

 capitate 1-sided spikes which are scarcely exserted from 

 the broad sheaths of the upper leaves ; glumes indurated, 

 trifid at the apex, united at base and resembling an 

 involucre ; lemma narrow, hyaline, inclosing the 2-nerved 

 palea ; grain free within the hardened glumes. — A creep- 

 ing or stoloniferous perennial with narrow flat leaves, 

 and dissimilar staminate and pistillate spikelets borne on 

 the same or on distinct plants. (Name strongly con- 

 tracted from ^ov^aXos, buffalo^ and x^o??, grass.) 



1. B. dactyloides (Nutt.) Engelm. Culms of the 

 staminate inflorescence 1-3 dm. high ; the spikes long- 

 exserted ; culms of pistillate inflorescence low^, nmch 

 exceeded by the leaves ; sheaths overlapping ; blades 

 2 mm. wide or less ; staminate spikes 2 or 3, 6-12 mm. 

 long ; cluster of pistillate spikelets ovoid, (3 mm. long. (Bulbilis Raf.) — Plains 

 of the Sask. to Minn.. Kan., and Tex. — One of the most valuable grasses of the 

 plains. Seedlings are monoecious, but the staminate and pistillate branches 

 propagate their own kind. Fig. 144. 



144. B. dactyloides. 

 cf and $ inflorescence x l^ 

 (f Spikelet and floret (above 



xlVa. 

 $ Spikelet, section of same, 



and outer glume x 1 14. 



60. PHRAGMITES Trin. Reed 



Spikelets loosely .3-7-flowered ; rhachilla clothed with long silky hairs ; glumes 

 unequal, lanceolate, acute ; lemmas narrow, long-acuminate, that of the lowest 

 floret somewhat longer, equaling the uppermost florets, 

 empty or subtending a staminate flower, the other florets 

 perfect ; paleas ^-| the length of their lemmas. — Tall reed- 

 like perennials with stout leafy culms and large terminal 

 panicles. (Name from (ppay/jLir-ns, growing in hedges, appar- 

 ently from its hedge-like growth along ditches.) 



1. P. communis Trin. Culms erect, stout, 1.5-4 m. 

 high, from long creeping rootstocks ; sheaths overlapping ; 

 blades 1.5-6 dm. long, 1-5 cm. wide, flat, glabrous ; panicle 

 tawny, 1.5-4 dm. long, branches ascending, rather densely 

 flowered ; spikelets 12-15 mm. long ; the florets exceeded by 

 the hairs of the rhachilla. (P. vulgaris BSP. ; P. Phrag- 

 mites Karst.) — In wet places, edges of ponds, ditches, etc. 

 — Rarely perfecting seed, spreading freely from the rootstocks, the leafy stolons 

 often running on the surface of the ground for a distance of 5-10 m. (Eurasia.) 

 Fig. 145. 



145. P. communis. 



Spikelet, $ and J" 

 floret X 114. 



Arundo D6nax L., the Giant Reed, is cultivated for ornament and is occa- 

 sionally spontaneous southward. Resembling Phragmites but taller, spikelets 

 3-4-flowered ; flowers all perfect; rhachilla naked; lemmas clothed with long 

 silky hairs, short-awned from the bifid apex. 



