150 



GEAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 



Spikelets 5-many-flowered, 5 mm. or more long. 



Spikelets not more than 1.5 mm. wide 



Spikelets 2-3 mm. wide. 

 Florets densely imbricated ; rhachilla-joints and base of florets hidden 

 Florets rather loosely imbricated ; rhachilla-joints or base of tlorets 



visible . 



Perennials. 



4. E. pilosa. 



5. E. megastachya. 



6. E. minor. 



7. E. trichodes. 



8. E. pectin ncea. 

 i>. E. repacta. 



148. E. capillaris 

 Spikelet x 2. 



Panicle elongated, the branches flexuous 



Panicle diffuse, the branches stiff and spreading. 



Pedicels as long as the spikelets or longer 



Pedicels shorter than the appressed spikelets 



1. E. hypnoides (Lam.) BSP. Extennvely cropping ; culms slender, 2-5 dm, 

 long, with short erect or ascending panicle-hearing branches 5-12 cm. high ; 

 leaves 1-4 cm. long ; panicles nearly simple, of rather few lanceolate-oblong 

 spikelets (or in the more fertile plant almost capitate); spikelets V)--V^-flowe7'ed, 

 6-15 mm. long, the flowers perfect and fertile, staminate or pistillate; glumes 

 and lemmas acuminate. {E. reptans Nees.) — Gravelly or sandy 

 shores and ditches, Vt. to Ont., westw. and southw. Aug. 



2. E. capillaris (L.) Nees. Slender, erect, 1.5-6 dm. high, 

 branching at the base, simple above; sheaths overlapping, spar- 

 ingly pilose or nearly glabrous ; blades long and narrow ; panicle 

 more than half the entire height of the plant, oblong-ovoid, the 

 capillary branches spreading, the lower ascending; spikelets 

 2-3 mm. long, on long divergent pedicels ; glumes and lemmas acute, the latter 

 faintly 3-nerved. — Sandy dry soil, N. E. to Mo., and southw. Aug., Sept. — 

 Often lemon-scented. Fig. 148. 



3. E. Frankii (Fisch, Mey. & Lall.) Steud. Erect from a decumbent base, or 

 spreading, diffusely branched, 1.5-4 dm. high ; sheaths glabrous ; ligule pilose ; 

 blades 5-12 cm. long, 2-4 mm. wide, scabrous above ; panicles oblong, less 

 than half the length of the plant, many-flowered, the short branches spreading; 

 spikelets 2-3 mm. long, on more or less appressed pedicels, 

 1-5 mm. long ; glumes and lemmas very acute, the latter faintly 

 3-nerved. — Lovv^ or sandy ground, Mass. to Kan., and south- 

 we.stw. Aug. — The taller sparingly branched forms, with 

 rather loose panicles, are difficult to distinguish from glabrous 

 specimens of the preceding; the relative length of the panicle 

 is the best distinction. 



4. E. pilbsa (L.) Beau v. Erect, decumbent at base or 

 spreading, 1.5-4.5 dm. high ; culms slender, diffusely branching 

 near the base ; sheaths sparingly pilose at the summit ; blades 

 3-12 cm. long, 2-3 mm. wide ; panicle diffuse, 0.8-2 dm. long, 

 lower axils usually sparingly bearded; spikelets 5-\S-flowered, becoming linear, 

 4r-d mm. long, 1-1.5 mm. toMe, equaling or shorter than the pedicels; lemmas 



subacute, the lateral nerves faint or rather strong. — Sandy 

 or gravelly open ground, Me. to Minn., and southwestw. 

 July, Aug. (Mex., Eu., etc.) Fig. 149. — Variable, the 

 commoner form in the north, with rather appressed spikelets 

 (1.5 mm. wide) about equaling the pedicels, is considered 

 distinct by some (E. Purshii Schrad.), but the characters 

 used to distinguish it are very inconstant. 



6. E. megastXchya (Koeler) Link. Erect or ascending 

 from a decumbent base, rather flaccid, freely branching ; 

 culms 2-9 dm. high ; leaves 5-15 cm. long, 3-6 mm. wide; 

 panicles greenish-lead-color, 5-15 cm. long, rather densely 

 flowered ; spikelets 5-15 mm. long, 3 min. wide, 10-40-flow- 

 ered, the florets closely imbricated; pedicels and keels of the 

 acute glumes and lemmas sparingly glandular ; lemmas thin, 



scabrous, the lateral nerves prominent. (E. major Host.) — Waste places, 



common, especially southw. June-Sept. — Strong-scented, hence called Stixk 



or Snake Grass. (Nat. from Eu.) Fig. 150. 



6. E. MINOR Host. Similar to the preceding, smaller, more slender; panicles 



less densely flowered ; spikelets 5-10 mm. long, 2-2.5 mm. loide, 8-20-flowered, 



149. E, pilosa. 

 Spikelets x 2. 

 Floret and lemma 



x4. 



150. E. megastachya. 

 Spikelet x 2. 



