162 



GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 



175. F. ovina. 

 Spikelet x 5. 



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

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

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

 aicn 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. HispiDULA Hack. Lemmas /iiVsw^e. — Sparingly introduced, 

 N. Y. and Pa. (Eu.). Var. capillAta (Lam.) Hack. Lemma 

 awnless; leaves very slender. — Me. to N. J., Mich., and northw. 

 (Nat. from Eu.) Var. brevif6lia (R. Br.) Hack. Culms 5-10 

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

 e. Que., Vt., and northw. Var. duriuscdla (L.) Koch. Leaf- 

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

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



7. F. elXtior 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 

 pjuds.) — Meadows and vaste 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, 

 6-7 mm. long ; glumes firm, the first 3 mm., the second 4 mm. 



smooth, oblong-ovate, subacute 

 Moist woods and copses, N. S 

 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; blade? 

 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, 



glnmes hyaline-margined ; lemma sparsely scaorous, bidentate 



176. F. elatior x l^^. 



Spikelet, floret, and 

 base of lemma 

 (opened). 



long; lemma 

 the narrow margin hyaline. — 

 to Minn., and southw. June, 



177. F. nutaDs 

 Spikelet x 3. 



5-9-flowered 



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. BRdMUS 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 ^pCb/xa, food.) 



Annuals or biennials. 

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

 Awn, if present, straight. 



Sheaths glabrous 1. B. stcalinuh. 



Sheaths pubescent. 

 Awn about as long as the narrow lemmas. 

 Panicle rather dense, erect . . ...... 2. .ff. 7u>rdeaom8. 



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