ViLFA. GRAMINEiE. 439 



2. ViLFA ASPERA, Bcauv. Rougk-leavcd Vil/a. 



Panicle contracted, spiked, partly exserted from the uppermost sheath ; paleas much larger 

 than the glumes, smooth or hairy ; culm erect ; leaves very long, filiform toward the extremity; 

 sheaths bearded at the throat. — Beauv. agrost. p. 16. V. longifoiia, Torr. <J- Gr. in Gray's 

 Gram. ^ Cyp. Agrostis aspera, Michx. fl. 1. p. 53. A. clandestina, Spreng. cent. 1. p. 

 32; MuM. gram. p. 74; Ell. sk. 1. p. 13S ; Torr. Jl. \. p. 91; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 29. 

 A. involuta, Muhl. I. c, not of Foir ; Torr. I. c. Sporobolus asper, Kunth, enum. I. p. 

 210, excl. syn. Torr. Muhlenbergia clandestina, Trin. diss. 1. p. 190? 



Perennial. Culm 2-4 feet high, simple, terete. Lower leaves 1-2 feet long, about 2 

 lines wide below, tapering to a long thread-like extremity which is often recurved, involute, 

 very rough on the margin : sheaths smooth, closed, bearded with long whitish hairs at the 

 throat. Panicles often both lateral and terminal ; the latter concealed in the sheaths ; the 

 former more or less exserted, but sometimes wholly enclosed. Spikelets about 2^ lines long, 

 compressed. Glumes lanceolate, scarcely keeled, one-nerved. Paleae unequal ; the lower 

 one nearly twice as long as the upper, acute, smooth or hairy toward the base and along the 

 keel : upper one shorter. Stamens 3 : filaments short : anthers small and oblong. Cary- 

 opsis oblong, brown. 



Sandy fields and hill-sides : not common. Fl. September. I think there can be little doubt 

 that the Agrostis aspera of Michaux, includes both A. involuta, Muhl. and A. clandestina, 

 Spreng. 



3. ViLFA SEROTINA, ToTT. Sf Gt. ' Late-Jlowcrin g Vil/a. 



Culm filiform, compressed ; leaves very narrow, keeled ; panicle elongated, capillary, some- 

 what diffuse ; the branches distant, alterniite ; glumes ovate, a little unequal, about half the 

 length of the oblong obtuse paleae. — Torr. <^ Gr. in Gray, Gram. <^ Cyp. part 1. Agrostis 

 serotina, Torr.fl. 1. p. 88; Beck, hot. p. 388. 



Annual. Culms 12- 18 inches high, growing in dense patches, very slender, sometimes 

 branching at the base, smooth, often viviparous at the nodes. Leaves 2-3 inches long, and 

 half aline wide, smooth: sheaths open: ligule ovate, short. Panicle 3- 10 inches long; 

 the branches flexuous. Spikelets elliptical, scarcely half a line long, on capillary pedicels. 

 Glumes one-nerved. Paleae smooth, the lower one shorter. Stamens 3. Caryopsis obovoid. 



Sandy swamps : Suffolk county. Long Island. Fl. September. A common species in some 

 parts of the pine barrens of New-Jersey, The grain is often in the state of ergot. 



