FKSTUCA. CLXI. GRAMINE^E. Oil 



lower palea cordate, bifid at the apex, usually awned a little below 

 the tip, upper palea conduplicate, ciliate on the margin ; scales 

 ovate, smooth. 



1. B. sECALlNTis. Cheat. Chess. 



Si. smooth, erect, 3f high; Ivs. flat, rough at the edge and above; sheaths 

 veined, smooth ; stip. laciniate ; panicle spreading, the branches mostly simple, 

 each bearing 1 2 spikelets; spikclets ovate, compressed, about 10-flowered, large, 

 2-ranked, oval, appearing not unlike short heads of wheat. Flowers distinct, 

 awn very short. A handsome grass in fields, often among wheat. June. $ 



2. B. ARVENSIS. (B. mollis of Am. auth. ?) Soft Brome Grass. 



Root ; st. erect, mostly pubescent, 1 2f high ; Ivs. and sheaths downy- 

 pubescent ; panicle erect, close, compound, 3 4' long ; spikelets oblong-ovate, 

 slightly compressed, tomentose, 5 10-flowered ; fls. elliptical ; lower palea ot> 

 long-lanceolate, 7-veined, with a straight awn nearly its length. A coarse gras&, 

 in fields and roadsides. June, July. 



3. B. PURGANS, (Canadensis, ciliatus and pubescens, of Linn., MuhL, <e.) 

 St. terete, rather slender, simple, erect, 2 4f high, nodes blackish ; Irs. 



broadly linear, flat, rough-edged, more or less pubescent, striate, 6 12' by 3 5"; 

 sheaths more or less pilose with deflexed hairs; panicle large, erect, 5 -8' long, 

 finally nodding, branches in 2s 4s, compound, scabrous-pubescent ; spikelets 

 numerous, lance-ovoid, subterete, 7 11-flowered, pedicellate, 9 13" long, acute 

 at each end ; fls. imbricated, lower palea pubescent, longer than its straight awn. 

 upper green at edge and beautifully ciliate. % Fields and woods, U. S. and 

 Brit. Am. Jn., Jl. Varies in size, pubescence, &c., but its forms can scarcely 

 be characterized even as varieties. A coarse, showy grass, of little value. 



35. CERATOCHLOA. Palis. 



Gr. nepas, ireparos, a horn, %Xoa, grass. 



Panicle simple ; spikelets lanceolate, compressed, many-flowered ; 

 glumes shorter than the flowers, palese bifid-toothed, the lower one 

 mucronate between the teeth ; fruit coated, furrowed, 3-horned. 



C. UNiLolDEs. Palis. 



St. 1 2f high ; Ivs. lance-linear, pubescent, veined ; sheaths bearded at the 

 throat ; stip. ovate ; panicle small, nodding, spreading, branches in pairs ; spike- 

 lets oblong-lanceolate, pedicels hairy ; glumes nearly equal, acuminate, striate ; 

 palece unequal,, lanceolate, acuminate, margined ; sta. 3. River bottoms, Penn., 

 Car. 



36. FESTtfCA. 



A Latin name for the shoot or stalk of a plant. 



Spikelets oblong, acute at each end, subterete ; glumes 2, unequal, 

 shorter than the flowers ; palece lanceolate, lower one sharply acumi- 

 nate or awned at the extremity ; caryopsis coated. 



1. F. TENTELLA. Willd. Slender Fescue Grass. 



St. filiform, wiry, often growing in tufts and geniculate at base, 6 12' 

 high; Ivs. erect, linear-setaceous, 2 3' long; sheaths subpubescent, with lace- 

 rated stipules ; pamcle simple, contracted, rather secund, branches alone or in 

 pairs; spikelets 5 7-flowered, with subulate, subequal glumes, at length brown- 

 ish ; fls. subulate, longer than their awns. (J) Sandy fields, N. Eng. to III., S. to 

 Car. June. 



2. F. ELATIOR. Tail Fescue Grass. 



St. smooth, 3 4f high; Ivs. lanceolate, smooth, rough-edged, a foot long, 

 on smooth, loose sheaths ; panicle drooping, very branching, loosely spreading, 

 oianches in pairs; spikelets lance-ovate, acute, 4 6-flowered, 68" long, race- 

 mose on the branches; lower glume shorter; lower paktz acuminate or mucro- 

 nate. A fine grass, in meadows, U. S. and Can. June. j 



3. F. PRATENSIS. Huds. Meadow Fescue Grass. 



St. smooth, 2 3f high ; Ivs. lance-linear, veined, smooth, rough-edged, 

 52 



