GENEKA OF GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



139 



stock, and P. monspeliemis is sometimes sufficiently abundant on low 

 meadows to be of importance. 



63. LYCURUS H. B. K. 



Spikelets 1-flowered, the rachilla 

 articulate above the glumes; glumes 

 awned, the -first usually 2-awned; 

 lemma narrow, firm, longer than the 

 glumes, terminating in a slender awn. 



Low perennial grasses, with dense 

 spikelike panicles, the spikelets borne 

 in pairs, the lower of the pair sterile, 

 the short branchlets deciduous. Spe- 

 cies two, in arid regions from the 

 southwestern United States to north- 

 ern South America. 



Type species : Lycurus phleoides H. B. K. 



Lycurus H. B. K., Nov. Gen. and Sp. 1: 

 141, pi. 45. 1816. Two species are described, 

 L. phleoides and L. phalaroides. The first 

 species, being figured, is chosen as the type. 



Pleopogon Nutt, Journ. .Acad. Nat. Sci. 

 Phila. II. 1: 189. 1848. A single species, 

 P. setosum, is included. This is Lycurus 

 phleoides. 



Lycuvus phleoides (fig. 76), the 

 only species in the United States, is a 

 low bunch-grass with slender erect 

 culms about a foot high, with a dense, 

 narrow, lead-color panicle 1 or 2 

 inches long. The species, sometimes 

 called Texas timothy and wolftail, is 

 common on the Mexican Plateau and 



FIG. 76. Wolftail, Lycurus phleoides. 

 Plant, X 2 ; group of two spikelets, 

 glumes of fertile spikelet, and two 

 views of fertile floret, X 5. 



extends north to Texas, Colorado, and Arizona. It is often an im- 

 portant constituent of grazing areas. 



