32 CLASS III. ORDER III. 



Leersia Virginica. Willd. Virginian Cut grass. 



Panicle simple ; flowers monandrous, sparingly cil- 

 iate on the keel. 



Smoother than the preceding species, the flowers considerably 

 smaller and less ciliate, white. — Damp woods, Oak island. — 

 August. 



35. PHALARIS. 



Phalaris Americana. Ell. American Canary grass. 



Panicle oblong, spiked ; glnmes of the calyx boat- 

 shaped, serrulate ; corolla unequal ; rudiments hairy. 

 Syn. Phalaris arundinacea. Mx. 



Calamagrostis colorata. Kutt. 



A large, rank, aquatic grass, three or four feet high with a 

 panicle of pubescent flowers. — In Muddy brook, near Jamaica 

 plain road. — July. 



36. ARISTIDA. 



Aristida dichotoma. 3Jx. Forked Aristida. 



Cespitose; culms dichotomous ; flowers subspiked; 

 lateral awns very short, the intermediate one con- 

 torted. 



A slender grass with short, lateral branches and setaceous 

 leaves. Spikes or racemes slender, with twisted awns. 

 Road sides in gravelly soils. — September. 



37. STIPA. 

 Stipa avenacea. L. Feather grass. 



Leaves striated, smooth ; panicle spreading some- 

 what one sided, its branches verticillate ; calyx as 

 long as the seed ; awn naked, finally contorted. 



Remarkable for the length of its awns. Culm two or three 

 feet high, slender, naked above. Leaves narrow, smooth below, 

 inclining to roll up. Panicle long, few-flowered, nodding when 

 young. Glumes of the calyx nearly equal, acuminate. Corolla 

 stipitate, its lower valve terminating in a twisted awn two or 

 three inches long, at first straight, but at length contorted. Seed 



