CLASS III. ORDER III. 43 



decompomid, lax ; flowers minute, all pedicelled. sol- 

 itary, oblong-ovate, acuminate, awnless. 



A large branching grass, the culm, leaves, and especially the 

 sheaths, covered with thick, rigid, horizontal hairs. Panicle 

 often a foot long and nearly as Avide, its branches long, straight, 

 stiff, slender, given off at right angles, knotted at base. Pedun- 

 cles capillary, supporting solitary, scattered, naked flowers. — 

 Frequent in cornfields, &c. — July, August. — Annual. 



Panicum latifolium. L. Broad-leaved Panic gi-ass. 



Leaves ovate-lanceolate, clasping; sheaths hairy 

 at the neck ; panicle nearly simple. 



Remarkable for its broad leaves. Culm a foot high, smooth, 

 giving out branches from its joints. Leaves rough at the edge, 

 acuminate, clasping, hairy where they unite with the sheaths. 

 Panicle small or of middling size, its branches mostly simple, 

 the lower ones a little divided. Stigmas purple. — Woods. — 

 May, June. — Perennial. 



Panicum nervosum. Maid. Na-vcd Panic grass. 



Leaves lanceolate, clasping; sheaths and nodes 

 smooth ; panicle much branched, many flowered. 



Much taller than the preceding, with narrower leaves and a 

 larger panicle. — Meadows, Cam^bridge. — July. — Perennial. 



Panicum virgatum. L. Reedy Panic grass. 



Panicle spreading; glumes acuminate, smooth, de- 

 hiscent; leaves arundinaceous. 



A tall, hard, reedy grass, growing about the edges of marshes, 

 where its dry stems and leaves stand through the winter. Culm 

 three or four feet high, smooth. Leaves linear, firm, rough at 

 the edge. Panicle large, stiff, with remote flowers, the glumes 

 gaping open, and very acute. — On Cragie's road. — August. — Pe- 

 rennial. 



Panicum discolor, Muhl. Variegated Panic grass. 



Panicle spreading ; calyx roundish, larger valve 

 striate ; culm erect ; sheaths hairy ; lower leaves 

 oval. 



