94 



of the party, introduced from Europe and known elsewhere in the 

 United States from the vicinity of Philadelphia and Martha's Vine- 

 yard, Mass. Eugene P. Bicknell first collected this grass, not pre- 

 viously known for the United States, on Long Island near Hemp- 

 stead reservoir, June, 1903 ; and he published an account of this 

 species in Rhodora, 1914, p. 81. 



After lunch, eaten close by a golf club green, we walked toward 

 Idlewild Point. On the way we passed clumps of various grasses : 

 Digitaria filiforinis (L.) Koel., Paspalum piibescens Muhl., Sor- 

 ghastrmn nutans (L.) NsLsh, Distichlis spicata (L.) Greene (a dioe- 

 cious species), Spartina patens (Ait.) Muhl., Spartina patens var. 

 caespitosa (A. A. Eaton) Hitchc, Spartina alterniflora Lois., 

 Phragmites communis Trin., Tripsacum dactyloides (L.) L., Echi- 

 nochloa muricata (Michx.) Fernald, Andropogon littoralis Nash., 

 Ammophila hreviUgulata Fernald, and many others of a less excit- 

 ing character. 



Idlewild Point is a wide stretch of gravelly sand that extends 

 half a mile out into Jamaica Bay. Years ago it was a small popular 

 resort with hotel, cottages and bathing facilities, but is now deserted 

 because of the polluted condition of the bay. 



In this area the first interesting grass was Triplasis purpurea 

 (Walt.) Chapm. easily overlooked but interesting because of the 

 cleistogamic flowers found in the leaf sheaths at the base of the 

 culms. Further on we saw Panicum oricola Hitchc. and Chase, 

 P. dichotomiflorum Michx., P. virgatmn L., P. clandestinum L., 

 P. sphaerocarpon Ell., Agrostis hiemalis (Walt.) B. S. P., on the 

 higher parts of the sandy area, and Spartina species along the edge 

 of the water. 



At the end of the point close to the water there is a station 

 for another European grass, Elymus arenarius L., and the only 

 known station for this species in North America. This species 

 differs from E. mollis Trin., a dune grass distributed along the 

 eastern coast of North America, Massachusetts to Greenland, in 

 having the culm smooth below the spike and glabrous glumes 

 (verified by Mrs. Chase). Close by were a few culms of Elymus 

 virginicus var. halophilus (Bickn.) Wiegand. 



It was good to rest a while by the waters of the bay and watch 

 the antics of the shorebirds feeding nearby. During this period 

 grasses from other nearby regions were displayed . 



