156 BULLETIN 1772, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Brachyelytrum erectum (Schreb.) Beauv. (fig. 90), found in 
rich rocky woods in the northeastern quarter of the United States, is 
of no economic importance. It has been known also as B. aristatum 
Beauv. 
74. Mitium 1. 
Spikelets 1-flowered, disarticulating above the glumes; glumes 
equal, obtuse, membranaceous, rounded on the back; lemma a little 
shorter than the glumes, obtuse, awnless, obscurely nerved, rounded 
on the back, dorsally compressed, in fruit becoming indurate, smooth, 
and shining, the margins inclosing the lemma, as in Panicum. 
Moderately tall grasses with flat blades and open panicles. Spe- 
cies about six, in the cooler parts of Eurasia, one of which is found 
also in northeastern North America. 
Type species: Miliwm effusum. les 
Milium L., Sp. Pl. 61, 17538; Gen. Pl., ed. 5, 80. 1754. Two species are de- 
scribed, MV. effusum and M. confertum. The first species is chosen as the type 
as it was the one best known to Linneeus, being described in his flora of Sweden. 
The second species is now reduced to a variety of M. effuswm. Milium is an 
ancient Latin name for the common millet of Europe (Panicum miliaceum U.). 
Linneus applied this name to the genus above described.* 
Milium effusum L. (fig. 91), millet grass, the only representative of 
the genus in America, is a slender erect perennial 3 to 4 feet tall, 
found in cool woods from Nova Scotia to Illinois. It is of no 
economic importance. 
75. OrRyzopsis Michx. 
Spikelets 1-flowered, disarticulating above the glumes; glumes 
about equal, obtuse or acuminate; lemma. indurate, usually about as 
long as the glumes, broad, oval or oblong, nearly terete, usually 
pubescent, with a short, blunt, oblique callus, and a short, deciduous, 
sometimes bent and twisted awn; palea inclosed by the edges of the 
Jemma. 
Perennial, mostly low grasses, with flat or often involute blades 
and terminal narrow or open panicles. Species about 20, in the north 
temperate regions of both hemispheres; 13 species in the United 
States. 
Type species: Oryzopsis asperifolia Michx. (fig. 92). 
Oryzopsis Michx., Fl. Bor. Amer. 1: 51. 1803. A single species described. 
Dilepyrum Raf., Med. Repos. 5: 351. 1808. Rafinesque here announces a new 
work and gives the names of several proposed new genera and species. One of 
these is “ Dilepyrum, the Orizopsis of do [Michaux].” The type, then, is Ory- 
zopsis asperifolia Michx. 
Piptatherum Beauy., Ess. Agrost. 17. pl. 5, £. 10. 1812. Beauvois mentions 
five species and figures two, P. coerulescens and P. punctatum. Miliwm coerules- 
cens, the basis of the first species, is chosen as the type. 
Eriocoma Nutt., Gen. Pl. 1: 40. 1818. The type is H. cuspidata Nutt., the 
only species described. This is the same as Oryzopsis hymenoides. 
1¥or a discussion of Milium and Panicum, see Hitchcock and Chase, Contr. U. S. Nat. 
Herb, 15: 11. 1910. 
