81 



FlG. 59. Gastridium lendigerum (L.) Gaudin. (G. australe Beauv.) NIT- 

 GRASS. — a, A spikelet; b, the awned flowering glume; c, the same expanded. 



59. GASTRIDIUM Beauv . Agrost. 21. t. 6, f. 6. 1812. Spikeletsl-flowered, 

 hermaphrodite; rachilla prolonged behind the palea. Empty glumes 2, equal, 

 enlarged, or saccate at the base, keeled above, much longer than the flowering 

 glume; flowering glume hyaline, truncate, or obtusely 2-lobed, awnless, or bear- 

 ing a slender awn just below the apex. Palea narrow, about the length of the 

 glume. Stamens 3. Styles short, distinct; stigmas plumose. Grain subglobose, 

 included within the ventricose base of the glumes, free. Csespitose annuals 

 Avith flat leaves, and shining, spike-like panicles. 



Species 2, Southern and Western Europe, tropical Africa, and tropical Amer- 

 ica; 1 introduced into North America. 



15444— No. 20 6 



