38 THE GENUS AGBOSTIS. 



lower awl-shaped, upper taper-pointed, and longer than 

 the lower pales. Perennial, flowering in August. The 

 plant emits a strong odor. Connecticut, New York, 

 and the Western States to Illinois. 



Laege-panicled Vilfa {Sporobolus cryptandrus). — 

 Panicle lead-colored, pyramidal ; base usually enclosed 

 in the upper sheath, from which the panicle appears to 

 burst with spreading branches ; flowers awnless ; lower 

 glume very short ; stem from one to three feet high ; 

 stamens three, anthers yellowish, styles distinct, stigmas 

 white. Grows on sandy soils in New York, and at 

 the South and West, where it is common. 



Close-flowered Drop Seed {Sporobolus compressus). 

 — A smooth, leafy grass, with stout,- flat stems, found in 

 bogs in the pine barrens of New Jersey, where it forms 

 tussocks from one to two feet high. Of no agricultural 

 value. 



Late Drop Seed {Sporobolus serotinus) is sometimes 

 found in low, swampy places, with smooth, slender, 

 flattish stems ; leaves few and slender ; panicle spread- 

 ing, with hairy branches; glumes ovate, obtuse, and 

 half the length of the palea. Flowers in September. 

 It is a delicate grass, of no special agricultural value. 



7. Agrostis. Bent Grass. 



One-flowered spikelets in a loose, open panicle ; 

 glumes nearly equal, the lower pointless, and longer 

 than the pale^, which are thin and naked; stamens 

 three ; perennial. 



Taller Thin Grass {Agrostis elata). — A stout grass, 

 from two to three feet high. Spikelets crowded on the 

 branches of the spreading panicle above "the middle; 

 lower palea awnless ; upper wanting. In swamps, from 

 New Jersey southward. 



