Order 156.— GEAMINE^ 775 



6. A. el^ta Trin. Taller Thim Grass. Gulm erecl, rigid, i!im, simple, rather 

 stout, 2—3fhigh, leafy; Ivs. broadly (1—2") linear, scabrous, flat, G— 8' long, tlia 

 sbeaths scarcely smooth; panicle purple, contracted, with long, whorled, erect- 

 spreading branches dense-flowered Imlf their length; glumes lanceolate, li", ths 

 the upper a little longer than the 5 -veined pale. — Swamps, JST. Jer. to Ga., Ala. and 

 Ky. (Jackson). — JL, Aug. (T. datum Ph. A. altissimum Tuckm.) 



5. SPOROB'OLUS Brown. Drop-seed Grass. (Gr. anopd, seed, 

 3dXXui, to cast.) — Spikelets l-flowored; glumes 2, unequal, the lower 

 smallet ; fl. sessile ; palese 2, beardless, awnless, usually exceeding the 

 glumes, the upper 2-keeled ; stam..2 or 3 ; stig. plumous with simple 

 Lairs ; caryopsis free, often with a loose pericarp, deciduous. — Tough, 

 wiry grasses with mostly rolled and rigid leaves and the panicles more 

 or less contracted. 



5 Vii.FA. Grain (caryopsis) linoar-cyllndrlc. Cflumca suboqnal Nos. 1, J 



§ Spor.unoLLiti. Gniiii ovfll or globoiis. soino loose in tlio ptiicjirp. (*) 



* Glumes viTy unequal, ono of them as lung as tbo palcai. (a) 



a Panicle open and staliteil, pyramidal. Nos. 3, 4 



a Panicle sheathed at tho base more or less ' ". Nos. 5, 6 



* Glumes Romewhat equal, both shorter than the paleas. (b) 



b Pauicle contracted and spike-like, Bheathod or not , Nos. 7, 8 



b Paniolii open and stalked, long and racome-Iiko Nos. 9, 10 



1 S. Virginicua Beauv. Culms numerous, assurgent, procumhent and hairy at 

 base, branched, about a foot long; Its. somewhat 2-rowed, involute, rigid, erect, 

 2 — 3' long, with smooth sheaths which aro hairy at the throat and swollen with 

 the enclosed panicles; panicles spike-form, terminal and lateral, the lateral ones 

 concealed; glumes nearly equal, nearly as long as the subequal palece. — H Sandy 

 soils, Middle and S. States. — Sept., Oct. (Agrost. L.) 



2 S. vagmasfldrua Torr. Culms simple, ascending, slender, forming tufts C — 12' 

 higli ; Ivs. involute-subulate, rather rigid, short (2—4'); panicles contracted, spike 

 form, lateral and terminal, mostly concealed in the sheaths ; glumes about equal, 

 and equaling the subequal pales; caryopsis linear, a third shorter than the pales. — 

 (I) Dry, gravelly fields, U. S. more common \T. and S. (Agr. Muil. Crypsis, Nutt.) 



3 S. heterolepis. Culm 1 — 2f high, smooth ; Its. setaceous, somewhat convo- 

 lute, scabrous on the margins ; lower sheaths pubescent, upper ones smooth ; panicle 

 spreading, pyramidal, few-flowered ; glumes purplish, very unlike, outer one subuU- 

 form, inner one ovate, cuspidate, membranaceous in texture, 1-veined; pales ob- 

 long, obtuse, thin, a little shorter than the superior glume, tho lower 1- veined, api- 

 cnlato, tlio upper 2-Teined, shorter; sta. 3; anth. linear, reddish; fr. roundish, 

 smooth. — Conn, to Wise, not rare. Aug., Sept. (Vilfa, Gray.) 



4 S. jiinoeus Mich. Glaucous; culm erect, 1 — 2fhigh, terete, slender; Ivs. erect, 

 2 — fj" by 1", concave, convolute when dry, margin soabroua; sheaths much 

 fhortor tlian the internodes; stip. short; pan. oblong-pyramidal, branches verti- 

 cillate, about in Gs ; glumes purple, similar, lanceolate, acute, upper as long as tho 

 palcEB, tho lower twice shorter ; palea subequal; anth. and sty. whitish. — ![ Penn, 

 to Fior. and La., in barrens. Aug. — Oct. 



5 S. cryptdndnis Gray. Culm2 — Sfhigh; fc-5. broadly (2") linear, /ai; sheattis 

 bearded at tlie throat ; paniclo pj'ramidal, its baso enclosed by tho terminal sheath, 

 branches spreading, hairy in the axils ; th. bluisli ; pales subequal, as long as ih» 

 upper glume, twice longer than the lower. — Dry, sandy soils, "W. and S. States, 

 rare nortiiward. Aug. (Agr. & Vilfa cryptandra Ton-.) 



6 S. asper Kunth. Et white, fibrous ; culm stout, glabrous, geniculate at base, 

 2f liigli; las. rigid, involute, rough-edged, 2 — 8' by 1 — 3", tapering to a pungeni 

 point ; branches with short leaves, barren, also ending in a long, pungent point ; 

 sheatlis ciliate at edge and bearing dense tuftd of long, white haira at top; panicles 

 terminal and lateral, nearly enclosed in tlie long sheatlis; spikelets blackish-green; 

 lower glume very short, upper a little longer than the 2}aks ; fr. compressed, obo^ 

 vate J" in length. — y Ohio, (Sullivant) to 111. (AgrosL Mx. "Vilfa, Beauv.) 



7 S. longifolius. Culms slender, tufted, 2 — 3f high, from long fibrous roots; 

 ks. all involute, very long (1— 3f), tapering to a long thread-like point; panicla 



