PANicDM GKAMINEiE 719 



minate only. Glumes 4, the 3 lower membranous, empty or th6 

 third with a staminate flower, the fourth chartaceous, shining, 

 enolosing a palet of similar texture and a perfect flower. Sta- 

 mens 3. Styles distinct. Stigmas plumose. Grain free, enclos- 

 ed in the hardened fruiting glume. 



_ * Spikelets in paifja, one sessile the other pedicelled, crowded on one \ 

 side of simple flattened branches which are digitately clustered at the 

 top of the stem : lower flowpr neutral, ot a single palet. 



P. BANGUiNALB L. Sp. 67, Stems erect or decumbent, 1-3 feet long; 

 often rooting at ;the lower nodes, smooth : leaves 2'-6 inches long, 2-4 lines 

 broad, acuminate : spikes 3-10, narrowly linear, 2-6 inches long, digitate or 

 in approximate whorls at the summit of the stem : rachis flat, margined: 

 spikelets lanceolate, acute. In fields and: waste places throughout North 

 America and Europe except the extreme north. ^ 



• Spikelets disposed in panicles, awnless. 



■t- Annual. ' ' 



P. capilare L. Sp. 58. Stem erect or deduMbent, 1-2 feet long, sim- 

 ple or sometimes branched: sheaths pilose-hirsute : lea; ves 6-12 inches 

 long, 3-8 lines broad, more or less pubescent : terminal panicle 3-14 inches 

 long, its lower branches at first included in the upper sheaths, finally ex- 

 serted and widely spreading, 2-10 inches long : spikelets l-lJi lines long, 

 acuminate. In ^ry soil, throughout most ' parts of North America and 

 Europe. 



■*- ■■*- Perennials. 



P pnbescens Lam. 'Encybl.^i*;'748i Stems at first erect and simple, 

 later profusely branched and leaning or ascending : sheaths hirsute to 

 villous, often papillose: leaves rounded-truncate or often narrowed at base, 

 those of the stem 2-3 inches long, those of the branches much shorter : 

 primary panicle less than 3 inches long, ovoid, the branches ascending: 

 s pikelets hardly a line long, pubescent. In dry eoU, eastern Washington 

 to the Eastern States. " , 



P. dichotomnm L. Sp 58. Smooth and glabrous or the lower nodes 

 bearded : stems erect, 6-24 inches high, at first simple, later profusely di- 

 chotomously branched at about the middle: leaves light green, generally 

 much narrowed toward the base, the primary ones distant, 2-3 inches long 

 by 2-3 lines broad, those of the branches much smaller, sometimes invo- 

 lute : primary panicle usually long-exserted 1-2 inches long, the branches 

 loose and spreading, bearing few glabrous ellipsoid spikelets about sU line 

 long. In dry woodlands, Washington to the Eastern States. 



P< Scribnerlannm Nash Bull. Torr^ Bot; Club* xxii, 421. Stems 

 erect, 6-24 inches high, simple or later iii the season dichotomously branch- 

 ed above, sparingly pubescent: sheaths shortly papillose-hispid, sometimes 

 glabrate: leaves 2-4 inches long, 3-% lines broad, rounded or truncate at 

 base,, acuminate, more or less spreading, smooth above, scabrous beneath : 

 panicles small, the primary qniH exserted, ovoid, 1-3 inches long, its bran- 

 ches spreading 8-12 lineS Ibt^g, often flexuous : spikelets turgid obovoid, 

 about 1}4 lines long. In dry or moist! soil, eastern Washington to the 

 Eastern States. 



P.^ Scoparlnm Lam. Encycl. iv, 744. ? Stems spreading! 6-24 inches 

 long, geniculate at the lower nodes and at length branched : leaves lanceo- 

 late, 3-5 inches long, 4-6 lines" broad, mostly erect and somewhalt rigid; 

 hairy beneath and fringed with spreading hairs. at base: sheaths hairy 

 panicle 2-3 inches long nearly &im'ple,llhe simple branches beaming a few. 



