POLYPOGON GRAMINEiK 725 



JtGBOSTIS 



leaves flat, 2-6 inches long, 1-3 lines wide, somewhat scabroils : panicle 2-6 

 inches long oylindric or somewhat interrupted, yellowish, dense and soft : 

 empty glumes about 1 line long, obtuse, notched at the apex, bearing slen- 

 der awns 2-3 lines lonu; flowering glume much shorter, erose-truncate, 

 bearing a slender awn about J^ line long inserted below the tip. Common 

 in wet places, Brit. Columbia to Mexico and the itlantic States. 



P. littoralls Smith Comp. Fl. Brit. ed. 2, 13. Stems slender, from a 

 perennial root, 1-2 feet long, often decumbent and forming large tufts: 

 figulec l~3 lines long, acute : leaves narrow, scabrous on both sides : pani- 

 cle narrow; much lobed its whole length and sometimes completely inter- 

 rupted.below, often purplish : empty glumes scabrous, attenuate above into 

 an awn as long as the body : flowering glume much shorter than the enapty 

 ones," obtuse, 2-toothed at the apex : awn 1 line long. In wet places, Ore- 

 gon to California: also in Europe and South America. 



. *": ' ' 12 AGEOSTIS L. Sp. 6. 



Annual or perennial grasses with flat or involute leaves and 

 numerous flowers in more or less open panicles with whorled or 

 clustered ibrancljes. Spifeelets snaall, one-flowered or sometimes 

 with the rudiments of a second flower. Empty glumes somewhat 

 unequal, 'tlie lower usually longest, obtu^fe or aciite. membranous. 

 FljQw^g inpli^ly shorter than the empty glume?, with a very short 

 nafted'tase, Jr^Flowering glume very Ihin, 3-5-nerved, pointless, 

 naked, often 'bearing a slender straight awn on the back usually 

 much below; the ' apex. Palet obsolete, or present and shorter 

 than or equalling the ovary", rarely nearly as long as the glume. 

 Stamens mostly 3. Styles 2 distinct, short, with plumose, stigmas. 



_A.i;'i6|(ulralTls Trin. Agrost. ii, 116. St^ms slender, erect, 1-2 feet 

 hig^'lfidooth : deaths amoiith, shorter than the internod'es: upper ligules 

 aboWMiif^long'.: leaves flat, 4-6 inches long, smooth or nearly so :' panicle 

 2-6'iiK!'hiaC1cing, joose, very narrow, smopth and shining, the branches in 

 wh(jH^ of '6 below, in pairs of solitary above, very unequal : spikelets 1-1 J^ 

 lines long, mostly in pairs : empty glumes nearly equal, acute, 1-1 J^ lines 

 long^^owering glume acute, 5-nerved : palet about as long as the glume. 

 In mqist ground, .Alaska to Califoijpia. 



i^ii'ALBAL. Sp. 63. (Redtop.) Stems slen.dpr, erect, of ten decumbent 

 at'baae, 6i^30 inches high: sheaths smooth :: ligules short and truncate or 

 longiinid, acute : leaves 'flat, 4-12 inches long, smooth or rough: panicle 

 slendeii,'<2'^8 inches:' long; green, red or broWuish, itS'roughish branches 

 usualLjr spreading Ini flower and more or less contracted afterwards : empty 

 glutaea nearly ecjual, or the lower slightly longest: flowering glume very 

 thin, withj.^ome short hairs at base, shorter than the empty ones, rarely 

 with a short awn: palet J^^)^ as long as the glume. Common in meadows , 

 and \vast,e places. ^ ^ -, 



A.' exarata Trin. Unifl. 207. Stems 1-3 feet high, erect, sopaetinieB 

 decutnbemt at 'base, simple, glabrous: sheaths usually shorter than the 

 internodes: ligules 1-3 lines long: leaves 1-8 inches long, 1-4 lines wide, , 

 generally erect, flat or involute, scabrous : panicle contracted, 2-10 inches ' 

 lorig, often interrupted, its branches 1-3 inches long, erect or appressed : 

 spikelets crowded, 1-2 lines long: empty glumes subequal, scabrous: flow- 

 ering glume. J^-%;, line long: palet minute. In moist meadows and along 

 streams, Alaska to California and Nebraska. 



A. .asperlfolia Trin. Mem., Acad. St. Petersb. ser. 6, 331. Palegre.en 

 throughout or the inflorescence purplish: s.tems erect or slightly geniculate 

 belpwv nearly' smooth, 2t-3 feet high : .sheaths rather loose, smooth, the 



