Genus 38. 



GRASS FAMILY. 



Alpine Foxtail. 



4. Alopecurus pratensis L. Meadow Foxtail. 

 Fig. 461. 



Alopecurus pratensis L. Sp. PI. 60. 1753. 



Nearly or quite glabrous, slender, culms i°-2i° tall, 

 erect, simple. Sheaths usually much shorter than the 

 internodes, loose or somewhat inflated; ligule about i" 

 long, erose-truncate ; blades ii'-3l' long, i"-3" wide, 

 scabrous, at least above; spikes ii'-2i' in length, 4"-6" 

 thick; outer scales of the spikelet united at the base for 

 about one^quarter their length, 2"-$' long, acute, gla- 

 brous except the sparingly pubescent lateral nerves and 

 the strongly ciliate keel; third scale slightly shorter, ob- 

 tuse, smooth and glabrous, the awn inserted about quarter 

 way up the scale and exceeding it. 



In meadows, Newfoundland to southern New York, New 

 Jersey and Ohio. Naturalized from Europe. June-July. 



5. Alopecurus alpinus J. E. Smith. 

 Fig. 462. 



Alopecurus alpinus J. E. Smith, Engl. Bot. pi. 1126. 1803. 



Culms glabrous and smooth or nearly so, s'-2° tall, erect, 

 sometimes decumbent at the base, simple. Sheaths generally 

 shorter than the internodes, loose, often inflated; ligule 

 1 "-2" long, rounded at the apex; blades i'-j' long, I "-3" 

 wide, smooth beneath, slightly scabrous above; spike ii' in 

 length or less, 3"-6" thick; outer scales of the spikelet 

 united only at the base, 2" long, obtuse, villous and ciliate; 

 third scale about equalling the outer ones, obtuse, glabrous 

 except at the villous apex, the awn inserted about one-third 

 the way up, a little exceeding the scale. 



Greenland and Labrador to Alaska. Also in arctic and alpine 

 Europe and Asia. Summer. 



39. PHIPPSIA R. Br. Suppl. App. Parry's Voy. 

 285. 1824. 



A low annual tufted grass, with flat leaf-blades and spike-like panicles. Spikelets 

 l-flowered ; scales 3 ; the 2 outer empty, minute, the first often wanting ; the third scale thin- 

 membranous, keeled. Palet somewhat shorter, 2-keeled. Stamen 1, rarely 2 or 3. Styles 

 short, distinct. Stigmas plumose. Grain oblong, enclosed in the scale and palet, which 

 readily split and allow it to drop out. [In honor of John Constantine Phipps, 1744-1792, 

 Arctic navigator.] 



A monotypic genus of the arctic regions. 



i. Phippsia algida (Soland.) R. Br. Phipp- 

 sia. Fig. 463. 



Agrostis algida Solander, in Phipps' Voy. 200. 1810. 

 Phippsia algida R. Br. Suppl. App. Parry's Voy. 285. 

 1824. 



Smooth and glabrous throughout, culms i'-s' 

 tall, erect, simple; ligule i" long; blades 1' in 

 length or less, l"-i" wide, obtuse; panicle J'-ii' 

 in length, contracted; branches i'-f long, erect or 

 appressed; spikelets i"-i" long; outer scales mi- 

 nute, unequal, acutish, the first often wanting; 

 third scale broad, i-nerved, obtuse, or sub-trun- 

 cate and somewhat erose, the palet about two- 

 thirds as long, broad, 2-keeled, erose-truncate. 



Arctic and alpine regions of both the Old World 

 and the New. Summer. 



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