542 GRAMINE^. (OKASS FAMILT.') 



the lateral and often the terminal concealed in the sheaths ; palac somewhat equal, 

 about the length of the nearly equal glumes ; only one third longer than the lineal 

 grain. (Agrostis Virginica, Muhl., not of L. Crj'psis Virg., Nutt.) — Ban'en 

 and sandy dry fields, New England to Illinois, and common southward. Sept. 



3. v. Virg^inica, Beauv. Root perennial ; culms tufted, slender (5' -12' 

 long), often procumbent, branched ; leaves coivolute ; paleie rather shoiter than 

 the nearly equal acute glumes. (Agrostis Virginica, i.) — Sandy sea-shore, 

 "Virginia ( Clngton) and southward. — Spikelets much smaller and more numer- 

 ous than in the last. 



6. SPOKOBOLiUS, R. Brown. Drop-seed Geass. 



Spikelets 1- (rarely 2-) flowered, in a contracted or open panicle. Flowers 

 nearly as in Vilfa; the palese longer than the unequal glumes. Stamens 2-3. 

 Grain a globular utricle (hyaline or rarely coriaceous), containing a loose seed, 

 deciduous (whence the name, from ajropa, seed, and iSaXXtu, to cast forth], 

 * Glumes very unequal: panicle pyramidal, open. 



1. S. jiinceus, Kunth. icaues inra/ute, nan-ow, rigid, the lowest elongat- 

 ed; culm (l°-2°high) naked above, bearing a narrow loose panicle; glumes 

 ovate, rathe?' obtuse, the lower one half as long' as, the upper equalling, the nearly 

 equal palece. IJ. (Agrostis juncea, Michx. Vilfa juncoa, Trin.) — Dry soil, 

 Pennsylvania to Wisconsin, and (chiefly) southward. Aug. — Spikelets 1" -2" 

 long, shining. 



2. S. lietci'61epis. Leaves involute-threadform, rigid, the lowest as long 

 as the culm (l°-2°), which is naked above; panicle very loose; glumes very 

 unequal ; the lower awl-shaped (or bristle-pointed from a broad base) and some- 

 what shorter, the upper ovate-obhng and taper-pointed and longer, than the equal 

 palece. 1). (Vilfa heterolepis. Gray.) — Dry soil, Connecticut, N. New York, 

 Ohio, and Wisconsin. Aug. — Plant exhaling an unpleasant scent (SuUivant), 

 stouter than the last, the spikelets thrice larger. Utricle spherical (1" in diam- 

 eter), shining, thick and coriaceous ! 



3. S. cryptandrns. Leaves flat, pale (2" wide) ; the pyramidal panicle 

 bursting from the upper sheath which usually encloses its base, its spreading 

 branches hairy in the axils ; upper glume lanceolate, rather acute, twice the length of 

 the lower one, as long as the nearly equal palese ; sheaths strongly bearded at the 

 throat. U ? (Agr. & Vilfa cryptandra, Ibir.) — Sandy soil, Buffalo, New York, 

 to Illinois, and south and westward. Ipswich, Massachusetts, Oakes. Aug. — 

 Culm 2° - 3° high. Panicle lead-color : spikelets small. 



# # Glumes almost equal, shorter than the broad palece : panicle racemose-elongated, 

 open, the pedicels capillary : sheaths naked at the throat : spikelets not unfiequently 

 2-flowered. (Colpodium ?) 



4. S. coniprCsSUS, Kunth. Very smooth, leafy to the top ; culms tufted, 

 stout, very flat ; sheaths flattened, much longer than the intemodes ; /cores erect, 

 naiTow, conduplicate-channelled ; glumes acutish, about one third shorter tliar 

 the obtuse palcai. U (Agrostis comprcssa, Torr. Vilfa, Trin.) — Bogs in the 

 pine barrens of New Jersey. Sept. — Forming strong tussocks, l°-2° high, 

 Panicle 8' - 12' long : spikclot.s 1" long, purplish. 



