GRAMINE^. (grass FAMILY.) 557 



26. DIARRHENA, Raf. Diabkhena. 



Spikelets seyeral-flowerecl, smooth and shining, one or two of the upponnost 

 flowers sterile. Glumes ovate, much shorter than the flowers, coriaceous ; the 

 lower one much smaller. Lower palea ovate, convex on the back, rigidly cori- 

 aceous, its 3 nerves terminating in a strong and abrupt cuspidate or awl-shaped 

 tip. SquamulsB ovate, ciliate. Stamens 2. Grain very large, obliquely ovoid, 

 obtusely pointed, rather longer than the palese, the cartilaginous shining peri- 

 carp not adherent to the seed. — A nearly smooth perennial, with running root- 

 stocks, producing simple culms (2° -3° high) with long linear-lanceolate flat 

 leaves towards the base, naked above, bearing a few short-pedicelled spikelets (" 

 long) in a very simple panicle. (Name composed of Sis, two, and &ppr]V, man, 

 from the two stamens.) 



1. D. Americana, Beauv. (Testuca diandra, MJcAi.) — Shaded river- 

 banks and woods, Ohio to Illinois and southward. August. 



27. DACTYIilS, L. Cock's-eoot or Orchard Grass. 



Spikelets several-flowered, crowded in one-sided clusters, fonning a branching 

 dense panicle. Glumes and lower palea herbaceous, keeled, awn-pointed, rongh- 

 ciliate on the keel; the 5 nerves of the latter converging into the awn-like point; 

 the upper glume commonly smaller and thinner. Stamens 3. Grain lance- 

 oblong, acute, free. — Pereimials ; leaves keeled. (Name 8aKTv\is, a finger't 

 breadth, apparently in allusion to the size of the clusters.) 



1. D. glomekAta, L. Rough, rather glaucous (3° high); leaves broadly 

 linear ; branches of the panicle naked at the base ; spikelets 3 - 4-flowered. — 

 Kelds and yards, especially in shade.* June. — Good for hay. (Nat. from Eu.) 



28. KtEIiERIA, Fers. Koelsbia. 



Spikelets 3 - 7-flowered, crowded in a dense and narrow spike-like panicle. 

 Glumes and lower palea membranaceous, compressed-keeled, obscurely 3-nerved, 

 barely acute, or the latter often mucronate or bristle-pointed : the former moder- 

 ately unequal, nearly as long as the spikele,t. Stamens 3. Grain free. — Tufted 

 Grasses (allied to Dactylis and Poa), with simple upright culms ; the sheaths 

 often downy. (Named for Prof. Kohkr, an early writer on Grasses.) 



1. K. cristatai Pers. Panicle narrowly spiked, interrupted or lobed a) 

 the base ; spikelets 2 - 4-flowered ; lower palea acute or mucronate ; leaves flat, 

 the lower sparingly hairy or ciliate. — Var. okAcilis, with a long and narrow 

 spike, the flowers usually barely acute. (K. nitida, Nutt.) — Dry hills, Penn. to 

 Illinois, thence northward and westward. (Eu.) 



29. EATOIfIA, Eaf. (KESotLEA., Kunth, not of Raddi.) 



Spikelets nsually 2-flowered, and with an abortive rudiment or pedicel, nn- 

 merous in a contracted or slender panicle, very smooth. Glumes somewhat 

 equal in length, but very dissimilar, a little shorter than the flowers ; the lower 

 narrowly lineai', keeled, l-nerved ; the upper broadly obovate, folded round the 



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