GRAMINE^. (GKASS FAMILY.) 565 



stroni/lij 3-nerved; the upper hirsute-ciliate. 1). 1 (Poa pectinacea, Michx., ex char. 

 P. Virginica, Zucc. 1 P. hirsuta, Amer. auth., not of Michx. E. Unionis & 

 cognata, Steud.l) — Leaves long, rigid, mostly hairy, the sheaths especially so. 

 — Var. speotAbilis. Leaves and sheaths mostly glahrons ; branches of the 

 panicle (the lower reflexed with age) and pedicels mostly shorter; spikelets 

 rather larger. (E. spectabilis, ed. 1. Poa spectabilis, Pwsh.) — Sandy dry 

 ground, from E. Massachusetts southward near the coast, and from Ohio and 

 Illinois southward. Aug.-Oct. — Plant l°-3° high. Spikelets lJ"-3" long, 

 about 1 " wide, closely flowered. 



33. BBIZA, L. QvAEiNa Grass. 



Spikelets many-flowered, ovate or heart-shaped, flattish-tumid ; the flowers 

 closely imbricated. Glumes roundish, unequal (purple). Lower palea round- 

 ish and entire, flattened parallel with the glumes, ventricoso on the back, heart- 

 shaped at the base, papery-membranaceous and becoming dry, scarious-niar- 

 gined, obscurely many-nerved ; the upper palea very much smaller, ovate, flat. 

 Stamens 3. Stigmas branched-pluraose. Grain flattened parallel with the palciE, 

 adhering to the upper one. — Leaves flat. Panicle loose, diffuse, with the large 

 and showy spikelets often drooping on delicate pedicels (whence the name, an 

 ancient Greek appellation for some kind of grain, from /3pif<B, to slumber (Linn.), 

 or ^pida, to bend downwards). 



1. B« Mi)DiA, L. Panicle erect, the branches spreading; spikelets 5-9- 

 flowered (3" long); glumes shorter than the lower flowers. 11 — Pastures; 

 sparingly in E. Massachusetts and in Penn. June. (Adv. from Eu.) 



B. mAxima, L., an annual with much larger and many-flowered spikes, is 

 occasionally cultivated for ornament. 



36. FESTtJCA, L. Pesctje-Gkass. 



Spikelets 3 - many-flowered, panicled or racemose ; the flowers not webby at 

 the base. Glumes unequal, mostly keeled. Paleie chartaceous or almost coria- 

 ceous, roundish (not keeled) on the back, more or less 3-5-nerved, acute, 

 pointed, or often bristle-awned, rarely blunt; the upper mostly adhering at 

 maturity to the enclosed grain. Stamens mostly 3. — Flowers, and often the 

 leaves, rather dry and harsh. (An ancient Latin name.) 



* Flowers bristle-pointed or awned from the tip : panicle 'acemose-eontracfcd. 



1. F. teuclla, Willd. Panicle spike-like, somownat one-sided (2' -3' 

 long); spikelets 7 -9-Jlowered; awn of the involute-awl-shaped palea slender ; leaves 

 bristle-form, (i) — Dry sterile soil; not rare. July. — Culms very slender, 

 6' -12' high. 



2. F. ovina. (Sheep's Fescue-Grass.) Panicle nan-ow ; spikelets 2- 



%-flowered ; aum much shorter than the lanceolate palea, or almost wanting ; leaves 



convolute-filiform; culms 6' -15' high, forming dense-rooted tufts. U— N- E. 



New England, Lake Superior, and northwai-d. — Var. vivfpARA (which with us 



has running rootstocks), with the spikelets partially converted into leafy shoots, 



is found on the alpine summits of the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and 



hiah northward. (Eu.) 

 " 48 



