568 graminejE. (grass family.) 



the lowest perfect and monandrous. — Shaded rich hill-sides, S. Penn. to Illiuuig 

 and southward. Aug. — Culm 2° - 4° high : panicle loose. 

 * * Spikeleis small: panicle contracted and wand-Uhe: perfect flowers long-pmnted. 

 3. U. gracilis, Michx. Spikeleis short-pedicdled (2" -3" long), broadly 

 wedge-shaped, acute at the base, i-Sflmvered: the flowers ovate and divergent- 

 ly beaked, long, the lowest one neutral. — Sandy soil, from Long Island to Vir- 

 ginia, near the coast, and southward. Aug. — Culm 3° high, slender. 



39. PIlRAOintTES, Trin. Eeed. 



Spikelets 3 - 7-flowercd ; the flowers rather distant, silky-viUous at their base, 

 and with a conspicuous silky-bearded rhachis, all perfect and 3-androus, except 

 the lowest, which is cither neutral or with a single stamen, and naked. Glumes 

 membranaceous, shorter than the flowers, lanceolate, keeled, sharp-pointed, very 

 unequal. Palese membranaceous, slender ; the lower narrowly awl-shaped, 

 thrice the length of the upper. SquamnliE 2, large. Styles long. Grain free. 

 — Tall and stout perennials, with numerous broad leaves, and a large terminal 

 panicle. ($pay/iiV>)r, growing in hedges, which this aquatic Grass does not.) 



1. P. coniinunis, Trin. Panicle loose, nodding; spikelets 3-5-flow- 

 ercd; flowers equalling the wool. (Avundo, L.) — Edges of ponds and swamps ; 

 common northward. Sept. — Looks like Broom-corn at a distance, 5°-12° 

 high : leaves 2' wide. (Eu.) 



40. ABUNDINARIA, Michx. Cane. 



Spikelets flattened, 5- 14-flowered; the flowers somewhat separated on the 

 jointed rhachis. Glumes very small, membranaceous, the upper one larger. 

 Paleae herbaceous or somewhat membranaceous ; the lower convex on the back, 

 not keeled, many-nerved, tapering into a mucronate point or bristle. Squamulse 

 3, longer than tlie ovary. Stamens 3. Gi'ain oblong, free. — Ai-borescent or 

 shrubby Grasses, simple or with fascicled branches, and with large spikelets in 

 panicles or racemes ; the flowers polygamous, viz. perfect and staminate. (Name 

 formed from arundo, a reed.) 



1. A. macrospernia, Michx. Spikelets (IJ' -3' long) rather few in a 

 simple panicle, sometimes solitary on a slender peduncle ; leaves linear-lanceo-- 

 late, pubescent beneath : — in the Small Cane i' - 1 ' wide, in the Tall Cane 

 1 ' - 2' wide. Culm of the latter sometimes 20° - 35°, in cane-brakes ; but it very 

 rarely blossoms. — In rich soil, Virginia, Kentucky, and southw.ard. April. 



41. LiEPTlIKUS, R.Brown. Leptukds. 



Spikelets solitary on each joint of the filiform rhachis, and partly immersed 

 in the excavation, 1-2-flowered. Glumes 1-2, including the 2 thin pointless 

 palcjE. Stamens 3. Grain free, oblong-linear, cylindrical. — Low and branch- 

 ing, often procumbent Grasses, chiefly annuals, with narrow leaves and slender 

 spikes (whence the name, from XtnTos, slender, and ovpa, tail). 



1. 1..? paniCUlsiUlS, Nutt. Stem slender (6'-20' long), naked and 

 curved above, bearing 3-9 racemosely disposed thread-like and triangular 



