632 GRAMiNE^. (grass family.) 



4. E. Pr^kii, Meyer. Much branched, diffuse (3'-8'high); panicle 

 ovate-oblong, rather dense, spreading; spikelets 2-5-Jlowered (1"-14" long), 

 on slender pedicels; glumes very acute; lower palet ovate, acute, rather obscurely 

 3-nerved. (E. erythrogona, Nees, from the joints of the culm being mostly 

 reddish.) — Low or sandy ground, S. Pennsylvania to Illinois, and south- 

 westward. Aug. 



5. E. Flirsliii, (Bernh. 1) Schrader. Sparingly branched at the decumbent 

 base, then erect ( J° - 2° high) ; panicle elongated, the branches widely spread- 

 ing, very loose ; spikelets 5 - 1 ^-flowered, oblong-lanceolate, at length linear 

 (2" -4^" long), mostly mitck shorter than their capillary pedicels ; glumes and lower 

 palet ovate and acute, or tke latter acutish, 3-nerved. (Poa tenellal Pursh. P. 

 Caroliniana, Spreng. P. pectinacea of authors, not of Michx.) — Sandy or 

 sterile open grounds. New Jersey to Virginia, and southward. 



■*- -t- Culms simple or branching only at the very base, firm, erect from an annual or 

 perennial root, mostly forming thick tujls: leaves vei'y long : panicle very large, 

 compound, often longer than the culm, with elongated and loosdy-flowered branches, 

 their axils often bearded. (Doubtful perennials, or No. 7 annual.) 



6. E. tenuis, Gray. Panicle virgately elongated [1°- 2^° long), yery loose, 

 the spreading branches bearded in some of the lower axils, their remote divisions 

 a,nA long diverging pedicels capillary; spikelets 2-6- (sometimes 7- 12-) flowered, 

 pale or greenish ; glumes lanceolate or awl-shaped, very acute ( 1 j" - 2" long), mem- 

 branaceous, as are the oblong-lanceolate acute Jiowers ; lower palet distinctly 3-nerved ; 

 the upper ciliate-scabrous- ( Poa tenuis, £//. P. capillaris, Afic/ir. P. trichodes, 

 Nutt. E. Geyeri, Steud.) — Sandy soil, Illinois, Virginia? and southi\ard. 

 Aug. - Oct. — Leaves rather rigid, 1 J° - 2° long, glabrous or sparingly hairy : 

 the sheaths hairy or glabrous ; the throat strongly bearded. Flowers much 

 larger than in the next, fully 1^" long. 



7. E. C£ipill^is, Nees. Panicle widely expanding, usually much longer 

 than the culm, its spreading branches (mostly naked in the axils) and long di- 

 veiging pedicels capillary ; spikelets rather terete, very small, 2 - 4-flowercd, green- 

 ish or purplish; glumes and flowers ovate, acute (less than 1" long) ; lower palet 

 obscurely 3-nerved, scarcely keeled ; the upper rough-ciliate. (Poa capillaris, L. 

 P. hirsiita, Michx. ) — Sandy dry soil and fields : common, especially southward. 

 Aug., Sept. — Leaves and sheaths very hairy, or nearly glabrous ; the former 

 about 1° long, not rigid. Panicle 1° - 2° long, soon diffuse. 



8. E. pectinacea, Gray. Panicle widdy diffuse, its rigid divergent main 

 branches bearded in the axils ; the capillary pedicels more or less oppressed on the 

 secondary branches; spikelets flat, 5- 15-flowered, becoming linear, purple or 

 purplish ; glumes and flowers ovate or oblong-ovate, acutish ; lower palet strongly 

 3-nerved; the upper hirsute-ciliate. (Poa pectinacea, JI/icAx., ex char. P. hirsuta, 

 of Amer. authors. E. Unionis & cognata Steud. ?) — Leaves long, rigid, mostly 

 hairy, the sheaths especially so. — Var. spectAbilis. Leaves and sheaths mostly 

 glabrous; branches of the panicle (the lower reflexed with age) and pedicels 

 shorter; spikelets rather larger. (E. spectabilis, £d. 1. Poa spectabilis, Pursh.) 



Sandy dry ground, from E. Mass. near the coast, and from Ohio and Illinois 



southward. Aug.- Oct. —Plant l°-30 high. Spikelets 2" - 3" loug, 1" wide, 

 closely flowered. 



