GHAMINE^. (grass FAMILY.) 637 



42. LEPTtrBUS, E.Br. Leptokus. (PI. 11.) 



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

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

 palets. 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 XfjrTos, slender, and oiipd, tail.) 



1. L. paniculktus, Nutt. Stem slender (6' -20' long), naked and 

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

 spikes; glumes 2, transverse. — Open grounds and salt licks, Illinois (Mead), 

 and westward. Aug. 



43. l6lIUM, L. Dakhel. (PI. 11.) 



Spikelets many-flowered, solitary on each joint of the continuous rhaehis, 

 placed edgewise; the glume, except in the terminal spikelet, only one (the up- 

 per) and external: — otherwise nearly as in Triticum. (Ancient Latin name.) 



1. L. PERiuNE, L. ( Common Darnel, Eat- or KrE-GRASs. ) Eoot peren- 

 nial, glume shorter than the spikelet; flowers 8-15, awnless or sometimes short- 

 awned. — Fields and lots : eastward. June. — A pretty good pasture-grass. 

 (Nat. from Eu.) 



2. L. TEMULENTUM, L. (Bearded Darnel.) Eoot annual ; culm taller, 

 glume fully equalling the 5 - 7-flowered spikelet ; awn longer than the flower (J' long). 

 — Grain-fields : rare. — Grain noxious ; almost the only instance of the kind 

 among Grasses. (Adv. from Eu.) 



t 

 44. TKITICUM, L. Wheat. (PI. U.) 



Spikelets 3 - several-flowered, single at each joint, and placed with the side 

 against the rhaehis. Glumes transverse (i. e. right and left), nearly equal and 

 opposite, herbaceous, nerved. Lower palet very like the glumes, convex on the 

 back, pointed or awned from the tip : the upper flattened, bristly-ciliate on the 

 nerves, free, or adherent to the groove of the grain. Stamens 3. (The classical 

 name, probably from tritus, beaten, because the grain is threshed out of the 

 spikes. ) — The true species are annuals, with the glumes ovate-oblong, turgid 

 and boat-shaped, as in Common Wheat (T. vuloA.re). Others are perennial, 

 with nearly lanceolate glumes, and 2-ranked spikes, never furnishing bread-corn 

 (§ Agrqptron, Gsertn.) ; to which the following belong. Flowering in summer. 

 * Multiplying by long running rootstocks: aum shorter than the flower or none. 



1. T. ripens, L. (Couch-, Quitch, or Quick-Grass.) Spikelets 4-S- 

 flowered, glabrous or nearly so ; glumes 5 - 7-nerved ; rhaehis glabrous, but rough 

 on the edges ; awns when present straight ; leaves flat and often roughish or 

 pubescent above. — Nat. in cultivated grounds, flelds, &c., and very troublesome ; 

 indigenous northwestward. — Varies greatly. A tall form, rather bright green 

 (Var. nemorAle, Anderssou) bears awns nearly as long as the palet. A lower 

 form is glaucous and mostly awnless or nearly so. A maritime form (nearly 

 Var. interm|;dium. Fries, and approaching T. laxum, Fries, and T. acutum, 

 DC), collected by Prof. Tuckerman on the coast of Maine, is glaucous, rigid, with 



