48 POACEAE. 



10-15 cm. long, loose, nodding; branches in distant whorls, capillary, cernuous, 

 flower-bearing above the middle; spikelets 2-4-flowered, 6-7 mm. long without 

 the awn; lemma 3-4 mm. long, bearing an awn of about twice its length. 

 In open woods, common. 



Trisetum canescens Buckl. Much like T. cernuum, the leaf blades and 

 sheaths pubescent; nodes usually dark; panicle erect, 7-16 cm. long; lemma 

 7 mm. long. 



In coniferous woods. 



72. ERAGROSTIS. 



Annual or perennial grasses; inflorescence a contracted or 

 open panicle; spikelets many-flowered, more or less flattened; 

 glumes unequal, shorter than the lemmas, keeled, 1-nerved; 

 lemmas membranous, keeled, 3-nerved, awnless; palea shorter 

 than the lemmas, prominently 2-nerved or 2-keeled, usually 

 persisting on the rachilla after the lemma has fallen; grain free, 

 loosely enclosed in the lemma and palea. 



Eragrostis hypnoides (Lam.) BSP. Stems prostrate, creeping, much 

 branched from the base, forming dense circular mats; leaf blades 2-3 cm. long, 

 somewhat pubescent; sheaths loose, inflated, hairy; panicles very numerous, 

 pale green, dense, 2-4 cm. long, usually with their bases included in the upper- 

 most sheaths; spikelets oblong, 4-7 mm. long. 



On river banks, widely distributed; rare in our limits. 



73. CYNOSURUS. 



Annual or perennial cespitose grasses with flat leaves; spikelets 

 of two forms in small fascicles which form a dense somewhat 

 unilateral spike-like panicle; terminal spikelets of each fascicle 

 2-4-flowered, perfect, its rachilla jointed; lower spikelets sterile, 

 with many empty lemmas; glumes 2, narrow lanceolate, acute; 

 lemmas broader, membranous, 1-3-nerved, mucronate or awn- 

 pointed; empty lemmas of sterile spikelets spreading, subequal, 

 linear, 1-nerved; styles distinct, short; stigmas loosely plumose. 



Cynosurus cristatus L. Crested Dogstail. Stems erect, 30-60 cm. high; 

 leaves firm, 1-4 mm. wide, glabrous; panicle spike-like, 5-10 cm. long; spike- 

 lets both fertile and sterile in each cluster, the terminal one fertile; sterile 

 spikelet larger, the glumes and lemmas much narrower and very scabrous. 



Sparingly introduced from Europe. Seattle, Piper; Victoria, Fletcher. 



74. KOELERIA. 



Tufted perennial grasses with narrow leaves and densely 

 flowered spike-like panicles; spikelets 2-4-flowered; rachilla 

 articulated between the lemmas; glumes acute, subequal, keeled, 

 scarious on the margins; lemmas 3-nerved, keeled, acute; palea 

 hyaline, acute; grain free, enclosed in the lemma and palea. 



Koeleria cristata (L.) Pers. Perennial, the erect stems densely tufted, 

 30-70 cm. tall, usually glabrous; leaves narrow, commonly involute; panicle 

 dense, greenish or purplish, shining, 5-15 cm. long, often more or less inter- 

 rupted; spikelets 4—5 mm. long, 2-4-flowered. 



Dry soil, infrequent in our limits. A very variable widespread grass. 



