Order 156 — GRAMINE^. 775 



6. A. eiata Triu. Tallisr Tiiik Grass., Gidm erect, rigid, thin, simple, rather 

 stout, 2—3fhigh, leafy; Ivs. broadly (1—2") linear, scabrous, flat, G— 8' long, the 

 sbeaths scarcely smooth ; panicle purple, contracted, with long, whorled, erect- 

 spreading branches dense-flowered half their length; glumes lanceolate, ly, the 

 the upper a little longer than the 5-veined pale.— Swamps, N. Jer. to Ga., Ala. and 

 Ky. (Jackson).— Jl., Aug. (T. elatum Ph. A, altissimum Tuckm.) 



5. SPOROB'OLUS Brown. Drop-seed Grass. (Gr. anopd, seed, 

 BdXXu, to cast.)^ — Spikelets 1-flowered ; glumes 2, unequal, the lower 

 smaller ; fl. sessile ; paleoB 2, beardless, awnlcss, usually exceeding the 

 glumes, the upper 2-keeled; stam. 2 or 3 ; stig. plumous with simple 

 hairs ; caryopsis free, often with a loose pericarp, deciduous. — Tough, 

 wiry grasses with mostly rolled and rigid leaves and the panicles more 

 or less contracted. 



I ViLiA. Grain (caryopsis) linoar-cylindrio. Glumes suboqiLil Nos. 1, 2 



§ SroEOBOLus. Grain oval or globous. some loose in the pericarp. (*) 



* Glumes very untqual, one of them as long as the palcK. (a) 



a Panicle open and stallced, pyramidal j^os. 3 4 



a Panicle sheathed at the base more or less ', Nos' 5* 6 



* Glumes somewhat equal, both shorter than the paleae. (b)' ' 



b Panicle contracted and spike-like, sheathed or not Nos. 7 S 



b Panicle open and stalked, long and raceme-like .*.'!!.'.'.".'Nos. 9 'lO 



1 S. Virginious Beauv. Culms numerous, assurgent, procumbent and hairy at 

 base, branched, about a foot long; Ivs. somewhat 2-rowed, involute, rigid, erect 

 2 — 3' long, with smooth sheaths which are hairy at the throat and swollen with 

 the enclosed panicles; panicles spike-form, terminal and lateral, the lateral ones 

 concealed; glumes nearly equal, nearly as long as the subequal palem. — y Sandy 

 soils. Middle and S. States. — Sept., Oct. (Agrost. L.) 



2 S. vaginaeflorus Torr. Culms simple, ascendiugr slender, forming tufts 6 — 12' 

 high; Ivs. involute-subulate, rather rigid, short (2— 4'); panicles contracted, spike 

 form, lateral and terminal, mostly concealed in the sheaths; glumes about equal, 



and equaling the subequal pales; caryopsis linear, a third shorter than the pales. 



® Dry, gravelly fields, IT. S. more common "W. and S. (Agr. Muiil. Crypsis, Nutt.) 



3 S. heterolepis. Culm 1— 2f high, smooth ; Ivs. setaceous, somewhat convo- 

 lute, scabrous on the margins ; lower sheatlis pubescent, upper ones smooth ; panicle 

 spreading, pyramidal, few-flowered ; glumes purplish, very urdiJce, outer one subuli- 

 form, inner one ovate, cuspidate, membranaceous in texture, 1-veined- pales ob- 

 long, obtuse, thin, a little shorter than the superior glume, the lower 1-veined, api- 

 culate, the upper 2-veiued, shorter; sta. 3; anth. linear, reddish; fr.- roundish 

 smooth. — Conn, to Wise, not rare. Aug., Sept. (Tilfa, Gray.) 



4 S. jtinoeus Mich. Glaucous; culm erect, 1 — 2fhigh, terete, slender; Ivs. erect 

 2 — 6" by 1", concave, convolute when dry, margin scabrous; sheaths much 

 shorter than the internodes; stip. short; pan. oblong-pyramidal, branches verti- 

 cillate, about in 6s ; glumes purple, similar, lanceolate, acute, upper as long as the 

 palese, the lower twice shorter ; palea subequal ; anth. and sty. whitish. — 2f Penn. 

 to Plor. and La., in barrens. Aug. — Oct. 



5 S. crsrptdndrus Gray. Culm 2 — 3fhigh; Ivs.hTo&dlj {2") linear, flat; sheaths 

 bearded at the throat ; panicle pyramidal, its base enclosed by the terminal sheath 

 branches spreading, hairy in the axils; fls. bluish; pales subequal, as long as the 

 upper glume, twice longer than the lower. — Dry, sandy soils, W. and S. States, 

 rare northward. Aug. (Agr. & Vilfa cryptandra Ton-.) 



6 S. asper Kunth. Rt. white, fibrous ; culm stout, glabrous, geniculate at base, 

 d, involute, rougJi-edged, 2 — 8' by 1 — 3", tapering to a pungent 



2f high; Ivs. rigid, involute, rough-edged, 2 — 8 by 1 — 3", tapering ; 

 point ; branches with short leaves, barren, also ending in a long, pungent point ; 

 sheaths ciliate at edge and bearing dense tufts of long, white hairs at top; panicles 

 terminal and lateral, nearly enclosed in the long sheaths; spikelets blackish-green; 

 lower glume very short, upper a little longer than the pales ; fr. compressed, obo- 

 vate J" in length. — y Ohio, (SuUivant) to 111. (Agrost. Mx. Vilfa, Beauv.) 

 7 S. longifdlius. Culms slender, tufted, 2 — 3f high, from long fibrous roots ; 

 Ivs. all involute, very long (1 — 3f), tapering to a longf thread-like point; panidt 



