796 Oedbe 156.— GEAMINEiE. 



mamerous ^ikeUis which are 1 to 11-flowered and only IJ" long ; pales hyaline, 

 ovate, pointed, S-veined.-^D Car. to Ga. and La. (Poa couferta JBll.) The 2 pales 

 fall together. 



5 B. nitida. Gidm erect, glabrous and polished as well as the whole plant, 12 to 

 20'. Lvs. long, linear, involute when dry, with a few hairs at top of sheath ; 

 pan. diffuse, much longer than the culm ; pikelets lanceolate, about 8-flowered, 

 hyaline glumes and pales sharply serrulate on the keel. — 3) S. Car. and adjacent 

 islands. Jn. — Aug. (Poa nitida EU.) 



6 E. hlrsiita. Oulm subsimple, compressed, erect, 1 — 2f; lvs. lance-linear, attenu- 

 ate at end, surpassing the stem, hairy at base ; sheaths loose, longer than the inter- 

 nodes, lower ones hairy, upper ones smooth ; stip. fringed ; panicle very large, 

 capillary, branches spreading, reflexed in fruit, hirsute in the axils ; spikelets ob- 

 long, 2 to 3", purplish, 5 to 16-fiowered, long pedicelled ; pale ovate, acute, dis- 

 tinctly 3-veined, upper ciliate. — y Sandy fields, U. S. Jl., Aug. The rachis 

 never (?) becomes pectinate. (Poa hirsuta Mx.) — Varies with the lvs. and sheaths 

 nearly smooth and spikelets larger (P. spectabilis Ph.) Also with the whole pani- 

 cle, except the spikelets, hirsute like the axils. And thirdly, with the spikelets 

 racemously appressed along the branchlets (P. refracta Ell.) 



7 B. Plirshii Schrad. Culm decumbent at base, ascending G to 12 or 20' ; lvs. 

 subulate, 1 to 3' long, upper surface rough ; sheaths very hairy at throat ; pan. 

 long and loose, the lower branches, or all, hairy in their axUs; ped. capillary, 

 longer than the spiWefe which are lance-oblong; 5 to 12-flowered; pales merely 

 acute, purplish. — Q Dry fields, Md. to Ga., commap. Jl., Aug. (P. tenella ? Ph. 

 EU.) 



8 B. capill^ris Nees. Culm branched at base, smooth, 1 to 2f ; lvs. linear, at- 

 tenuated above, fiat, smooth ; sheaths striate, with long hairs about the throat 

 and margin ; stip. short; pan. very large (near a foot long) with diffusely spread- 

 ing, capfllary branches, axils not bearded, or the lower sUghtly ; spikelets ovate, 

 acute, about S-flowered, on rather rigid, long, capillary pedicels ; pales scabrous, 

 f" long, aatte, the 2 side veins scarcely visible. — :Dry grounds, U. S. Aug. 



9 E. trichodes. Culm simple, 12 to 20', erect; lvs. long (10 to 18"), rough, 

 thinly hairy, as well as the sheaths, throat with long hairs ; pan. rather longer than 

 culm, narrow, capillary, only the Jower axils bearded ; spikelets not colored, 2 to 

 5 (mostly 3)-flow6red ; pales and gls. hyaline, diistincUy 3-veined, lanceolate, 1 J" 

 long. — 2f Sandy soils, S. and W. States. (P. trichodes Nutt. P. tenuis Ell.) 



10 B. erythrogona ITees. Oidms very branching, in tufts, ascending 3 to 10' ; 

 joints a narrow red ring ; lvs. narrow, convolute when dry, the upper about equal- 

 mg the oblong, rather dense panicle ; spikelets 2 to 5 (mostly 3)-flowered, 1 to 1-J-" 

 long, bluish ; gls. lanceolate ; pales ovate, aU aaute and, nearly veinless. — CO Waste 

 and cultivated grounds, Penn. (Jackson) to 111. and South. Whole plant bluish. 



40. PO^A, L. Spear Grass. Meadow Gkass. (Gr. Troa, grass.) 

 Spikelets 2 to 5 (rarely 9)-flowered, compressed ; glumes subequal, point- 

 less, shorter than the contiguous flowers ; pales herbaceous, soft-awnless, 

 the lower compressed-carinate, S-veined, usually clothed on the veins 

 below with a cobweb-like, matted wool, the upper pale bicarinate ; stio-*- 

 mas simply plumous ; caryopsis free. — Smooth grasses with soft flat lvs., 

 the fls. paniculate. 



^ BrnDclies of the panicle in 2s, Ss, or often single. (*) 



* Flowers not wetbed, merely pubescent on the back, (a) 



a Annual. Panicle dense with subsessile spikelets No 1 



a Pevcnnial. Panicle loose, spikelets long-pedlcellate ijos 2 8 



' Flowers ■webbed.— Spikelets mostly 2-flowered, 2". Pan. very slender '.'.'.... No 4 



—Spikelets mostly 2-flowered,— many, panicle diffuse .Nos. 6 6 



— few (4 to 8). Mountains No! 7 



„_ , ... . —Spikelets mostly 5-flowered, ovate, short-pedioellod Noa 8 9 



H Branches of the panicle in about Ss, half-whorled. (b) ' 



b Spikelets 2 to 4-fiowered,— obtuse, pedicellate, loose No 10 



, o ., ,x m 1.1 , —noute, pedicellate, very loose .'. "JTos ll' 18 



b Spikelets 8 to 6-flowered, subsessile in rather dense panicles Nos! IsJ 14 



1 P. dnnua L. Anhual Spbab Grass. Culms decumbent and rooting at the 



