Order 156.— GRAMINEjE. 806 



2 to oD-flowered, arranged in several unilateral, digitate spikes ; glumes 

 carinate-compressed, the upper awned ; pales membranous, the lower 

 carinate-boat-shaped, acute-mucronato ; stamens 3 ; caryopsis free, 

 glabrous. 



D. Eg^pticum Willd. Culm geniculate and rooting below, ascending If to 

 18' ; slieatiis half as long as the internodes, smoothish; Ivs. ciliate at base, 6' by 

 3", more or less; spikes usually 4 (carinate), rachis muoronate at the naked tip; 

 spikelets 3-flowered, the upper sterile. — (i) Fields, common, Ta. to Fla. Jl. — Oct. 



60. SPARTrNA, Schreb. Mabsh Grass. (Gr. arrapTcov, a rope ; 

 from the resemblance of the creeping rhizomes ?) Spikes imbricated 

 in a double row on one side of the rachis, strictly 1-flowered, no rudi- 

 diment ; gl. laterally compressed, carinate, coriaceous, pointed or awned, 

 unequal ; pales subequal, awnless ; style or styles very long. — If Rigid, 

 chiefly maritime. Spikes in a raceme. 



§ Spikelets ^vith the upper glume decidedly awned jind Lispid No. 1 



S Spikelet unawned, or merely muoronate. — Styles united Nos. 2 



— Styles distinct Nos. 8, 4 



1 L. cynosuroides Willd. Culm slender, smooth, 3 to 4f; Its. 2 to 4f long, 

 sublinear, convolute and filiform at the end ; sheaths striate, glabrous ; pan. loose, 

 slender, composed of 5 to 12 alternate, one-sided, pedunculate spikes 2 to 3' long; 

 spkl. subloose-imbricated ; gl. acuminate, one of them with an awn about its own 

 length, the other about equaling the white pales. — Marshes, Can. to Fla. and west- 

 ward, about salt licks 1 A coarse, sedgy grass, not valuable. 



2 S. polyst^chya "Willd. Culm stout, thick, 4 to 8f, erect, smooth ; Its. smooth, 

 long, broadly linear; spikes numerous (20 to 50), stiff, suberect, subsessile ; spike- 

 lets coriaceous ; upper gl. barely mucronate, little longer than the unequal pales, 

 twice longer than the subulate lower glume. — Marshes, chiefly southward. The 

 hollow culm is often 8 or 9" thick. 



3 S. jlincea "Willd. Rt. creeping extensiTely; culm slender, smooth, 1 to 2f, 

 erect, rigid ; Its. couTolute, setaceous abOTO ; rigid ; sheaths very long ; spikes 

 few (3 to 6) 1' or more long, dense, subsessile ; fls. awnless ; gls. very unequal, 

 the upper little exceeding the pales, thrice longer than the lower glume ; the long 

 styles scarcely united. — Marshes along the coast. 



4 S. alternifolia Loisol. Soft Maesh Grass. Culm succulent, terete, 3 to 5f, 

 erect from long creeping roots ; Its. channeled, very smooth, continuous with the 

 open sheaths, often exceeding the culm; spikes 6 to 12 or more, appressed, ses- 

 sile, the radhis of each produced beyond the fls. to a subulate point ; gls. very 

 unequal, upper near twice longer, acute ; sty. nearly distinct — ^Salt marshes. It 

 is greedily eaten by cattle, has a strong, rancid smell and affects the milk made 

 of it. (Elliott). (S. glabra Muhl.) 



61. BOUTELOU^A, Lagasca. Spikelets sessile, in unilateral short 

 spikes ; glumes carinate, the upper one larger, shorter than the several 

 flowers ; lower flower perfect, upper ones abortive ; lower pale 3-cleft, 

 segments subulate, mucronate, in the t^ fl., conspicuously awned in the 

 short-stalked sterile ones ; stamens 3. (Atheropogon, Muhl. Eutriana, 

 Trin.) 



§ Spikes 20 to 40, very siort, in one long, unilateral raceme No. 1 



§ Spikes 1 to 5, longer, many-flowered, subterminal Nos. 2, 8 



1 B. curtipindula Gray. Culm 1 to 2f high, geniculate at base, ascending, 

 terete ; Ivs. linear-lanceolate, smoothish beneath, pilous above ; lig. short, trun- 

 cate; spikes 4 to 6" long, 20 to 40, on short, flat ped., thinly arranged in 2 lat- 

 eral rows, each with 4 to 8 spikelets ; spkl. 2-flowered arranged in 2 rows on the 

 under side of the flat, partial rachis ; gls. unequal, the lower awn-like and slightly 

 adhering to the rachis ; anth. 3, bright red ; fr. oblong; abortive fl. with its mid- 

 dle awn conspicuous. — U Mid. and W. States. Guilford Conn. (Bobbins). (A. 

 apludioides Muhl. Chloris curtipendula Mx.) 



