162 



GitAMlJsrfiAE (grass l^iMILY) 



175. F. ovina. 

 Spikelet x 5, 



5-10 cm. long, branches ascending; spikelets 5-7.5 mm. long, 

 •3-6(rarely 9)-flowered, usually pale ; florets rather close ; lemma 

 smooth or slightly scabrous, 3-3.5 mm. long, attenuate into an 

 awn 1 mm. long or more. — Occurs native in nearly typical form 

 about the Great Lakes and in the White Mts. ; also introduced 

 from Eu. Fig. 175. — The native form tends to have a strict narrow 

 panicle, differing in this respect from the typical European plant. 

 Var. HispfDDLA Hack. Lemmas hirsute. — Sparingly introduced, 

 N. Y. and Pa. (Eu.). Var. capillXta (Lam.) Hack. Lemma 

 awnless ; leaves very slender. — Me. to N. J., Mich., and northw. 

 (Nat. from ISu.) Var. BREvirbnA (E. Br.) Hack. Culms 5-10 

 cm. high ; sheaths closed ; blades soft. — Calcareous cliffs, Nfd., 

 e. Que., Vt., and northw. Var. duriiJscdla (L.) Koch. Leaf- 

 blades thick, flattened, 0.7-1 mm. wide. — Sparingly introduced, 

 Wis. and la. (Adv. from Eu.) 

 7. F. BLiTioE L. (Taller or Meadow Fescde.) Loosely tufted, often 

 with short creeping roptstocks ; cul. is erect, 5-12 dm. high, smooth ; blades 

 1-6 dm. long, 4-8 mm. wide, scabrous above ; panicle erect, 

 1-2 dm, long, contracted after blooming, branches spikelet- 

 bearing nearly to the base; spikelets 9-11 mm. long ; glumes 

 lanceolate ; lemma oblong-lanceolate, scabrous at the summit, 

 the scarious apex acute, rarely short-awned. (F. pratensis 

 Huds.) — Meadows and waste places, throughout the U. S. 

 and s. Can. June-Aug. (Nat. from Eu.) Fig. 176. 

 U 8. F. nutans Spreng. Culms solitary or few, erect, 4-12 

 dm. high ; sheaths glabrous or pubescent ; blades 1-3 dm. 

 long, 4-7 mm. wide, scabrous, sometimes puberulent above ; 

 panicle very loose, 1-2 dm. long, usually subsecund, and 

 more or less nodding, branches spikelet-bearing near the 

 ends, at first erect, finally spreading ; spikelets 3-5-flowered, 

 5-7 mm. long ; glumes firm, the first 3 mm., the second 4 mm. long ; lemma 

 smooth, oblong-ovate, subacute, the narrow margin hyaline. — 

 Moist woods and copses, N. S. to Minn., and south w. June, 

 July. Fig. 177. 



9. F. Sh6rtii Kunth. Similar to the preceding ; panicle more 

 compact, the branches spikelet-bearing from about the middle; 

 the glames slightly longer; the lemma broader, more obtuse. — 

 Wet prairies. 111., la., Kan., and southw. 



10. F. GiGANTi;A (L.) Vill. Culms 6-12 dm. high; blades 

 1.2—4 dm. long, 5-15 mm. wide, paler and roughened on the 

 upper surface, margins very scabrous ; panicle 1-4 dm. long, at 

 length spreading, somewhat drooping ; spikelets 10-13 mm. long, 



glumes hyaline-margined; lemma sparsely scabrous, bidentate 

 at the scarious apex, bearing an awn more than twice as long. — Waste places, 

 near the coast. Me. to N. Y., rare. (Adv. from Eu.) 



176. p. elatior x 1% 

 Spikelet, floret, and 



base of lemma 



(opened). 



177. F. nutans. 

 Spikelet X 8. 



5-9-flowered 



76. BR6MUS L. Brome Grass 



Spikelets few-many-flowered ; glumes unequal, acute, 1-5-nerved ; lemmas 

 longer than the glumes, convex or sometimes keeled, 5-9-nerved, usually 

 2-toothed at the apex, awnles.s or awned from between the teeth or just below ; 

 palea a little shorter than the lemma, 2-keeled ; grain furrowed, adnate to the 

 palea. — Annuals, biennials, or perennials with flat leaves and terminal panicles 

 of rather large spikelets. (An ancient name for the oat, from ppwiia, food.} 



Annuals or biennials. 

 Lemma broadl.r elliptical ; awn wanting or not over 1 cm. long. 

 Awn, if present, straight. 



Sheaths glabrous . ... 1. J. eeealinuti. 



Sheaths pubescent. 



iwn about as long as the narrow lemmas. 

 Panicle rather dense, erect 2. A hordeaceus. 



