ANDROPOGON. 205 



SPECIFIC CHAEAOTEK. 



Culm 2 to 5 feet liigh, somewhat bearded- at the 

 upper joints ; panicle rather open ; silky hairs shorter 

 than the spikelets. 



Low grounds, Virginia and southward. 



■ 65. ANDROPOGON. Beaed Geass. 



GESTERIC CHAEACTEE. 



Spikelets in pairs upon each joint of the slender 

 rhachis, spiked or racemed, one of them pedicelled 

 and sterile, often a mere vestige, the other sessile, 

 with the lower flower neutral, and of a single palet, 

 the upper perfect and fertile, of 2 thin and hyaline 

 palets, shorter than, the herbaceous or chartaceous 

 •glumes, the lower awned from the tip, ; stamens 1 to 

 3 ; grain free. Coarse, mostly rigid perennials, mostly 

 in sterile or sandy soil, with lateral or terminal 

 spikes, commonly clustered or digitate ; the rhachis 

 hairy or plumose-bearded, and often the sterile or 

 stamina te flowers also. 



Whence the name, composed olaner, andvos, man, 

 and pogon, beard. 



1. A. Furcatus (Finger Spiked Wood grass). This 

 grass grows about 4 feet high, leaves nearly smooth, 

 spikelets roughish, downy ; the awn bent. Flowers 

 in September. 



Common on sterile soils, rocky banks, and hill- 

 sides. 



