32 GRAMINEAE 



41. KOELERIA Pers. 



Spikelets 2-5-flowered. Two lower empty glumes narrow, keeled, 

 acute and unequal in length. Flowering glumes obscurely 3-5-nerved. 

 Palet hyaline, 2-nerved. 



1. K. cristata (L.) Pers. Culms tufted, l°-2° high- panicle spike- 

 like, long-peduncled, 2'-4' long, 6" wide : branches very short and com- 

 pactly flowered : spikelets 2" long. — Rooky prairies near Lee's Summit 

 and rarely found along railroads. May-June. 



42. MELICA L. 



Perennial grasses with 2-8-flowered spikelets in open panicles. Glumes 

 with broad, scarious margins or the lower scarious throughout, the lower 

 empty glumes 3-5-nerved, the upper flowering ones 7-13-nerved. Eachilla 

 extending beyond the flowers, and bearing several small scales convolute 

 around each other. 



1. M. diffusa Pnrsh. MelioGbass. 2°-4° high : panicle 4'-8' long, 

 its branches spreading, ascending or erect : spikelets usually 3-flowered, 

 4J''-5" long, with scabrous flowering glumes. — In rocky woods especially 

 in the southern part. Well distributed and very abundant locally. 

 May-June. 



43. KORYCARPXTS Zea. 



Perennial with running rootstoeks and long flat leaves. Spikelets in a 

 very simple panicle, 3-4-flowered. Two lower glumes empty, acute and 

 coriaceous, much shorter than the flowers. Flowering glumes rounded, 

 shortly mucronate, coriaceous and shining, but with a narrow scarious 

 margin. Uppermost glumes empty and convolute. 



1. K. dlandrus ( Michx. ) Kuntze. 2°-4° high. — Rich woods along the 

 blufl's three miles west of Sibley. Not uncommon locally. July. 



44. UNIOLA L. 



Spikelets flat and two-edged in panicles, several-many-flowered, 3-6 of 

 the lower glumes empty, the flowering glumes much-keeled and many- 

 nerved. Uppermost glumes often smaller and empty. Palets sharply 

 2-keeled, half the size of the glume. 



1. U. latifolia Michx. Spikb Grass. 2°-5° high : panicle about 6' 

 long, one-sided, its branches spreading or pendulous : spikelets T'^-IO" 

 long, 6"-8'' wide, oblong, 5-10-flowered, very flat, on long capillary 

 often drooping pedicels.^In rocky woods. Local. Swope's Park to 

 south of Dodson, Little Blue Tank and Sibley. August-October. 



45. DISTICHLIS Raf. 

 Bioecious perennials with many-flowered spikelets in a dense spike- like 

 panicles. Leaves flat at base but involute, pointed. Spikelets com- 

 pressed. Glumes coriaceous, the two lower empty, keeled, few-nerved, 

 shorter than the broader, acute, many-nerved flowering ones. Palet two- 

 keeled. 



