TRIANDHIA DIGVXIA 45 



27. PANICUM. L. Xutt. Gen. 79. 

 [Latin, Panzuta. a mode of flowering; or PanUi bread— which some species afford] 



Cilum»8 3-valvcd, unequal, the lower one mostly very small. Florets 

 dissimilar ; the lower one abortive, or staminate, with 1 or 2 palex ; 

 the lower pa!ca resembling in texture the glumes, the upper one mem- 

 branaceous. Perfect floret with the palex cartilaginous, equal, con- 

 cave, persistent, embracing the seed. 



# Spikelets in loose Panicles* 



1. P. yitigatu*, /,. Whole plant glabrous; panicle diffuse, very 

 large; flowers acuminate ; pale® of the abortive floret nearly cquak 

 Heck, Bot. p. 396. Specim. Gray, Gram. 1. no. 31, 



VlROATR, OH LoXG-rAXICLED PaXICUM. 



Root perennial. Culm 3 to 5 feet high. Leaves long, linear-lAnreolate, pilose at 

 base, above the ligule ; sheaths striate ; ligule fringed with long while hairs. Par.- 

 i It virgate, al length spreading. Spikelets raihcrlar^e; florets a little diverging. 

 Glumes acuminate ; the lower one nearly three fourths the length <»f the upper, 

 and resembling it in structure. Abortive floret staminate, the up] er j alee mem- 

 branaceous and white, enfolding the purple stamens. Perfect floret lanceolate, 

 smooth. Whole plant often purple. 



Ucib. Brandy wine, at Wistar's Bridge : Schuylkill : not common. Ft. Aug. Fr. Sept. 



Qbs. Found !.y D. Town-send, Esq. in 1S?9. A stout, firm grass; but, like the 

 rest of our Panicums, of little value to the Agriculturist. 





2. P/TXTTTtAit^ L. Culm nearly simple ; wreaths rery hirsute ; parr- 



icle large, capillary, loose, expanding ; spikelets lanceolate, acuminate, 



smooth, on long hispid peduncles; abortive floret of 1 palen. Bccl\ 



Bot. p. 397. 



P. strigosum ? Ell Sk. 1. p. 126. 



Capillary Paktcuh. 



Root annual. Culm aaaurgent, and eirect, 1 to 2 feet bi^h, sometimes branobi J . 

 Leaves broad, lanceolate, acuminate, nerved, hairy: sheattis covered with hispid 

 hairs ; ligule beard-like. Panielt large and pyramidal ; branches numerous, very 

 slender, straight, spreading, at length divaricate. Spikelets often purple, small, 

 acuminate. Glumes ufieqwft ; lower one hrmd-ovate, acute, keeled, upper one 

 lanceolate, acuminate, nerved. Abortive floret without a superior palca. Per/ett 

 floret much shorter thau the upper glume, lance-oblong, plano-convex, smooth and 

 shining. 



Hub. Sandy gr muds ; Indian cornfields, pastures, &c common. Fi Aug. Fr. Sept. 

 Ob$. In the fall of the year, the dry culms of this grass break off, and the divar- 

 icate panicles are rolled over the ^fields, by the winds, until they accumulate in 

 great quantities, along the fences and hedges. 



3. P. nKCTry, Boem. & Schu't. Culm cespitoae, mostly simple, 

 hairj- at the joints; leaves lance-lincur, very acute, erect, upper ones elon- 

 gated ; panicle rather few-flowered, with erect, flexuose branches ; spike- 

 lets alternate, pedunculate," ovoid or obovoid, large and somewhat ttrr- 

 rid. Beck, Bot. p. 396. Specie. Gray, Gram. 1. no. 20. 

 P. itrictum. Pur ah, Am. I. p. 69. Burt. PhiLl.p.69 



