TRIANDRIA DIGYXIA 69 



Hab. Dry banks : 1 orders of woods, and road sides : frequent. Fl. June. Ft. July. 

 Obs. This plant resembles Avena % in habit, but is more nearly allied to Bromus. 

 Notwithstanding Muhlenberg's remark,— "bomtm pabulum"— \ consider it but a 

 poor grass ; and very much confined to sterile soils. I have specimens of D. seri- 

 eea, NuU. (Arena glumosa y Mp, and Muhl. A spicala, Ell.) which I collected at 

 Suffolk, Virginia : and which, if not specifically distinct, certainly present a strong- 

 ly marked variety. Admitting them to be distinct, tiuy are the only known spe- 

 cies in the U. States. 



f -j* Spikelets loose Panicled. 



45. BROMUS. L. Jfutt. Gen. 102. 

 [Greek, Broma, Food : Bromos was an ancient name of a species of wild oats.] 



Glumes 2, shorter than the lower florets. Lower palea bifid al apex, 

 usually awned a little below the tip : Upper palea conduplicate, ciliate 

 on the margin. 



I. B. BECALixu8, /,. Panicles spreading, lower branches a little sab- 

 divided ; spikelets ovate-oblong, compressed, 8 to 10-flowered ; florets 

 distinct, longer than tiie flexuose awns, Beck, Bot. p. 408. 



Rye Buomus. Vulgb — Cheat. Chess. 



Root annual. Culm 3 to 4 feet high j nodes pubescent, swelled (especially the 

 lower half). Leaves Linear-lanceolate, nerved, scabr us and pilose on the jpper 

 surface ; sheaths nerved, smooth ; ligult oblong, retuse, laciniate-dentate. Pa?ii- 

 cle 1 to inches 1 >ng ; branches semi verticil late, nearly simple, scabrous and pu- 

 bescent. Spikelets al length nodding ; florets a liul* remote n? \-nno % so as to «*>• 

 pear distinct on the flexu >se rachis. Glumes lanceovate, unequal) the lower one 

 shorter, 5-nerved, s metimes mucronate ; the upper one r-nerved, obtuse or emar- 

 ainate. Lnoer palea lance-bvate, obscurely 7-nerved, slightly pubescent near 

 the apex : aim m »st ly sh >rter than the floret, flexuose, (s -uk times wanting, or a 

 mere rudiment). Upper palea linear, awnless, pectinate-ciliate on the margin. 

 Seed oblong, sulcate above, closely embraced by the lower palea, and containing 

 the upper one, doubled, in the groove* 



flab. Cultivated grounds; among wheat and rye: frequent. Fl. June. Ft. July. 

 Obs. This well known, troublesome grass, is a naturalized foreigner ; and ob- 

 stinately accompanies our crops of Wheat and Rye. Frequently when the wheat 

 has been injured by the winter, or other cause, the Bromus is very abundant ; and 

 many farmers are SO little acquainted with the laws of nature— and therefore 

 prone to absurd mistakes,— that they Imagine the wheat has been transformed in- 

 to Bromus, or Cheat. This vulgar error also prevails am >ng the peasantry of Eu- 

 rope: But in the old world, they think the wheat is transmuted into Loliumtcmu- 

 letitum, or Darnel,— quite a distinct grass from Bromus,— and which is yet rare in 

 the U. .States. 



2. B. AiivExsis? /,. Panicle erect, somewhat spreading; spikelets lan- 

 ceolate, compressed, 7 or 8-flowered; florets imbricated, compressed, 

 smoothish, about as long as the straight awn. Hook. Brit. Flora. p. 51. 

 Field Brum us. 



Root annual. Culm al>out 2 feet high, striate, smooth ; nodes nearly black, not 

 swelled, covered with a short retrorse pubescence. Leaves lance-linear, hairy on 

 both sides, scabrous on the margin: sheaths nerved, softly and rclrorsely pilose, ; 

 Dgule oblong, lacerate. Panicle rather erect ; branches often simple, sometime* 



