TIIIAXDRIA D1GYNIA 73 



Hoot perennial, creeping. Culm 4 to 6 feet high, compressed, erect or ascend- 

 ing, glabrous. Leaves lanceolate, striate, smooth beneath, scabrous on the mar- 

 gins and upper surface : sheaths nerved, smooth ; ligv.le very large, oblong, mem- 

 branaceous, tapering to a point, sometimes obtuse. Panicle 12 to 15 inches Ion?, 

 partly concealed in the sheath of the upper leaf, slender, branches mostly simple. 

 Spikelets about an inch long, linear, nearly sessile, racemose on the branches, and 

 appressed. Glumes membranaceous, nerveless. Palece nearly equal ; lower one 

 rouehish, 7-nerved, very obtuse, many-toothed at apex ; upper one somewhat con- 

 duplicate, emarginat*' or bidentate at the extremity, the margin folded in, forming 

 a green keel at each border. Seed oblong, sulcate on the upper side. 



Iiab. Ponds, and wet places along Brandy wine ; frequent. Fl. June. Fr. July. 



Obs. This stout aquatic grass is common to Europe and America. The seeds 

 have a sweetish taste ; and in some parts of the old world they are used in making 

 soups and gruels, under the name of Manna seeds. Horses and Cattle are said to 

 be fond of the plant. There is one other species described in the U. States. 



48. TRICUSPIS. Beam. Torr.FL I. p. 118. Not of JPersoon. 

 [Latin, Tres, three, and Cuspis, a point ; alluding to the structure of the florets.] 



Spikelets terete, tumid, about 5-flowered. Chimes 2, unequal, scaxi- 

 ous, keeled, mucronate, shorter than the lower florets. Lower palea 

 bifid at apex, and tricuspidate by the projecting keel and marginal 

 nerves, the base and sides pilose ; upper palea emarginate. Scales ob- 

 tuse, entire. 



1. T. susLKnroiDEs, Torr % Panicle loose, expanding ; branches flex- 



uose, smooth ; spikelets ovate-lanceolate, nearly terete, purple, shining, 



4 or 5-flowered. Beck, Bot. p. 407. Spbcim. Gray, Gram. 1. no. 51. 



T. quinquefida. Lindl. Ency. p. 64. 



Poa flava. Willd. Sp % 1. p. 390, Pers. Sim. 1. p. 90. 



P. sesleroides. Mr. .Jm. I. p. 68. JMuhl. Catal.p. 11. Ejusd. Gram, 



p. 149. J 



P. quinquefida. Pursh, .im. I. p. SI. Ell. Sk. I. p. 164. 



Also ? P. subverticillata. Pers. Syn. 1. p. 92. 



Windsoria poteformis. J\, m u ti. Gen. 1. p. 70. Bart. PhiL I. p. 64. 



Florid. Cestr. p. 13. r 



W. seslerioides. Eat. Man. p. 396. 



Seslebia-like Tricuspis. Vulgd— Tall Red-top. 



Root perennial. Culm erect, 3 to 4 or 5 feet high, very hard and smootf). 

 Leaves lanceolate, nerved, striate between the nerves, a little inclined to become 

 involute, smooth beneath, pilose above : sheath* nerved, bearded at throat, upper 

 ones smooth, those near the root often quite hairy; ligule very short, beardform. 

 Panicle large, loose, usually purple, at first erect, finally spreading and somewhat 

 nodding ; branches alternate or in pairs, long, flexuose, smooth, pilose in the axils. 

 Spikelets on short pedunclus, alternate and rather distant, on the upper part of 

 the branches, usually 4-flowered. Glumes scarious, unequal, ovate, mucronate 

 Lower palea hairy on the back, and especially on the margins, near the base' 

 with 3 distinct nerves, which project and form the cusps ; the middle cnap longest! 

 Uie intermediate parts, (or bifid end of the palea,) together with the 3 cusps, form? 

 ing a 5-toothed apex ; upper palea minutely ciiiate on the marginal keels Seed 

 •val, a httle gibbous, slightly concave on the upper side, with, two short divemm 

 lions at apex. 



7 



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