TRIANDRIA DIGYNIA 



81 



1. A. APLri)OTDi-s ? .Tfu/J. Spikes in a terminal raceme, alternate, 

 distant, pendulous on short flat peduncles, at length sccund; lateral 

 awns of the abortive floret half the length of the terminal one. Beck, 

 Hot. p. 414. lcox, Florid. Cestr. p. 17. 



Chloris curtipendula. J/>. Am. 1 . //. 59. Pers. Syn. 1. /?. 88. Lindh 

 Ency. p. 860. Also, Willd. Sp. 4. p. 927. Pureh, Am. I. p. 88. 

 Also? Cynosurus secundus. Pursh, Am. 2. Suppl.p. 728. 

 Aplvda-likk ATHKnopoc.ox, 



Root perennial. Culm2 to 3 feet high, geniculate at base, smooth. Leaves 



lanceolate, attenuate at the end, and inclining to become involute, striate, cartila- 

 ginous and minutely serrulate on the margin, smoolhish beneath, scabrous 

 on the upper surface, pilose above, and near the baso: sheaths striate, lower 

 ones hairy, upper ones smooth, all more or less pilose at throat; ligulc short, 

 truncate, minutely fimbriate. Sjrikcs 20 to 40, on 6horl flat peduncles, arranged 

 alternately in a raceme, on opposite sides of the common ra r kts, at length second, 

 and reflcxed, each containing 6 or 8 spikelets. Partial rachis Hat, lance-linear, 

 ciliate -serrate on the margin, the apt \* m stly I icuspidate, and as long as the flor- 

 ets. Spikelets 2 flowered, in two rows on the under side of the partial rachis. 

 Glumes unequal ; the lower one a Utile distant, awn-like, margined towards the 

 base, and inclining to adhere to the rachis; the uj ; r one lanceolate, acuminate, 

 scabrous. Perfect floret sessile, lanceolate ; lower palea scabrous, 3-ncrved, t< r- 

 minatlng in 3 cusps, or short awns : upper palea a little longer, enclosing the sta- 

 mens, the apex conduplicate, acuminate, and bifid-toothed. Anthers bright redi 

 or cinnabar color. Seed oblong. Abortive floret pedicellate, empty, membrana- 

 ceous; hirer palca ovate-lanceolate, I ifid at apex, the scabrous keel i Mended in- 

 to a terminal awn between the lanceolate segmenls,-tho margins folded in, with 

 an awn ateach side, near the base, as long as the palea; upper palca very minute, 

 bifid, or lacerate,— often wanting, or imperceptible. 



Flab. Dry, rocky banks ; Serpentine ridge, abundant. Fl. Aug. Fr. Sept. 



Obs. The lateral awnsofthe abortive floret, unless cautiously examined— ee» 

 pecially in dried specimens -appear to be distinct from the palea, and to occupy 

 the place of an upper palea. This hand some- grass— so remarkable lor its race- 

 mose nodding spikes, and showy vermilion-colored anthers, is quite local and cir- 

 eumsrribed in its habitat, h is generally confined to the Serpentine rock; but is 

 sometimes met with on linns: >:;.• banks—as, f »r example, near Brooke's ."Mill, in 

 the Great Valley, h is not a grass of much value,-- though cattle will (jud on it, 

 when in a yojng state. Mr. Xuttall has found one other species in the 0. S. on 

 the plains of theMfesctrri. 



j f Pal ex aivnless. 



52. ELEU8BVE. Grnrtn. Mitt. Gen. 107. 

 [From Eleusie; where Ceres, the goddess of harvests, was worshipper 



Spikes- digitate, unilateral. Spikelets compressed, imbricate, 5 to 7- 

 floweted. Florets all perfect. Glumes 2, unequal ; lower one smaller, 

 membranaceous, rather obtuse. Palea unequal; upper one much 

 shorter, concave on the back. Scales truncate. Seed triangular- 

 ovoid, arillate, rugose. 



1. E. ixnirA, Lam. Culm oblique, compressed ; spikes 2 to 4, linear, 

 straight; spikelets lance-ovate, about 5-flowered. Jieck, Boi. p. 414 

 Icox, Ell. Sk. I, tab. 11. / 2. 

 Cynosurus indicus. mild. Sp. I. p. 417. Ait. Xerv, 1. p. 182. 



