4 



TRIANDRIA DIGYMA 91 



Obs. Tiiis is nearly allied to Andropogon ; and some modern Botanists have 

 referred it to that genus. It is cultivated, here, chicjlyfor Die sake of its panicles* 

 which are made into brooms and clothes-brushes. Many farmers grow asujfiden- 

 ^y for their oirn domestic use : ami some individuals cult irate it extensively, for 

 the manufacture of the aforesaid articles. The S. Vulgare, or Indian Millet,— and 

 the S. cernuum, called Guinea Corn,— arc sometimes seen in the gardens of the 

 curious ; but ean scarcely be enumerated, tciih propriety, among our cultivated 

 plants. TJuy are all natives of the East ; and are the only species, I believe, whi'sh 

 have been introduced into the U. States. 



60. HOLCUS. L. JSftttt. Gen. 93. 

 [An ancient Greek name, of obscure Etymology.] 



Spikelet8 2-flowered; glumes herbaceous, boat-shaped, mucronate. 

 Florets pedicellate ; the lower one perfect, awnless ; the upper one most- 

 ly imperfect, (staminate, or neuter,) awncd on the back. 



I. H. laxatus, L. Panicle oblong, rather contracted ; florets shorter 



than the glumes, the upper one with a recurved awn. Heck, Hot. 

 f>. 404. 



Woolly Holcus, Vulgo — Feather grass. White Timothy, 

 Gallice — Hou<jue laineuse. Foin de mouton. 



Root perennial, fibrous. Culm 18 inches to 2 feet high, and, with the leaves 

 and sheaths, covered with a soft hoary pubescence. Leaves lanceolate, acute, 2 

 io .3 inches long : sheaths striate ; ligule white, truncate, dentate. Panicle oblong, 

 somewhat dense; branches hairy. (Humes whitish, often tinged with purple, 

 roughish pubescent, ciliate on the keel ; lower or outer one narrower, and rather 

 shorter than the upper one ; upper one 3-nerved. Florets both pedicellate, smooth 

 and shining- Palca of the per/ 'ft jlortt nearly equal in length; the lower one 

 broader, keeled. Palect of the staminate floret unequal ; the lower one larger, 

 keeled, with a curved or hooked awn on the buck, near the apex. 



Ifab. Moist meadows, and low grounds : frequent. Fl. June. Fr. July. 



Obs. This is a naturalized foreigner. Dr. Muhlenberg calls it ^exeellens pat* 

 n/n/;*,"— but our fanners consider it quite an inferior grass ; and Mr. George Sin- 

 clair expresses the same opinion, in his valuable work, intituled J fort us Gramin- 

 eus. It is tiie ,»nly species of the genus, as at present constituted, in the U. States; 

 and although it was formerly united with the preceding, (which circumstance led 

 me, inadvertantly, to arrange it here,) I now apprehend it would hare associated 

 more naturally with the Oat-grass Groupe. 



Dxv. VIIL Oryzk*— Rice Tribe. 



Inflorescence Panicled. Spikelets solitary , mostly Ifloirered. Flowers p0* 

 feet, or sometimes diclinous. Glumes wanting, or small and abortive. Lower p& 

 lea subcoriaceous, keeled. Stamens varying in number, from 1 to 6. 



-j* Flowers perfect : Stamens 1 to 3. 



61. LEER8IA. S-wartz. Jfutt. Gen. 66. 

 [Named after John Daniel Leers ; a German Botanist J 



S pikelet 8 1 -flowered, compressed. Glumes 0. Palex 2, compressed, 

 awnless ; lower one much broader, boat-shaped, prooaiaently keeled: 

 Scale* ovate, membranaceous, smooth. * 



