GRASSES OF OHIO 285 



flowering glumes ; lemma broad, coriaceous and shining, 3-nerved ; 

 palet firm, 2-keeled ; stamens 2, rarely 1 ; grain beaked, free. 



1. Korycarpus arundinaceus Zea. American Korycarpus. A 

 grass with simple erect stems, very rough below the panicle, lJ^-4 

 ft. high, and with very simple panicles. Spikelets short-pediceled, 

 3-5-flowered, erect ; lemma somewhat abruptly acuminate. 



In rich woods and shaded river banks. July-September. Ross, 

 Franklin, Auglaize, Highland. 



11. Tridens R. & S. Purple-top. 



Perennial grasses with long leaves and terminal open or con- 

 tracted panicles. Spikelets 3-many-flowered : empty glumes un- 

 equal, keeled, shorter than the spikelet ; lemma 3-nerved, bidentate, 

 the nerves silky-villous below ; palet broad, compressed, 2-keeled. 



1. Tridens flava (L.) Hitch. Tall Purple-top. A grass with 

 erect stems, viscid on the axis of the panicle and below it, 2-5 ft. 

 high, with the leaf-sheaths bearded at the summit, and with showy 

 loose and open panicles with slender spreading branches. Spikelets 

 4-8-flowered, purple, on long pedicels; lemma oval, the three nerves 

 pilose and excurrent as short points. Many small insects are caught 

 by the vicid panicle. 



In dry and especially sandy fields and waste places. July-Sep- 

 tember. Rather general ; no specimens from the northwestern 

 counties nor the extreme eastern part. 



12. Triplasis Beauv. Sand-grass. 



Perennials with small, nearly simple, contracted or open panicles. 

 Spikelets 3-6-rlowered, rachilla articulated between the remote 

 flowers; empty glumes keeled; lemma shurt-awned, 2-cleft, with 

 3 strongly ciliate nerves; palet 2-keeled, the keels long ciliate; grain 

 free. 



1. Triplasis purpurea i Walt.) Chapm. Purple Sand-grass. A 

 tufted grass with widely spreading or ascending stems, 1-3 ft. long, 

 with short internodes. short convolute leaf blades, the uppermost 

 minute, and with a small terminal panicle composed of a few rigid 

 branches which are finally divergent. Smaller panicles produced 

 later in the season at the nodes of the stem. Spikelets 2-5-flowered, 

 usually rose-purple ; lemma with a short awn scarcely exceeding its 

 truncate lobes ; palet with abundant long hairs on the two nerves. 

 Plant acid to the taste. 



In sandy soil, especially on sea beaches. August. September. 

 Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie. 



