296 OHIO BIOLOGICAL SURVEY 



Tribe, Chlorideae. Chloris Tribe. 



Grasses with i-several-flowered, laterally compressed spikelets, 

 jointed above the empty glumes and borne in 2 rows on one side of a 

 continuous axis, forming spikes which are digitately or paniculately 

 arranged, or sometimes solitary. 



29. Spartina Schreb. Slough-grass. 



Coarse perennial glabrous grasses with strong horizontal 

 rhizomes, rigid stems, long tough leaves, and an inflorescence of 

 one-sided spreading or erect alternate spikes. Spikelets 1-flowered, 

 flattened laterally, borne in two rows on the rachis ; empty glumes 

 unequal, keeled, acute or bristle-pointed; lemma obtuse, 1-nerved; 

 palet equaling or exceeding the lemma, 2-nerved ; grain free. 



1. Spartina michauxiana Hitch. Tall Slough-grass. A coarse 

 grass with a simple erect stem, 2-10 ft. high, with an inflorescence 

 of 5-20 spike-like branches. Leaves with a scabrous cutting edge. 

 Spikelets much imbricated ; lemma glabrous except the serrulate- 

 scabrous midnerve which terminates abruptly below the emarginate 

 or 2-toothed apex. 



Used for thatching and in making coarse mats. In swamps and 

 streams of fresh or brackish water, in wet ravines, and even sand 

 dunes. August-October. Rather general ; no specimens from the 

 central, eastern nor from the southwestern counties. 



30. Beckmannia Host. Beckmannia. 



A tall, erect perennial grass with flat leaf-blades and erect spikes 

 borne in a terminal panicle. Spikelets 1-2-flowered, globose, lat- 

 erally compressed, closely imbricated in two rows along one side 

 of a continuous rachis ; empty glumes subequal, inflated, boat-shaped, 

 chartaceous, with scarious margins ; lemma narrow, lanceolate, thin- 

 membraneous ; palet hyaline, 2-keeled ; grain free, enclosed in the 

 lemma and palet. 



1. Beckmannia erucaeformis (L.) Host. Beckmannia. A glab- 

 rous grass with flattened wiry stems, \ l />-3 ft. high, and a panicle of 

 appressed spikes. Spikelets nearly circular in outline, closely imbri- 

 cated in 2 rows on the rachis; empty glumes transversely wrinkled; 

 lemma with an acuminate apex. 



In wet ground. July-September. Cuyahoga County. 



