NATIVE GBASSES OF KANSAS. 63 



76. Dbop-seed Gbass; Sporobolus heterolepis, Gr. — The culms are 1} to 3 feet 

 high, and grow in dense, firmly-rooted tufts. The root-leaves are very long and 

 narrow. The panicle is from 3 to 8 inches long, rather narrow and loose, the 

 branches 2 or 3 together, slender and with rather distant flowers. It is more abun- 

 dant farther west, and said there to be cut for hay. 



77. Dbop-seed Gbass ; Sporobolus cryptandrus, Gr. — This stout grass grows 

 chiefly in sandy soil. The culms are frequently bent at the lower joint, then rise 

 erect 2 or 3 feet. The lower sheaths are short and their blades 5 to 6 inches long; 

 the upper ones become longer but their blades shorter. The top of the sheath is 

 fringed with soft hairs. The long (6 to 12 inches) narrow panicle is for a long time 

 concealed, but finally emerges (except the base) and becomes spreading. The 

 branches are flower-bearing to the base, and hairy in the axils. This grass furnishes 

 a portion of the native forage. (Plate No. 77.) 



78. Saet-Gbass ; Dbop-seed Gbass ; Sporobolus airoides, Torr. — The stems are 

 tufted 2 or 3 feet high from perennial creeping root-stocks. The leaves are very 

 pale, and taper to a filiform point. The sheaths have a few long hairs at the throat. 

 The panicle is diffuse, 6 to 12 inches long and 3 to 4 inches wide, its branches naked 

 below. It yields some pasturage. 



79. Dbop-seed Gbass; Sporobolus asperifolius, IS. &, M. — The stems are 6 to 15 

 inches long, branched, forming broad, matted tufts. The leaves are rough on the 

 margins and upper face. The panicle (inclosed at the base) is 3 to 5 inches long, 

 its branches capillary and 3 to 4-flowered. Grows chiefly westward, but of no con- 

 siderable value. 



79^. Dbop-seed Gbass; Sporobolus Arkansana, (Trin.) — The culms are low 

 ascending or erect, somewhat branched. The ligule is very short and ciliate. The 

 leaves near the base and the sheaths have long scattered hairs, and are roughish. 

 The panicle is pyramidal, with about 7 or 8 (or more) verticillate branches at the 

 base and fewer above; the pedicels are very short; the glumes are acute. An uncom- 

 mon grass in southwestern Kansas, and of no known value. 



Polypogon, Desf.— A small genus of mostly annual grasses with one-flowered spikelets in a con- 

 tracted, mostly spike-like panicle. The pedicels are rather clavate, and usually articulated below the 

 glumes. The outer glumes are nearly equal, and long-awned from the apex. The flowering glume is 

 smaller, thinner, generally hyaline, and usually prolonged at the apex into a slender awn. The palet 

 is thin, sometimes much shorter than its glume. 



80. Annual, Beabd-gbass; Polypogon Monspeliensis, Desf. — The culms are 6 

 inches to 2 feet high, procumbent at base, rarely erect, often branching from be- 

 low. The panicle is dense, soft, shining, yellowish-green, 2 to 6 inches long, with 

 conspicuous long beards or awns. Ornamental, but of little value. Widely dis- 

 tributed, and perhaps found in Kansas. 



81. Pebennial Beabd-gbass; Polypogon littoralis, Sm. — The culms form large 

 tufts, the panicle is narrow, much lobed its whole length, and usually purplish. The 

 awns are short, otherwise much like the last. Reported in Kansas, but perhaps found 

 only further west in higher altitudes. 



Cinna, L.— A small genus of perennial grasses. The spikelets are much flattened, one-flowered, in 

 an open, spreading panicle. The outer glumes are lanceolate, acute, and hispid on the strong keel, the 

 upper somewhat longer than the lower. The flowering glume is plainly stalked above the outer 

 glumes, about the same length, three-nerved and short-awned on the back near the apex. The palet is 

 only one-nerved, and nearly as long as its glume. Stamen, only one. 



82. Wood Reed-gbass; Cinna arundinacea, L. — The culms are erect, simple, 3 to 

 6 feet high, with creeping root-stocks. The leaves are a foot long, 4 to 6 inches wide, 

 and with a conspicuous elongated ligule. The panicle is 6 to 12 inches long, rather 

 loose in flower, afterwards more close. The palet has but one nerve; only on 



