614 FLORA OF TEXAS. 



0-iierved; ^ja/e^ of the neutral flower often rugose; culms 

 erect or ascending, mostly branching; leaves deep green, 

 broadly linear, flat, mostly fringed on the margins or near 

 the base, and, like the smooth or hairy sheaths, often pur- 

 ple. (P. purpurascens, Ell.; P. plicatulum, Michx.; P. 

 confertum, Leconte ; P. Boscianum, Flu egge.) September. 

 Culms ^°-3° high. Annual. 



PANICUM, L. Pais-ic Grass. 



Inflorescence sjnlccd, racemose or panicled; spikelets 

 2-flowered, naked (no involucre) ; glumes 2, herbaceous, 

 the upper one usually as long as the flowers, the lower 

 smaller, often minute, or occasionally wanting ; lotver floiver 

 btaminate or neutral, of 1-2 paleae; the upper palea, ^vhen 

 present, small and hyaline, the lower herbaceous and re- 

 sembling the upper glume; upper floiver perfect, coria- 

 ceous, awnless, inclosing the free grain; stamens 3. 



§ 1. DiGiTAiuA. Inflorescence spiked; spikelets 2-3 together, imhincated on one side 

 of a filiform rachis ; lower flower of one palea, and neutral; glumes shorter 

 than the flowers ; annuals. 



P. SAXGUiNALE, L. {Oral) Grass.) Culms ascending 

 from a difl'usely creeping base; leaves thin, spreading, the 

 lower part, like the sheaths, hairy; spikes 5-10, spreading; 

 spikelets oblong, pointed; glumes hairy on the margins, 

 the upper half as long as the flowers, the lower minute, or 

 in var. yillosum (Digitaria Tillosa, Ell., a smaller and more 

 hairy form) wanting. May-October. 



P. FiLiFORME, L. Culms crcct, sparingly branched (2°- 

 3° high) ; leaves linear, erect, and, like the sheaths, hairy; 

 spikes 2-5, alternate, erect, filiform; spikelets oblong, 

 acute, scattered; upper glume half as long as the acute 

 blackish palea, the lower wanting. Dry sandy soil, com- 

 mon. August and September. 



