40 GRAMINEAE. 



plicate, strongly compressed laterally, usually winged-keeled, 3-nerved. Bract- 

 let ami palea of perfecl flower subtended by 2 or only 1, small or rudimentary, 

 more or less hairy, empty bracelets. Flower-enclosing bractlet and palea alike, 

 Bhorter than the bracts, complicate, becoming indurated in fruit; palea a little 

 the smaller. Scales 2 and minute, or obsolete. Stamens 3. Ovary smooth. 

 (Greek phalaros, having a patch of white, from the broad, light-colored mar- 

 gins and patches between the nerves of the bracts in some species. Supposed 

 to be the Phalaris of Dioscorides.) 



Spikelets all perfect; bracts decidedly winged-keeled on the back; annuals. 

 Rudimentary bractlets 2; thyrse ovoid. 



Spikelets broad; nerves of bracts dark green, mid-nerve curved inwards above; 



wings broad, white \. P. canariensis. 



Spikelets narrow; nerves of bracts pale green, mid-nerve straight from a little 



above the base; wings narrow, pale green 2. P. caroliniana. 



Rudimentary bractlet 1 only; thyrse from ovoid-oblong to oblong-cylindrical. 



Spikelets ovate; nerves of bracts dark green, mid-nerve curved inwards from 



below the middle; wings narrow, white 3. P. minor. 



Spikelets of secondary branches of the thyrse imperfect or abortive, giving a gnawed 

 appearance to the lower part of the thyrse; wing of bract terminating in a horn.... 



4. P. paradoxa. 

 Spikelets all perfect; bracts wingless or only slightly winged, keeled; annuals or per- 

 ennials. 

 Annual; 1J^ to 3 ft. high; thyrse cylindrical, almost spikelike, mostly 2^ to 4 in. 



long; bracts keeled; flower-enclosing bractlet abruptly acuminate 5. P. lemmoni. 



Perennial; stems 3 to 8 ft. high; inflorescence usually purplish; bracts strongly keeled; 

 flower-enclosing bractlet acuminate. 



Thyrse oblong, 1 to 2 in. long, usually dense 6. P. amethystina. 



Panicle 3 to 6 or even 9 in. long, usually much interrupted or lobed 



7. P. arundinacea. 



1. P. canariensis L. Canary-grass. Annual; stems erect, 1 to 3 ft. 

 high, leafy; uppermost sheaths much inflated; ligule 2 to 3^ lines long; blades 

 6 to 14 in. long, 1% to 5 lines wide; thyrse 1 to 1% in. long, % to % in. wide, 

 ovoid, dense, uninterrupted; spikelets 2% to 3% lines long, laterally flattened, 

 obovato, abruptly pointed; bracts subequal, acute, broadly keeled from below 

 the middle; keel nearly */> line wide, broadly white-margined, the mid-nerve 

 Curved inwards above; empty bractlets 2, 1 to 1% lines long, narrow, smooth; 

 dower-enclosing bractlet 2 to 2y 2 lines long, pubescent when young, glabrous in 

 age. 



Native of Europe, reported as occurring sparingly near settlements in 

 several localities within our limits. Apr. The well-known "Canary-grass,''' 

 yielding a favorite bird-seed, much cultivated in the south of Europe. 



2. P. caroliniana Walt. Southern Canary-grass. Annual; stems Blender, 

 erect, 1 to 2 ft. high; uppermost sheaths somewhat inflated; ligule 1% to 2 

 lines long, decurrent, obtuse or truncate, broad, completely enveloping the stem 

 and folded over itself; blades 1% to 4% in. long, 2% to 4y 2 lines wide, 

 acute, smooth; thyrse 1 to 2 in. long, ovoid; spikelets - \ ■_• to 3 lines long; 

 bracts acute, the mid-nerve straight from a little above the base, nerves and 

 keel concolorous, pale green; empty bractlets about 1 line long, pubescent; 

 flower-enclosing bractlet acuminate, pubescent. 



Native of the southeastern States, and apparently not indigenous with us. 

 Oakland; Vacavilta Apr.-May. Much Less common than is generally supposed, 

 P. minor being often mistaken for it, both in the field and in herbaria. 



3. P. minor Etetz, SMALL CANARY-GRASS. An erect, glabrous, leafy animal, 

 from 7 ' ■_. in. to ."> ft. high according to locality and season, branched sometimes 



from every node except the uppermost; upper sheaths sometimes glaucescent, 

 much dilated, with b broad, Bcarious margin; ligule large, 1 to ;'» or even 4% 



