TlIK (iKAS8K8 OF TENNESSKK. 48 



primary panicle-branches are widely divergent. This is treated 

 as a variety of P. capillare by Dr. Gattinger. Judging from the de- 

 scription, it is P. diffusum of Pursh, not of Swartz. 



13 Panicum hians 1*^1 1. 



IMiit.' X(. Fiiriir.- H. 



A slender decumbent or ascending perennial, ten inches to two 

 feet high, with rather long, narrow leaves and open panicle, the 

 stnall spikelets crowded near the ends of the more or less si)read- 

 ing branches. Culms and compressed sheaths smooth or the 

 latter ciliate on the margins above; ligule very short, fimbriate; 

 leaf-blade flat, three to eight inches long, one to three lines wide, 

 usually pilose near the base, margins minutely scabrous, very 

 acute. Panicle three to six inches long, pyramidal, the capillary 

 ascending branches solitary or in pairs, the lower one to four 

 inches long. Spikelets smooth, about one line long, usually ex- 

 ceeding the pedicels, glumes more or less spreading; first glume 

 obtuse, three-nerved, one-third to one-half as long as the three- to 

 five-nerved, acute second glume, which equals the spikelet; third 

 glume five-nerved, barely equalling its broad-margined, inflated 

 and apiculate palea; floral glume narrow, ovate, acute, apiculate. 



Low grounds and damp pine barrens; not common within the 

 State. August to October. The spikelets are remarkable for the 

 very large palea of the third glume. Vicinity of Memphis (Dr. 

 Egling) 1886. West Tennessee (S. M. Bain). Of no recognized 

 agricultural value. 



14 Panicum verrucosum Muhl. 



Plate XI. Figure 42. 



A slender, branching perennial, with flat leaves and few-flow- 

 ered, spreading panicles. Culms very smooth, weak, decumbent 

 or reclining, rarely erect, one to three feet long. Sheaths smooth, 

 much shorter than the internodes, ciliate on the margins above; 

 ligule very short, ciliate; leaf-blade lanceolate, three to six inches 

 long, two to four lines wide, scabrous on the margins, con- 

 tracted at the base, very acute. Panicle three to eight inches 

 long, capillary, branches solitary or in pairs, the lower two to four 

 inches long, naked below, the secondary branches appressed and 

 few (one to four) flowered. Spikelets aboutone line long, oval, acute; 

 outer glumes apparently nerveless, the first smooth, one-fourth as 

 long as the second and third, which are tuberculate-roughened (ver- 

 rucose), flowering glume abruptly sharp-pointed or submucronate, 

 smooth; palea with a callus-like elevation at the base. Usually 

 found in damp, rich, shaded soils, and readily distinguished by its 

 slender, straggling habit and rough, nerveless outer glumes. Dr. 

 Gattinger reports its occurrence on swampy lands along the Cum- 

 berland river and at Tullahonia, Coffee county. Its range is from 

 New England south to Florida. Of no agricultural value. 



Note.— Tlie following species constitute a group in wliich tlie radical 

 leaves are crowded, often appearino; like a rosette around the base of the 

 culms. These leaves are usually shorter than those above, and are cren- 



