1' 1 1 K ( i H A SS KS « ) K T K N N K88 K K. 128 



Species thirty-two, distributed throughout all temperate coun- 

 tries. Eij»ht species, with several varieties, occur in the United 

 States. Two of these are reported by Dr. Gattin^^er as beinj^ found 

 in Tennessee. 



1. Agropyrum repens Beau v. Couch j^rass or Witch-grass. 



I 'late XLV. Fi^^ure 178. 



Culms one to three feet high, from an extensively creeping, 

 jointed rootstock. Sheaths striate, usually smooth; ligule very 

 short; leaves four to twelve inches long, smooth, scabrous, or 

 sometimes pubescent above. Spikes three to ten inches long, 

 erect. Spikelets four- to eight-flowered; empty glumes five- to 

 seven-nerved, obtuse or notched, acute or short-awned; flowering 

 glume nerved near the apex, awnless or sometimes short-awned. 



Sparingly introduced in cultivated grounds. In some parts of 

 the Eastern and Middle States it is abundant in open fields. It is 

 a good grass for hay, but its strong creeping rhizomes, which 

 spread rapidly in all directions, render it one of the worst weeds 

 in cultivated lands, hardly less difficult to eradicate than Johnson- 

 grass. 



2. Agropyrum caninum Reichenb. Bearded Wheat-grass. 



Plate XLV. Figure 179. 



A rather slender grass, one to three feet high, with no creeping 

 rootstock. Sheaths smooth, or the lower hairy; ligule short; 

 leaf-blade flat, pubescent above, smooth below. Spikes more or 

 less nodding, three to six inches long. Spikelets three- to six- 

 flowered, the florets rather distant; empty glumes three- to five- 

 nerved, acute or long-awned; flowering glumes nerved near the 

 tip, with awns nearly twice their length. 



This grass is recorded by Dr. Gatttinger as occurring within the 

 State, but not frequent. It is more common in the Northern 

 States, especially in the mountain districts. It differs from wheat 

 in its more slender stems and perennial habit, and from Agropyrum 

 repens in its strictly fibrous root and long-bearded spikelets. 



60. SECALE Linn. Gen. X. 97. 



Spikelets two-, rarely three-flowered, solitary and sessile at 

 the notches of the rachis, forming a spike; rachilla produced 

 above the florets into a slender stipe. Empty glumes two, rigid, 

 narrow, acuminate or subaristate-pointed ; flowering glumes 

 broader, compressed-keeled, five-nerved, awned from the point; 

 palea a little shorter than the glumes, two-keeled. Stamens three. 

 Styles very short, distinct; stigmas plumose. Grain oblong, sul- 

 cate, pilose at the apex, free. Annual grasses with flat leaves and 

 dense terminal spikes, the rachis of which is usually articulated. 



Species two, in Europe and Asia. One, Rye y^Secaie cereale) 

 known here in cultivation. 



