2 3 2 FLORA, 



or ascending, 2.5-15 cm. high. Sheaths villous at the summit; leaves 5 cm, long 

 or less, 1-2 mm. wide, fiat, smooth beneath, rough above; spikelets dioecious. 10 

 35 -flowered, 4-16 mm. long; lower scales unequal, the first one-half to two-thirds 

 as long as the second; flowering scales about 2.5 mm. long, the lateral nerves 

 prominent; scales of the pistillate flowers more acute than those of the staminate. 

 On sandy or gravelly shores, Vt. and Ont. to Ore., south to Fla. and Mex. Also 

 in the West Indies. Aug. -Sept. [E. reptans Nees.] 



76. EATONIA Raf. (See Appendix.) 

 Tufted perennial grasses, with flat or involute leaves and usually contracted 

 panicles. Spikelets 2-3-flowered; the rachilla extended beyond the flowers. Two 

 lower scales empty, shorter than the spikelet, the first linear, acute, i-nerved, the 

 second much broader, 3-nerved, obtuse or rounded at the apex, or sometimes acute. 

 the margins scarious; flowering scales narrower, generally obtuse. Palet narrow, 

 2-nerved. Stamens 3. Styles distinct, short. Stigmas plumose. Grain free, 

 loosely enclosed in the scale and palet. [In honor of Amos Eaton, 1 776-1842, 

 American botanist.] A genus of 4 or 5 species, confined to N. Am. 



Empty scales unequal, the first shorter and about one-sixth as wide as the second. 



Second scale obovate, often, almost truncate. 1. E. obtusata. 



Second scale oblanceolate, obtuse or abruptly acute. 2. E. Pennsylvania. 



Empty scales equal, the first not less than one-third as wide as the second. 



3. E. nitida. 



i. Eatonia obtusata (Michx.) A. Gray. Blunt-scaled Eatonia. (I. F. 

 f. 441.) Culms 3-7.5 dm. tall, erect, simple, often stout. Sheaths usually more or 

 less rough, sometimes pubescent; leaves 2.5-22.5 cm. long, 1-8 mm. wide, scabrous; 

 panicle 5-15 cm. in length, dense and generally spike-like, strict, the branches 

 3.75 cm. long or less, erect; spikelets crowded, 2.5-3 mm - l° n g; empty scales un- 

 equal, often purplish, the first narrow, shorter than and about one-sixth as wide as 

 the obtuse or almost truncate second one; flowering scales narrow, obtuse, 1.5-2 

 mm. long. In dry soil, Mass. and Ont. to Assiniboia, Fla. and Ariz. June-Aug. 



2. Eatonia Pennsylvania (DC.) A. Gray. Pennsylvania Eatonia. 

 (I. F. f. 442.) Culms 3-9 dm. tall, erect, simple, slender. Leaves 6.25-17.5 cm. 

 long, 2-6 mm. wide, rough; panicle 7.5-17.5 cm. in length, contracted, often nod- 

 ding, lax, its branches 2.5-6.5 cm. long; spikelets 3-3.5 mm. long, usually nu- 

 merous, somewhat crowded and appressed to the branches; empty scales unequal, 

 the first narrow, shorter than and about one-sixth as broad as the obtuse or ab- 

 ruptly acute second one, which is smooth, or somewhat rough on the keel; flower- 

 ing scales narrow, acute, 2.5 mm. long. In hilly woods or moist soil, N. B. to Br. 

 Colo., south to Ga., La. and Tex. June-July. 



Eatonia Pennsylvanica m;\jor Torr. Culms taller ; panicle longer and more com- 

 pound ; leaves longer and broader. Range apparently nearly that of the typical form. 



3. Eatonia nitida (Spreng.) Nash. Slender Eatonia. (I. F. f. 443.) 

 Culms 3-6 dm. tall, erect, very slender. Sheaths pubescent; leaves 1.25-7.5 cm - 

 long, 2 mm. wide or less, often pubescent, the uppermost very short; panicle 5-15 

 cm. in length, lax, the branches spreading at flowering time, afterwards erect, 2.5- 

 6.25 cm. long; spikelets not crowded, 3 mm. long; empty scales smooth, the first 

 about one-third as wide as and equalling the second, which is obtuse or almost 

 truncate, often apiculate; flowering scales narrow, 2-2.5 m m. long, obtuse oracut- 

 ish, smooth. In dry woods, Conn, to southern N. Y., N. J., Ga. and Ala. May- 

 June. 



77. KOELERIA Pers. 



Tufted annual or perennial grasses, with flat or setaceous leaves and mostly 

 spike-like panicles. Spikelets 2-5-flowered. Two lower scales empty, narrow, 

 acute, unequal, keeled, scarious on the margins; the flowering scales 3-5-nerved. 

 Palet hyaline, acute. 2 -keeled. Stamens 3. Styles very short. Stigmas plumose. 

 Grain free, enclosed in the scale and palet. [In honor of Georg Ludwig Koeler, 

 German botanist.] About 15 species of wide geographic distribution. The fol- 

 lowing, which may contain two forms, occurs in N. Am. 



