GENERA OF GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 
139 
stock, and P. monspeliensis is sometimes sufficiently abundant on low 
meadows to be of importance. 
63. Lycurus H. B. K. 
Spikelets 1-flowered, the rachilla 
articulate above the glumes; glumes 
awned, the first usually 2-awned; 
lemma narrow, firm, longer than the 
glumes, terminating in a slender awn. 
Low perennial grasses, with dense 
spikelike panicles, the spikelets borne 
in pairs, the lower of the pair sterile, 
the short branchlets deciduous. Spe- 
cies two, in arid regions from the 
southwestern United States to north- 
ern South America. 
Type species : Lycurus phleoides H. B. K. 
Lycurus H. B. K., Nov. Geu. and Sp. 1: 
141, pi. 45. 1816. Two species are described, 
L. phleoides and L. phalaroides. The first 
species, being figured, is chosen as the type. 
Pleopogon Nutt, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. 
Phila. II. 1: 189. 1848. A single species, 
P. setosum, is included. This is Lycurus 
phleoides. • 
Lycurus phleoides (fig. 76), the 
only species in the United States, is a 
low bunch-grass with slender erect 
culms about a foot high, with a dense, 
narrow, lead-color panicle 1 or 2 
inches long. The species, sometimes 
called Texas timothy and wolftail, is 
common on the Mexican Plateau and 
I 
Fig. 76. — Wolftail, Lycurus phleoides. 
Plant, X I ; group of two spikelets, 
glumes of fertile spikelet, and two 
views of fertile floret, X 5. 
extends north to Texas, Colorado, and Arizona. It is often an im- 
portant constituent of grazing areas. 
