260 BULLETIN 772, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
exserted peduncle, or single, in pairs, or sometimes in threes or fours, 
the common peduncle usually inclosed by a spathelike sheath, these 
sheaths often numerous, forming a compound inflorescence, usually 
narrow, but sometimes in dense subcorymbose masses. Species about 
150, in all warmer parts of the world ; about 30 species in the United 
States, mostly in the South. 
Type species Andropogo; virginicus L. 
Andropogon L., Sp. PI 1045, 1753; Gen. PL, ed. 5, 468. 1754. Linnaeus de- 
scribes 12 species. The reference in the Genera Plantarum is to " Roy. lugdb. 
52." In this work, Flora Leydensis, published in 1740, Royen describes two 
species, the first of these is later (Species Plantarum) named Andropogon hirtum 
by Linnaeus, and the second.!, virginicum. The type should be chosen from these 
two. The two species appear to be equally familiar to Royen and to Linnaeus, 
though A. virginicus is more fully described and has priority of position in 
the Species Plantarum. Andropogon, virginicus is chosen as the type, as this 
choice retains the generic name for its usual signification. Of the 12 species 
originally described. 4 are retained in Andropogon. A. distaclujos. A. vir- 
ginicus. A. bieomis, and A. ischaemum. Andropogon contortus is now referred to 
Heteropogon. A. divaricatus to Erianthus, A. nutans to Sorghastrum, A. alope- 
Curoides to Erianthus, A. schoenantlms, A. hirtus, and A. nardus to Cymbopo- 
gon. Andropogon fasciculatus, the last species, is unidentifiable. 
Schizachyrium Nees, Agrost. Bras. 331. 1829. The type species is Andro- 
pogon condensatus H. B. K„ upon which is based S. condensation, first of the six 
species described. Nees states, in f» paragraph at the end of the generic descrip- 
tion, that besides the species he enumerates Andropogon brevifolius belongs to 
Schizachyrium. Because of this statement Nash 1 chooses the latter species 
as the type. This group includes the species of Andropogon with racemes 
single at the ends of the branches. 
Dimeiostemon Raf., Bull. Bot. Seringe 1 : 221. 1830. "Andropogon vaginatus 
Eli., A. sessiliflorus [nomen nudum]. A. macrurus, A. vaginatus [repeated], A. 
tetrastachys" are listed. Andropogon vaginatus Ell., which is the same as 
A. virginicus L., is taken as the type. 
Amphilophis Nash, in Britton, Man. 71. 1901. Only one species described, An- 
dropogon torreyanus Steud. This group includes the species of Andropogon 
with numerous racemes in a naked panicle. Amphilophis was first used by 
Trinius 2 as a section of Andropogon. 
Our species are divided into three groups: One (constituting the 
genus Schizachyrium of some authors) with the racemes single on 
each peduncle ; two, with the racemes in pairs, or sometimes in threes 
or fours, on each peduncle : three, with the racemes aggregate toward 
the naked summit of the culms and branches. The commonest repre- 
sentative in the United States of the first group is Andropogon scopa- 
rius Michx. (fig. 158). This is an erect bunch-grass 2 to 4 feet high, 
the racemes scattered along the upper part of the stem. It is common 
throughout the eastern half of the United States. It is a fairly good 
forage grass and forms a part of the wild prairie hay in the eastern 
portion of the Great Plains, where it is called little bluestem. The sec- 
ond group is represented by numerous species in the Southern States. 
One of these, A. virginicus L. (fig. 159) is found in old fields, open 
woods, and sterile ground from Massachusetts to Texas and Florida. 
This is called broom sedge, though the name is also applied to some 
of the other species of Andropogon. Andropogon virginicus is a 
1 X. Amer. Fl. 17: 100. 1912. 
2 Mem. Acad. St. Petersb. VI. 2: 2S5. 1832. 
