THE GKASS FAMILY. 



XXX. BROME. BEOMUS. 



Spikelets several-flowered, rather large, erect or drooping, in a 

 branched, loose, or compact panicle. Outer glumes unequal, usually 

 keeled and awnless. Flowering glumes longer, rounded on the back, 

 s carious at the edges, with an awn inserted just below the notched or 

 cleft summit. Palea ciliate on the nerves. Ovary usually hairy, the 

 style inserted on one side of the summit. 



A considerable genus, widely spread over the northern hemisphere, 

 chiefly in the old world, with a few American or southern species. It 

 is also a natural one if made to include the tall B., referred by some to 

 Fescue on account of the glabrous ovary and more central style. 



Flowering glumes oblong, turgid. Outer ones distinctly 



nerved 6. Field B. 



Flowering glumes narrow-lanceolate. Outer ones obscurely 

 nerved. 

 Flowering glumes about 3 lines long. Ovary glabrous . . 7. Tall B. 

 Flowering glumes 5 lines long or more. Ovary hairy. 

 Awns shorter or not longer than the glumes. Leaf- sheaths 

 with long hairs. 



Panicle loose and drooping 2. Hairy B. 



Panicle compact and erect 1. Upright B. 



Awns longer than the glumes. Leaves softly downy or 

 glabrous. 



Panicle loose and drooping 3. Barren B. 



Panicle compact and erect. 



Spikelets, together with the awns, more than 3 inches 



long 4. Great B. 



Spikelets with the awns not 2 inches long .... 5. Compact B. 



1. Upright Brome. Bromus erectus, Huds. (Fig. 1200.) 



(Eng. Pot. t. 471.) 



An erect perennial, 2 feet high or more, with a slightly creeping 

 rootstock. Leaves narrower than in most Bromes, especially the radi- 

 cal ones, with a few long hairs on their sheaths. Panicle about 3 to 

 5 inches long, much more compact than in the barren B., the branches 

 erect or nearly so. Spikelets not numerous, J to 1| inches long, con- 

 taining 6 to 10 or even more flowers. Flowering glumes lanceolate, 



