80 



MISC. PUBLICATION 200, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



nerves and sometimes sparingly be- 

 tween the nerves; anthers 1.5 to 2 

 mm. long. Qi — Salt marshes and 

 brackish shores, Nova Scotia to 

 Rhode Island; Washington; on bal- 

 last, Philadelphia and Camden; Eu- 

 rope. 



7. Puccinellia distans (L.) Pari. 

 (Fig. 83.) Perennial; culms erect or 

 decumbent at base, 20 to 40 cm. tall, 

 sometimes taller; blades flat or more 

 or less involute, mostly 2 to 4 mm. 

 wide; panicle pyramidal, loose, 5 to 15 

 cm. long, the branches fascicled, 

 rather distant, the lower spreading or 

 finally reflexed, the longer ones naked 

 half their length or more; spikelets 4- 

 to 6-flowered, 4 to 5 mm. long; glumes 

 1 and 2 mm. long; lemmas rather 

 thin, obtuse or truncate, 1.5 or usually 

 about 2 mm. long, with a few short 



Figure 83. — Puccinellia distans. Panicle, 

 floret, X 10. (Schuette, Wis.) 



X 



hairs at base; anthers about 0.8 mm. 

 long. % — Moist, more or less 

 alkaline soil, Quebec to British Co- 

 lumbia, south to Maryland, Michi- 



gan, Wisconsin, and North Dakota; 

 Washington, south to New Mexico 

 and California; introduced from Eu- 

 rasia. The more slender specimens are 



Figure 84. — Puccinellia airoides. Panicle, X 1 ; floret, 

 X 10. (Rydberg 2135, Mont.) 



the form described as P. distans var. 

 tenuis (Uechtritz) Fern, and Weath. 



8. Puccinellia airoides (Nutt.) 

 Wats, and Coult. Nutt all alkali- 

 grass. (Fig. 84.) Perennial; culms 

 usually erect, slender, rather stiff and 

 firm at base, mostly 30 to 60 cm. 

 rarely to 1 m. tall; blades 1 to 3 mm. 

 wide, flat, or becoming involute; 

 panicle pyramidal, open, mostly 10 

 to 20 cm. long, the distant scabrous 

 branches fascicled, spreading, naked 

 below, as much as 10 cm. long; 

 spikelets 3- to 6-floAvered, 4 to 7 mm. 

 long, the florets rather distant, the 

 rachilla often exposed; pedicels sca- 

 brous; glumes 1.5 to 2 mm. long; 

 lemmas 2 to 3 mm. long, rather nar- 

 row, somewhat narrowed into an 

 obtuse apex; anthers about 0.7 mm. 

 long. 21 (P. nuttalliana Hitchc.) 

 — Moist, usually alkaline soil, Wis- 

 consin to British Columbia, south to 

 Kansas, New Mexico, and California; 

 introduced in Maine and Vermont. 

 The form Avith lemmas 2.5 to 3 mm. 

 long has been called P. cusickii 

 Weatherby. Alberta to Wyoming 

 and Oregon. 



9. Puccinellia pumila (Vasey) 

 Hitchc. (Fig. 85.) Perennial; culms 

 lax, erect or ascending from a de- 



