91 



MISC. PUBLICATION 200, U. S. I) KPT. OF AOIUCULTURU 



Figure 107. Scl&rochloa dura. Plant, X 1; spikelet and floret, X 10. (Fallas, Utah.) 



aerves rather faint, unequal, extending into a scarious lacerate apex; palea 

 narrow, flat, about as Long as the lemma,. Tall perennials, with succulent 

 rhizomes, flat blades, and spreading panicles. Type species, Scolochloa festu- 

 cacea. Name from Greek scolos, prickle, and chloa, grass, alluding to the ex- 

 current nerves of the lemma. 



The single species has some value for forage and is often a constituent of 

 marsh nay. 



1. Scolochloa festucacea (Willd.) 

 Link. (Fig. L08.) Culms erect, stout, i 

 to 1.5m. tall, from extensively creeping, 



succulent rhizomes; blades elongate, 

 scabrous on the upper surface, mostly 

 5 to 10 nun. wide, extending into a 

 fine point; panicle 15 to 20 cm. long, 

 loose, the distant branches fascicled, 

 ascending, naked below, the lower- 



most nearly as long as the panicle; 

 spikelets about 8 mm. long, the florets 

 approximate; lemmas about 6 mm. 

 long. % Shallow water and 



marshes, Manitoba to British Colum- 

 bia, south to northern Iowa, Ne- 

 braska, and eastern Oregon; northern 

 Kurasia. 



10. PLKUROPOGON R. Br. Semaphore-grass 



Spikelets several- to many-flowered, linear, the rachilla disarticulating 

 above the glumes and between the florets; glumes unequal, membranaceous 

 or subhy aline, scarious at the somewhat lacerate tip, the first 1-nerved, the 

 second obscurely 3-nerved; lemmas membranaceous, 7-nerved, with a round 

 indurate callus, the apex entire or 2-toothed, the midnerve extending into a 

 short mucro or into an awn; keels of the palea winged on the lower half. Soft 

 annuals or perennials, with simple culms, flat blades, and loose racemes of 

 rather large spikelets on a slender flexuous axis. Type species, Plcuropogon 

 sabinii R. Br. Name from Greek pleura, side, and pogfow, beard, the palea of 

 the type species having a bristle on each side at the base. 



Palatable grasses, but usually too infrequent to be of economic value. 



