MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



175 



20. MONANTHOCHLOE Engelm. 



Plants dioecious; spikelets 3- to 

 5-flowered, the uppermost florets 

 rudimentary, the rachilla disarticu- 

 lating tardily in pistillate spikelets; 

 glumes wanting; lemmas rounded on 

 the back, convolute, narrowed above, 

 several-nerved, those of the pistillate 

 spikelets like the blades in texture; 

 palea narrow, 2-nerved, in the pis- 

 tillate spikelets convolute around the 

 pistil, the rudimentary uppermost 

 floret enclosed between the keels of 

 the floret next below. Creeping wiry 

 perennial, with clustered short sub- 

 ulate blades, the spikelets incon- 

 spicuous at the ends of the short 



branches, only a little exceeding the 

 leaves. Type species, Monanthochloe 

 littoralis. Name from Greek monos, 

 single, anthos, flower, and chloe, grass, 

 alluding to the unisexual flowers. 



1. Monanthochloe littoralis Eng- 

 elm. (Fig. 237.) Culms tufted, ex- 

 tensively creeping, the short branches 

 erect ; blades falcate, mostly less than 

 1 cm. long, conspicuously distichous 

 in distant to approximate clusters; 

 spikelets 1 to few, nearly concealed 

 in the leaves. % — Muddy sea- 

 shores and tidal flats, southern Flori- 

 da, especially on the keys; Texas 

 (Galveston and southward) ; southern 

 California (Santa Barbara and south- 

 ward) ; Mexico, Cuba. 



21. DISTICHLIS Raf. Saltgrass. 



Plants dioecious; spikelets several to many-flowered, the rachilla of the 

 pistillate spikelets disarticulating above the glumes and between the florets; 

 glumes unequal, broad, acute, keeled, 3- to 7-nerved, the lateral nerves 

 sometimes faint; lemmas closely imbricate, firm, the pistillate coriaceous, 

 acute or subacute, with 9 to 11 mostly faint nerves (nerves fewer in D. texana) ; 

 palea as long as the lemma or shorter, the margins bowed out near the base, 

 the pistillate coriaceous, enclosing the grain. Low perennials, with exten- 

 sively creeping scaly rhizomes, sometimes stolons, erect, rather rigid culms, 

 and dense, rather few-flowered panicles. Type species, Distichlis spicata. 

 Name from Greek distichos, 2-ranked, alluding to the distichous leaves. 



The species of Distichlis in general have little value for forage, but in the 

 interior basins, such as the vicinity of Great Salt Lake, D. stricta is grazed 

 when better grasses are not available. 



Plants mostly more than 30 cm. tall; blades not conspicuously distichous, mostly 

 20 to 40 cm. long; panicle more than 10 cm. long; stolons present, long 



and stout r 3. D.. texana. 



Plants mostly less than 30 cm. tall; blades conspicuously distichous, mostly less than 10 cm. 

 long; panicle rarely more than 5 cm. long. 

 Panicles condensed, the spikelets imbricate, mostly 5- to 9-flowered; keels of pistillate 



paleas with narrow entire wings 1. D. spicata. 



Panicles looser, the spikelets less imbricate, the individual spikelets plainly visible; keels 

 of pistillate paleas with broader serrate-erose wings 2. D. stricta. 



1. Distichlis spicata (L.) Greene. 



Seashore saltgrass. (Fig. 238.) compressed; lemmas 3 to 6 mm. long, 



Culms 10 to 40 cm. tall, sometimes the pistillate more coriaceous and 



taller; leaves numerous, the sheaths more closely imbricate than the 



closely overlapping, the spreading staminate; palea rather soft, narrow, 



blades conspicuously distichous, flat the keels narrowly winged, entire; 



to involute, sharp-pointed, mostly anthers about 2 mm. long. % — 



less than 10 cm. long; panicle usually Seashores, forming dense colonies, 



pale or greenish, 1 to 6 cm. long, Nova Scotia to Florida and Texas; 



rarely longer; spikelets mostly 5- to British Columbia to California, Mexi- 



9-flowered, mostly 6 to 10 mm. long, co, and Cuba; Pacific slope of South 



