MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



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becoming involute toward the long, 

 fine flexuous point; panicle pale, nar- 

 row, condensed, heavy and nodding, 

 20 to 40 cm. long, the branches 

 arching and drooping, as much as 

 12 cm. long; spikelets very flat, 10- 

 to 20-flowered, mostly 2 to 2.5 cm. 

 long, 1 cm. wide, the first 4 to 6 

 lemmas empty, the slender pedicels 

 shorter than the spikelets; lemmas 

 about 9-nerved, strongly compressed- 

 keeled about 1 cm. long, acute; palea 

 acute, as long as the lemma, the strong 

 wings of the keels ciliate. % — 

 Sand dunes of the seacoast, North- 

 ampton County, Va., to Florida and 

 Texas; northern West Indies; eastern 

 Mexico. Spikelets apparently sterile, 

 no caryopses nor stamens found. 



2. Uniola latifolia Michx. Broad- 

 leaf uniola. (Fig. 242.) Culms 1 to 

 1.4 m. tall, with short strong rhi- 

 zomes, forming colonies; blades flat, 

 narrowly lanceolate, 10 to 20 cm. 

 long, mostly 1 to 2 cm. wide; panicle 

 open, drooping, 10 to 20 cm. long, 

 the branches bearing a few large, 

 very flat spikelets, the pedicels cap- 

 illary; spikelets 8- to 12-flowered, 2 

 to 3.5 cm. long, 1 to 1.5 cm. wide, 

 green or finally tawny, the first lem- 

 ma empty; lemmas lanceolate, strong- 

 ly compressed-keeled, acute, about 

 1 cm. long, striate-nerved, the keel 

 ciliate with soft ascending hairs, the 

 callus pilose; palea shorter than the 

 lemma, wing-keeled; anther minute, 

 the flower cleistogamous ; caryopsis 

 flat, oval, black, 5 mm. long. % — 

 Rich woods, Pennsylvania and New 

 Jersey to Illinois and Kansas, south 

 to Florida and Texas; Arizona (Pinal 

 County). 



3. Uniola nitida Baldw. (Fig. 243.) 

 Culms slender, 50 to 75 cm. tall, 

 erect, loosely tufted, with short rhi- 

 zomes; blades flat, spreading, mostly 

 less than 15 cm. long, 4 to 8 mm. 

 wide; panicle open, few-flowered, 10 

 to 15 cm. long, with a few spreading 

 branches 3 to 8 cm. long, bearing 2 

 to 5 nearly sessile spikelets; spikelets 

 4- to 7-flowered, 1 to 1.5 cm. long, 



about 1 cm. wide, the first lemma 

 empty; lemmas spreading, 7 to 10 

 mm. long, compressed-keeled, grad- 

 ually acuminate, striate-nerved ; palea 

 equaling the lemma, acuminate, 2- 

 toothed, the keels prominently winged ; 

 anther 1.5 mm. long. % — Moist 

 woods, South Carolina to Florida. 



4. Uniola ornithorhyncha Steud. 

 (Fig. 244.) Culms slender, 30 to 50 

 cm. tall, loosely tufted with short 

 rhizomes; sheaths pubescent on the 

 collar; blades flat, thin, mostly less 

 than 15 cm. long, 3 to 6 mm. wide; 

 panicle narrow, 3 to 9 cm. long, the 

 short approximate branches with 1 to 

 3 nearly sessile spikelets or the lower 

 somewhat distant with 4 to 6 spike- 

 lets, pubescent in the axils; spikelets 

 very flat, with 3 or 4 widely spreading 

 fertile florets, the 2 or 3 lower lemmas 

 empty, appressed; fertile lemmas 

 about 8 mm. long, narrow, gradually 

 acuminate, striate-nerved; palea as 

 long as or longer than the lemma, 

 acuminate, 2-toothed, strongly bowed 

 out below, the keels rather narrowly 

 winged; anther 1 to 1.8 mm. long. 

 Ql — Low woods or hummocks in 

 swamps, Alabama to Louisiana. 



5. Uniola sessiliflora Poir. (Fig. 

 245.) Culms erect, 0.5 to 1.5 m. tall, 

 in loose tufts with short rhizomes; 

 sheaths pilose, at least toward the 

 summit ; blades elongate, firm, mostly 

 sparsely pilose on the upper surface 

 toward the base, 5 to 10 mm. wide, 

 tapering to base; panicle long-ex- 

 serted, 20 to 50 cm. long, narrow, the 

 branches distant, stiffly ascending or 

 appressed, the lower as much as 7 cm. 

 long, the upper short, somewhat capi- 

 tate; spikelets nearly sessile, aggre- 

 gate in clusters, flat, usually 3- to 5- 

 flowered, broadly V-shaped at matu- 

 rity, the first lemma empty; glumes 

 about 2 mm. long; lemmas spreading, 

 about 5 mm. long, acuminate, beaked, 

 especially before maturity, striate- 

 nerved; palea shorter than the lemma, 

 acute, broad, the keels narrowly 

 winged; grain black, 3 mm. long, at 

 maturity spreading the lemma and 



