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



what curved, tapering into a straight 

 awn, about as long as the body or 

 shorter; lemmas glabrous and nerve- 

 less below, scabrous and nerved 

 above, tapering into a straight awn 

 usually about 1 cm. long. % 



Figure 355. — Elymusvirginicus, X 1. (Hitchcock 79, 

 Va.) 



Moist ground, low woods, and along 

 streams, Newfoundland to Alberta, 

 south to Florida and Arizona. Some- 

 times called Terrell grass. A variable 

 species of which the following inter- 

 grading varieties may be distin- 

 guished. 



Elymus virginicus var. glabri- 

 florus (Vasey) Bush. Glumes mostly 

 less bowed out; lemmas glabrous; 

 awns mostly 2 to 3 cm. long, the 

 spike more bristly. % — Maine to 

 Kansas, south to Florida and New 

 Mexico. 



Elymus virginicus var. halo- 

 philus (Bickn.) Wiegand. More slen- 



der, usually glaucous; blades narrow- 

 er, often becoming involute; spikes 

 and spikelets somewhat smaller. 



91 — Brackish marshes and moist 

 sand along the coast, Maine to Vir- 

 ginia. 



Elymus virginicus var. submu- 

 ticus Hook. Glumes and lemmas 

 awnless or nearly so. % — Woods 

 and open ground, Quebec to Wash- 

 ington, south to Rhode Island; Ohio 

 and Kentucky to Oklahoma and 

 Montana; Utah. 



Elymus virginicus var. inter- 

 medius (Vasey) Bush. Glumes, lem- 

 mas, and rachis more or less hirsute, 

 the awns about as in E. virgini- 

 cus. % (E '. hirsutiglumis Scribn.) — 

 Thickets and low ground, Maine to 

 Iowa, south to Florida and Texas. 



Elymus virginicus var. australis 

 (Scribn. and Ball) Hitchc. Differing 

 from E. virginicus var. intermedins 

 in the stouter, bristly spike and 

 longer awns; differing from E. virgin- 

 icus var. glabriflorus in the hirsute 

 or strongly scabrous glumes and lem- 

 mas. % — Prairies, rocky hills, and 

 open woods, Vermont to Iowa, south 

 to Florida, Kentucky, and Texas. 



Elymus gigant^us Vahl. Robust peren- 

 nial from stout rhizomes; blades numerous 

 at base, elongate; spike dense, 15 to 20 cm. 

 long, about 2 cm. thick; glumes and lemmas 

 sharp-pointed, the glumes glabrous, the lem- 

 mas pubescent below. % — Occasionally 

 cultivated for ornament. Siberia. 



47. SITANION Raf. Squirreltail 



Spikelets 2- to few-flowered, the uppermost floret reduced, usually 2 at 

 each node of a disarticulating rachis, the rachis breaking at the base of each 

 joint, remaining attached as a pointed stipe to the spikelets above; glumes 

 narrow or setaceous, 1- to 3-nerved, the nerves prominent, extending into one 

 to several awns, these (when more than one) irregular in size, sometimes mere 

 lateral appendages of the long central awn, sometimes equal, the glume 

 being bifid; lemmas firm, convex on the back, nearly terete, 5-nerved, the 

 nerves obscure, the apex slightly 2-toothed, the central nerve extending into 

 a long, slender, finally spreading awn, sometimes one or more of the lateral 

 nerves also extending into short awns; palea firm, nearly as long as the body 

 of the lemma, the two keels serrulate. Low or rather tall tufted perennials, 

 with bristly spikes. Type species, Sitanion elymoides Raf. (S. hystrix). Name 

 from Greek sitos, grain. 



The species are exceedingly variable, being glabrous to densely pubescent 

 and green to glaucous; the glumes and lemmas vary in division and length of 

 awns. Some 15 to 25 variations have been recognized as species, but study of 



