MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



mon on the Pacific coast from British 

 Columbia to California; southern 

 South America. 



3. Aira elegans Willd. ex Gaudin. 

 (Fig. 405.) Resembling A. caryophyl- 

 lea; panicle more diffuse; spikelets 2.5 

 mm. long, scattered at the ends of the 

 branches; lemma of lower floret awn- 

 less or with a minute awn just below 



299 



Figure 405.— Aira elegans. Panicle, X 1 ; spikelet and 

 florets, X 10. (Davis 2016, S. C.) 



the apex, that of the upper floret with 

 an awn 3 mm. long. O (A. capil- 

 laris Host, not Savi). — Open ground, 

 Coastal Plain, Maryland to Florida; 

 Tennessee; Arkansas and Texas; Ore- 

 gon and California. 



60. CORYNEPHORUS Beauv. 



Spikelets 2-flowered, disarticulating 

 above the glumes; glumes nearly 



Figure 406. — Corynephorus canescens. Spikelet and 

 florets, X 10. (Bicknell, Mass.) 



equal, 1-nerved, acute, membrana- 

 ceous ; lemmas thin, acute, awned from 

 near the base, the awn jointed about 

 the middle, the joint with a minute 

 ring of hairs, the lower part straight, 

 brown, the upper slender, club- 

 shaped. Slender annuals with subfili- 

 form blades and narrow panicles. 

 Type species Corynephorus canescens. 

 Name from Greek korynephoros, club- 

 bearing. One species introduced from 

 Europe. 



1. Corynephorus canescens (L.) 

 Beauv. (Fig. 406.) Culms tufted, 20 

 to 35 cm. tall, branching and leafy at 

 base; panicle 5 to 10 cm. long, pale or 

 purplish; spikelets about 3.5 mm. 

 long; florets about 1.7 mm. long, 

 faintly nerved, the callus and rachilla 

 softly pilose, the awns equaling or 

 slightly exceeding the glumes. O 

 — Waste ground and ballast, British 

 Columbia. Marthas Vineyard and 

 Long Island, N. Y., New Jersey, and 

 Pennsylvania. 



61. A VENA L. Oats 



Spikelets 2- or 3-flowered, the rachilla bearded, disarticulating above the 

 glumes and between the florets; glumes about equal, membranaceous or 

 papery, 7- to 9-nerved, longer than the lower floret, usually exceeding the 



