MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



305 



ather, awn, referring to the awned 

 staminate floret. 



1. Arrhenatherum elatius (L.) 

 Presl. Tall oatgrass. (Fig. 412, A.) 

 Culms erect, 1 to 1.5 m. tall; blades 

 flat, scabrous, 5 to 10 mm. wide; 

 panicle pale or purplish, shining, 15 

 to 30 cm. long, the short branches 

 verticillate, spreading in anthesis, 

 usually spikelet-bearing from the 

 base; spikelets 7 to 8 mm. long; 

 glumes minutely scabrous; lemmas 

 scabrous, the awn of the staminate 

 floret about twice as long as its lem- 

 ma. 91 — Meadows, open ground, 

 and waste places, Newfoundland to 

 British Columbia, south to Georgia, 

 Tennessee, Iowa, Idaho, Utah, Ari- 

 zona, and California; frequent in the 



Northern and Eastern States; intro- 

 duced from Europe and escaped from 

 cultivation. Cultivated in the north- 

 ern humid regions as a meadow grass. 



Arrhenatherum elatius var. 

 bulb6sum (Willd.) Spenner. Tuber 

 oatgrass. (Fig. 412, B.) Base of 

 culm consisting of a series of closely 

 approximate corms (short subglobose 

 internodes) 5 to 10 mm. in diameter. 

 % — Occasionally introduced, Mich- 

 igan, Virginia, and West Virginia to 

 Alabama; California; Europe. 



Arrhenatherum elatius var. 

 biaristatum (Peterm.) Peterm. Both 

 lemmas with well-developed awns. 

 % — Ithaca, N. Y., and Delaware 

 County, Pa.; Europe. 



64. HOLCUS L. 



(Notholcus Nash) 



Spikelets 2-flowered, the pedicel disarticulating below the glumes, the 

 rachilla curved and somewhat elongate below the first floret, not prolonged 

 above the second floret; glumes about equal, longer than the 2 florets; first 

 floret perfect, the lemma awnless; second floret staminate, the lemma bearing 

 on the back a short awn. Perennials with flat blades and contracted panicles. 

 Standard species, Holcus lanatus. Holcus, an old Latin name for a kind of 

 grain. 



Rhizomes wanting 



Rhizomes present.. 



1. H. LANATUS. 

 .. 2. H. MOLLIS. 



1. Holcus lanatus L. Velvet 

 grass. (Fig. 413.) Plant grayish, 

 velvety-pubescent; culms erect, 30 

 to 100 cm. tall, rarely taller; blades 

 4 to 8 mm. wide; panicles 8 to 15 

 cm. long, contracted, pale, purple- 

 tinged; spikelets 4 mm. long; glumes 

 villous, hirsute on the nerves, the 

 second broader than the first, 3- 

 nerved; lemmas smooth and shining, 

 the awn of the second hooklike. % 

 — Open ground, meadows, and moist 

 places, Maine to Kansas and Colo- 

 rado, south to Georgia and Louisiana; 

 common on the Pacific coast, British 

 Columbia, and Montana to Arizona 

 and California; introduced from Eu- 

 rope; occasionally cultivated as a 

 meadow grass on light or sandy land. 



2. Holcus mollis L. (Fig. 414.) 

 Culms glabrous, 50 to 100 cm. tall, 

 with vigorous slender rhizomes; 



sheaths, except the lower, glabrous; 

 blades villous or velvety, 4 to 10 

 mm. wide; panicle ovate or oblong, 

 rather loose, 6 to 10 cm. long; spike- 

 lets 4 to 5 mm. long; glumes glabrous; 

 awn of the second floret geniculate, 

 exserted, about 3 mm. long. % — 

 Damp places, recently introduced 

 from Europe and apparently spread- 

 ing, Washington to California; Lewis 

 County, N. Y. ; ballast, Camden, N. J ., 

 'Delaware County, Pa. 



65. SIEGLINGIA Bernh. 



Spikelets 4- to 5-flowered, the 

 rachilla disarticulating above the 

 glumes and between the florets; 

 glumes equal, acute, the first 1- to 

 3-nerved, the second 3- to 5-nerved; 

 lemmas firm, 7- to 9-nerved, bifid, 

 the midnerve excurrent from between 



