MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 329 



the lemma to equaling the glumes; near the coast of Massachusetts, Long 



callus hairs rather copious, about Island and Saratoga County, N. Y., 



equaling the glumes; rachilla obso- Montgomery County, Pa., North 



lete. % — Sandy woods, salt Dakota to Iowa and Kansas; becom- 



marshes, fields, and waste ground, ing a weed. Introduced from Eurasia. 



68. AMMOPHILA Host. Beachgrass 



Spikelets 1-flowered, compressed, the rachilla disarticulating above the 

 glumes, produced beyond the palea as a short bristle, hairy above; glumes 

 about equal, chartaceous ; lemma similar to and a little shorter than the glumes, 

 the callus bearded; palea nearly as long as the lemma. Tough, rather coarse, 

 erect perennials, with hard, scaly, creeping rhizomes, long, tough, involute 

 blades, and pale, dense spikelike panicles. Type species, Ammophila arenaria. 

 Named from the Greek amnios, sand, and philos, loving, alluding to the 

 habitat. 



The species of Ammophila are important sand-binding grasses, A. arenaria 

 being used in northern Europe to hold the barrier dunes along the coast. 

 In this country it has been tried with success on Cape Cod and at Golden 

 Gate Park, San Francisco. Called also marram, psamma, and sea sandreed. 



Ligule thin, 10 to 30 mm. long 2. A. arenaria. 



Ligule firm, 1 to 3 mm. long 1. A. breviligulata. 



1. Ammophila breviligulata Fern- 

 aid. American beachgrass. (Fig. 



452.) Culms in tufts, commonly 70 to and on the shores of the Great Lakes 

 100 cm. tall with deep strong exten- from Lake Ontario to Lake Superior 

 sively creeping rhizomes, the base of and Lake Michigan, 

 the culms clothed with numerous 2. Ammophila arenaria (L.) Link, 

 broad overlapping sheaths; ligule European beachgrass. (Fig. 453.) 

 firm, 1 to 3 mm. long; blades elongate, Like the preceding in habit, the culms 

 firm, soon involute, curved forward sometimes thicker; ligule thin, 1 to 3 

 past the culm, the scaberulous upper cm. long; panicle often thicker in the 

 surface downward; panicle pale, 15 to middle, tapering to the summit ; spike- 

 30 cm. long, nearly cylindrical; spike- lets 1.2 to 1.5 cm. long; callus hairs 

 lets 11 to 14 mm. long; glumes sea- about 3 mm. long, the rachilla 2 mm. 

 berulous, the first 1-nerved, the sec- long. % — Sand dunes along the 

 ond 3-nerved; lemma scabrous, the coast from San Francisco to Washing- 

 callus hairs about 2 mm. long, the ton. Introduced as a sand binder in 

 rachilla about 3 mm. long. % — the vicinity of San Francisco and now 

 Sand dunes along the coast from established at several places to the 

 Newfoundland to North Carolina, north; coast of Europe. 



69. CALAMOVILFA Hack. 



Spikelets 1-flowered, the rachilla disarticulating above the glumes, not 

 prolonged behind the palea; glumes unequal, chartaceous, 1-nerved, acute; 

 lemma a little longer than the second glume, chartaceous, 1-nerved, awnless, 

 glabrous or pubescent, the callus bearded; palea about as long as the lemma. 

 Rigid, usually tall perennials, with narrow or open panicles, some species with 

 creeping rhizomes. Type species, Calamovilfa brevipilis. Name from Greek 

 kalamos, reed, and Vilfa, a genus of grasses. Calamovilfa longifolia is of some 

 value for forage, but is rather coarse and woody; a variety of this and also 

 C. gigantea are inland sand binders. 



Rhizomes short and thick. 

 Panicle narrow, contracted 1. C. curtissii. 



