MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



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lary branches, branchlets, 

 and pedicels ascending to 

 spreading; spikelets pur- 

 plish-brown, about 4 mm 

 long; glumes acute, the 

 first half as long, the 

 second as long as the 

 equal lemma and palea. 

 % — Moist pine bar- 

 rens, Georgia. 



15. Sporobolus flori- 

 danus Chapm. (Fig. 

 834.) Plants more robust 

 than S. curtissii, as much 

 as 1 m tall; sheaths 

 keeled, the basal ones 

 somewhat pilose at 

 throat, the base indurate 

 and shining, blades 

 folded at base, usually 

 flat above, 2 to 5 mm 

 wide, abruptly narrowed 

 at apex; panicle narrow, 

 open, 15 to 35 cm long, 

 the branches and branch- 

 lets ascending; spikelets 

 4 to 5 mm long; glumes 

 acute, subequal, about 

 as long as the lemma and 

 palea. % — Low pine 

 barrens, Georgia and 

 Florida. 



16. Sporobolus graci- 

 lis (Trin.) Merr. (Fig. 

 835.) Perennial, in dense 

 bunches; culms erect, 

 slender, about 3-noded, 

 30 to 60 cm tall; blades 

 folded or involute, slen- 

 der, glabrous; panicle 

 mostly bronze-brown, 

 oblong or narrowly py- 

 ramidal, open, 7 to 15 cm 

 long, 2 to 5 cm wide, 

 the flexuous branches (2 

 to 3 cm long) in rather 

 regular whorls 1 to 3 cm 

 apart, widely spreading 

 to ascending, naked at 

 base, the short-pediceled 

 spikelets appressed along 

 the upper part; spikelets 



Figure 830.— Sporobolus heterolepis. Plant, X 1; spikelet and 

 floret with caryopsis and split palea, X 10. (McDonald, 111.) 



