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



1. Depauperata. — Ligule less than 1 mm long; blades elongate, the 



basal ones not forming a distinct rosette in autumn; spikelets 



strongly 7- to 9-nerved. Autumnal phase with short branches 



from lower nodes. 



5. Panicum depauperatum Muhl. (Fig. 1274.) Vernal phase with 



culms several to many in a tuft, slender but rather stiff, erect or nearly 



so; sheaths glabrous or papillose- 

 pilose; blades 6 to 15 cm long, 2 to 5 

 mm wide, often involute in drying; 

 panicle exserted, usually not much 

 exceeding the leaves, 4 to 8 cm long, 

 few-flowered; spikelets 3.2 to 3.8 

 mm long, elliptic, pointed, glabrous 

 or sparsely pubescent; second glume 

 and sterile lemma extending beyond 

 the fruit, 

 forming a 

 beak. Autum- 

 nal phase sim- 

 ilar, the re- 

 duced panicles 

 partly con- 

 cealed in the 

 basal leaves. 



% — Open sterile woods, Quebec 

 and Nova Scotia to Minnesota, 

 south to Georgia and Texas (fig. 1275). 

 6. Panicum perlongum Nash. 

 (Fig. 1276.) Vernal phase similar 

 to that of P. depauperatum; the 

 tufts smaller, usually pilose, the 

 panicle narrower; spikelets 2.7 to 

 3.2 mm long, oval, blunt, sparingly 

 pilose, the glume and sterile lemma not extending beyond the fruit. 

 Autumnal phase similar, the reduced panicles numerous. 01 — Prai- 

 ries and dry soil, Indiana to Man- 

 itoba and North Dakota, south to 

 Colorado and Texas (fig. 1277). 



Figure 1275. — Distribution of 

 Panicum depauperatum. 



Figure 1274. — Panicum depauperatum. Panicle, 

 X 1; two views of spikelet, and floret, X 10. 

 (Amer. Gr. Nat. Herb. 78, D.C.) 



Figure 1276. — Panicum perlongum. Two views of 

 spikelet, and floret, X 10. (Type.) 



Figure 1277.— Distribution of 

 Panicum perlongum. 



7. Panicum linearifolium Scribn. (Fig. 1278.) Vernal phase in 

 dense tufts; culms slender, erect, 20 to 45 cm tall; sheaths papillose- 

 pilose; blades erect, usually overtopping the panicles, 2 to 4 mm 

 wide; panicle long-exserted, 5 to 10 cm long, the flexuous branches 

 ascending; spikelets 2.2 to 2.7 mm long, oblong-elliptic, obtuse, 

 sparsely pilose. Autumnal phase similar, the reduced panicles hidden 

 among the basal leaves. % — Dry woods, Quebec and Maine to 

 Michigan, south to Georgia and Texas (fig. 1279). 



