GRAMLNE.E. ( GRASS FAMILY.) 627 



rootstocks ; the spikelets panicled. (Name from yXvKepos, sweet, in allusion to 

 the taste of the grain.) 



§ 1. GLYCERIA proper. Lower palet conspicuously nerved: styles present: 

 plumes of the stigma branched or toothed : grain grooved on the inner side : 

 haves flat, the sheaths nearly entire. 



* Spikelets ovate, oblong, or linear-oblong, l"-3" in length, 

 •*- At length nodding in an open panicle, Jiattish laterally but turgid. 



1. G. Canadensis, Trin. (Rattlesnake-Grass.) Panicle oblong- 

 pyramidal, at length drooping ; spikelets ovate, at length very broad and tu- 

 mid, Briza-like, 2" long, pale, with purplish glumes ; lower palet acute or blunt- 

 pointed, firm, with not very prominent nerves, longer than the rounded upper 

 one; culm stout, 2° -3° high; leaves long, roughish. (Briza Canadensis, 

 Michx.) — Bogs and wet places : common from Penn. northward. July. 



•*- *- Erect in a narrow contracted panicle, so mew J tat flattened and turgid. 



2. G. Obtiisa, Trin. Panicle narrowly oblong , dense ; (3' -5' long); spike- 

 lets 3 - 7-flowered ; 2" -3' long; lower palet obtuse; culm stout, l°-2° high, 

 very leafy; leaves long, smooth. (Poa obtusa, Muhl.) — Bogs, E. New Eng- 

 land to Penn., near the coast. 



3. G. elongata, Trin. Panicle narrowly racemose, elongated (1° long), 

 recurving; the branches and 3 -4-nowered spikelets ap pressed ; lower palet ob- 

 tuse; leaves very long (1° or more), rough. (Poa elongata, Torr.) — Wet 

 woods, New England to Michigan, and northward. July -Aug. 



*- -t- -t- Diffuse: lower palet truncate-obtuse, prominently 1 -nerved; upper 2-toothed 



4. G. nervata, Trin. (Fowl-Meadow Grass, in part.) Branches of 

 the loose panicle capillary, at length drooping, the very numerous small spikelets 

 ovate-oblong, 3 - 7-flowered ; leaves rather long. (Poa nervata, Willd. P. stri- 

 ata, Michx. P. parviflora, Pursh.) — Moist meadows : very common. June. 



— Culm erect, l°-3° high. Spikelets l"-2" long, commonly purplish. 



5. G. pallida, Trin. Branches of the rather simple panicle slender, erect- 

 spreading, rough ; the spikelets usually few, somewhat appressed, oblong-linear, 5 - 9- 

 iiowered (pale, 2 ,; -3" long) ; lower palet minutely 5-toothed ; the upper lanceolate, 

 conspicuously 2-toothed ; leaves short, sharp-pointed, pale. ( Windsbria pallida 

 & Poa dentata, Torr.) — Shallow water : common, especially northward. July. 



— Culms slender, l°-3° long, ascending from a creeping base. 



6. G. aquatica, Smith. (Reed Meadow-Grass.) Panicle much branched, 

 ample (8'- 15' long) ; the numerous branches ascending, spreading with age; spikelets 

 oblong or linear-oblong, 5-9-flowered (usually purplish, 2" -3" long); lower palet 

 entire ; leaves large (1° - 2° long, £' to £' wide. — Wet grounds : common north- 

 ward. July. — Culm stout, upright, 3° -5° high. (Eu.) 



* * Spikelets linear [$■—, I' long), pale, appressed on the branches of the long and 

 narrow racemose panicle, terete except during anthesis : palets minutely roughish, 

 the upper 2-toothed : squamidoz unilateral or united : ligule long : culm flattened 

 (l°-5° high), ascending from a rooting base. (Glyceria, R. Br.) 



7. G. fltlitans, R.Br. Spikelets 7 -13-flowered; lower palet oblong, obtuse, 

 or the scarious tip acutish, entire or obscurely 3-lobed, usually rather longer 



