GRAMINE^E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 629 



* Low and spreading (3' -6' high) from an annual or biennial root, flaccid: branches 



of the short panicle single or in pairs. 



1. P. annua, L. (Low Spear-Grass.) Culms flattened ; panicle often 

 1-sided; spikelets crowded, very short-pedicelled, 3 - 7 -flowered. — Cultivated 

 and waste grounds, everywhere : but doubtful if indigenous. April - Oct. (Eu. ) 



* * Low; the culms (6' -20' long) geniculate-ascending from a running rootsto<k, 



rigid, very much flattened : panicle simple and contracted. 



2. P. compressa, L. (Wire-Grass.) Pale, as if glaucous; leaves 

 short; panicle dense and narrow, somewhat one-sided (l'-3' long), the short 

 branches mostly in pairs; spikelets almost sessile, 3- 10-fiowered, flat. — Dry, 

 mostly sterile soil, in waste places ; rarely in woods : probably introduced with 

 other and more valuable grasses : apparently indigenous northward. (Eu.) 



* * * Low alpine or alpestrine species, erect, in perennial tufts. 



■*- Soft and flaccid, smooth or nearly so, evm to the branches of the panicle: leaves 



short and flat, short-pointed; ligule elongated. 



3. P. alpina, L. Culms rather stout (8'- 14' high) ; leaves broadly linear, 

 especially those of the culm (1^'- 2' long, 1^"- 3" wide); panicle short and 

 broad; spikelets broadly ovate, 3 - 9-flowcred (about 3" long); lower palet vil- 

 lous on the midrib and margins. — Isle Koyale, Lake Superior, C. G. Loring, 

 Jr., Prof Porter, N. Maine? and northward. (Eu.) 



4. P. laxa, Hsenke. Culms slender (4' -9' high); leaves narrow ; panicle 

 somewhat raceme-like, narrow, often one-sided and nodding ; spikelets 2 - 4-flow- 

 ered, one half smaller. — Alpine mountain-tops of Maine, New Hampshire, and 

 N. New York, and high northward. (Eu.) 



+- -i- More strict and rigid, rough ish, especially the panicle: ligule short. 



5. P. ceesia, Smith. Culms 6'-20 r high; leaves narrow, short, soon in- 

 volute ; branches of the panicle 2-5 together, very scabrous ; spikelets purplish 

 (or sometimes pale), 2-5-flowered; glumes ovate-lanceolate and taper-pointed; 

 flowers lanceolate, somewhat webby at the base ; the lower palet villous on the 

 keel and margins below the middle, its nerves obscure. (P. aspera, Gaudin.) 

 — N. Wisconsin, I. A. Lapham; a form with loose open panicle (P. nemoralis, 

 Ed. 2). — Var. strictior, is 6' -12' high, with a contracted grayish-purple 

 panicle, of smaller flowers. N. shore of Lake Superior, C. G. Loring, Jr., es- 

 pecially Isle Koyale, Prof. Whitney, &c, and northward. (Eu.) 



* * * * Taller (l°-3°), meadow or woodland grasses : panicle open. 

 v- Spikelets mostly very numerous and crowded on the rather short rough branches 

 (usually in fives) of the oblong or pyramidal panicle, green, or sometimes violet- 

 tinged : flowers acute, crowded, more or less webbed at base. 



6. P. serotina, Ehrhart. (False Red-top. Fowl Meadow-Grass.) 

 Culms tufted without running rootstocks ; leaves narrowly linear, soft and 

 smooth; ligules elongated; spikelets 2-4- (rarely 5-) flowered (1" -2" long), all 

 short-pedicel led in an elongated panicle, often tinged with dull purple ; flowers 

 and glumes narrow; lower palet very obscurely nerved. (P. nemoralis, Pursh. 

 P. crock ta, Mivhx.) — Wet meadows and low banks of streams: common, espe> 

 cially northward. July, Aug. — A good grass for moist meadows. (Eu.) 



