632 GRAMINE^E. (GRASS FAMILY.) 



4. E. Frankii, Meyer. Much branched, diffuse (3' -8' high); panicle 

 ovate-oblong, rather dense, spreading; sjnkelets 2 - 5 flowered (l"-l£'' long), 

 on slender pedicels; glumes very acute; lower pa/et ovate, acute, rather obscurely 

 3-nerved. (E. erythrdgona, Nees, from the joints of the culm being mostly 

 reddish.) — Low or sandy ground, S. Pennsylvania to Illinois, and south- 

 westward. Aug. 



5. E. Purshii, (Bernh. ?) Schrader. Sparingly branched at the decumbent 

 base, then erect (^° - 2° high) ; panicle elongated, the branches widely spread- 

 ing, very loose; spikelets 5-18-flowered, oblong-lanceolate, at length linear 

 (2"-4J-' ; long), mostly much shorter than their capillary pedicels; (jlumes and lower 

 palet ovate and acute, or the latter acutish, 3-nerved. (Poa tenella ? Pursh. P. 

 Caroliniana, Spreng. P. pectinacea of authors, not of Michx.) — Sandy or 

 sterile open grounds, New Jersey to Virginia, and southward. 



+- ■*- Cidms simple or branching only at the very base, firm, erect from an anmial or 

 perennial root, mostly forming thick ttfs : leaves very long : panicle very large, 

 compound, often longer than the culm, with elongated and loosel y flowered branches, 

 their axils often bearded. (Doubtful perennials, or No. 7 annual.) 



6. E. tenuis, Gray. Panicle zirgately elongated (1°-2|° long), very loose, 

 the spreading branches bearded in some of the lower axils, their remote divisions 

 and long diverging pedicels capillary ; spikelets 2-6- (sometimes 7 - 12 ) flowered, 

 pale or greenish ; glumes lanceolate or awl-shaped, very acute (]^"-2" long), mem- 

 branaceous, as are the oblong-lanceolate acute flowers ; lower palet distinctly 3-nerved ; 

 the upper ciliate-scabrous. (Poa tenuis, EIL P. capillaris, Michx. P. trichodes, 

 Nutt. E. Geyeri, Steud.) — Sandy soil, Illinois, Virginia? and southward. 

 Aug. -Oct. — Leaves rather rigid, \^°-2° long, glabrous or sparingly hairy: 

 the sheaths hairy or glabrous ; the throat strongly bearded. Flowers much 

 larger than in the next, fully 1^" long. 



7. E. capillaris, Nees. Panicle widely expanding, usually much longer 

 than the culm, its spreading branches (mostly naked in the axils) and long di- 

 verging pedicels capillary; spikelets rather terete, very small, 2 -4-flowered, green- 

 ish or purplish; glumes and flowers ovate, acute (less than 1" long); lower palet 

 ol)scurely 3-nerved, scarcely keeled ; the upper rough-ciliate. (Poa capillaris, L. 

 P. hirsuta, Michx.) — Sandy dry soil and fields : common, especially southward. 

 Aug., Sept. — Leaves and sheaths very hairy, or nearly glabrous ; the former 

 •about 1° long, not rigid. Panicle l°-2° long, soon diffuse. 



8. E. pectinacea, Gray. Panicle widely diffuse, its rigid divergent main 

 branches bearded in the axils ; the capillary pedicels more or less oppressed on the 

 secondary branches; spikelets flat, 5 - 1 5-flowered, becoming linear, purple or 

 purplish ; glumes and flowers ovate or oblong-ovate, acutish ; lower pa/et strongly 

 3-nerved; the upper hirsute-ciiiate. (Poa pectinacea, Michx., ex char. P. hirsuta, 

 of Amer. authors. E. Unionis & cognata Steud. ?) — Leaves long, rigid, mostly 

 hairy, the sheaths especially so. — Var. spectabilis. Leaves and sheaths mostly 

 glabrous; branches of the panicle (the lower reflexed with age) and pedicels 

 shorter ; spikelets rather larger. (E. spectabilis, Ed. 1 . Poa spectabilis, Pursh.) 

 *— Sandy dry ground, from E. Mass. near the coast, and from Ohio and Illinois 

 southward. Aug. - Oct. — Plant 1° -3° high. Spikelets 2" - 3" long, 1" wide, 

 closely flowered. 



