420 



GRAMINEiE. 



HlEROCIILOA. 



staminate flowers slightly awned ; root creeping. — Ream. 8f Schult. syst. 2. p. 513 ; Torr. 

 fl. 1. p. 150 ; Beck, hot. p. 404 ; Hooh.fl. Bor-Am. 2. p. 234 ; Kunth, enum. 1. p. 36. H. 

 repens, P. de Beauv. agrost. p. 62. H. fragrans, Ram. Schult. I. c. ; Kunth, I. c. 

 Holcus odoratus, Linn. sp. 2. p. 1047 ; Michx. Jl. 1. p. 56 ; Muhl. gram. p. 273; Bigel. 

 fl. Bost. p. 44. 



Rhizoma creeping extensively. Culm 12-18 inches high, erect, simple. Leaves smooth 

 and shining ; the radical ones very long ; those of the culm short : ligule lanceolate. Panicle 

 few-flowered, 2-3 inches long, pyramidal, finally spreading ; the primary branches in pairs 

 or solitary : branchlets flexuous. Spikelets broadly ovate, tumid, yellowish brown and purple. 

 Glumes mostly a little longer than the flowers, ovate, acuminate, smooth, 3-nerved, purplish 

 towards the base Lower palea of the staminate flowers ovate-oblong, hairy, strongly ciliate 

 on the margin, 5-nerved, the middle nerve produced into a point or short bristle : upper palea 

 a little longer, lanceolate, bifid. Perfect flower resembling the lateral ones in texture : lower 

 palea smooth on the sides and margin, villous at the tip. 



Boggy meadows, Long Island, &c. Flowers early in May. This remarkably sweet- 

 scented grass is abundant also in the northern parts of Europe. In some parts of the Prussian 

 dominions it is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and strewed before the doors of the churches on 

 festival days. In this country, it is often collected and placed in draws to scent clothes. 



2. Hierociiloa alpina, Ram. Sf Schult. Alpine Holy-grass. 



Panicle ovate, contracted ; spikelets oblong, compressed, longer than the pedicels ; glumes 

 lanceolate, almost nerveless ; lateral flowers obtuse, awned on the back. — Rcem. <§• Schult. 

 syst. 2. p. 515 ; Torr. Jl. I. p. 150 ; Hook. Jl. Bor.-Am. 2. p. 234 ; Kunth, enum, 1. p. 36. 

 Holcus alpinus, Wahl. Jl. Lapp. p. 31. t. 2 ; Bigel. Jl. Bost. p. 45. 



Culm 6-12 inches high, erect, straight. Leaves 2-3 lines wide ; those of the culm 

 short. Panicle 1-2 inches long ; the branches mostly in pairs, rather stout, each bearing 

 2-3 spikelets which are larger than those of the preceding species, shining, brown tinged 

 with purple. Glumes rather obtuse, thin and membranaceous. Staminate flowers slightly 

 hairy, the palea? eroded at the point ; the upper one bicarinate and folded within the lower, 

 bifid and hairy at the tip : awn of the lower flower one third the length of the paleag ; of the 

 upper flower, longer than the paleas. Anthers linear. Perfect flower with nearly equal palese ; 

 the lower palea mucronate at the tip. 



Summit of Mount Marcy, and some other of the highest mountains of Essex county. Fl. 

 End of June. A rare species, inhabiting the arctic regions of America, Europe and Asia. 



8. ANTHOXANTHUM. Linn. ; Endl. gen. 756. vernal grass. 



[ From the Greek, anthos, a flower, and zanthos, yellow.] 



Spikelets 3-flowered ; the two lower flowers neuter, and each consisting of a single awned 

 palea ; the upper flower perfect, of 2 paleag, awnless and diandrous. — Aromatic grasses, 

 with fibrous roots and contracted panicles. 



