436 



GRAMINEiE. 



MUHLENBERGIA. 



Rhizoma creeping. Culm 2-5 feet high, terete, smooth. Leaves 3-5 lines wide, smooth. 

 Ligule elongated. Panicle 6-10 inches long, somewhat secund or nodding ; the branches 

 mostly in fours. Spikelets green or purplish, nearly one-fourth of an inch long. Glumes 

 lanceolate, very acute ; the lower one about one-fourth shorter than the upper. Paleae on a 

 short stipe, entire ; the upper one shorter. Stamen solitary : anther yellow. 



Swamps and moist shady woods ; frequent. Fl. August - September. 



3. Muhlenbergia Willdenovii, Trin. Willdenow's Muhlenbergia. 



Culm mostly simple, pubescent at the nodes ; ligule nearly wanting ; panicle contracted, 

 filiform ; paleae hairy at the base, about twice as long as the ovate acuminate glumes, the 

 lower one with an awn three times the length of the spikelet. — Trin. diss. 1. p. 188. t. 5. 

 f. 3; Kunth, enum. 1. p. 200. Agrostis tenuiflora, Willd. sp. 1. p. 364, and liort. Berol. 

 t. 12 ; Pursh, fl. I. p. 63 ; Muhl. gram. p. 63 ; Torr. fl. 1. p. 87 ; Beck, hot. p. 388; 

 Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 57. Cinna tenuiflora, Link. 



Rhizoma branching and creeping. Culm 2-3 feet or more in height, sometimes with a few 

 short appressed branches, retrorsely pubescent about the nodes. Leaves 2-4 lines wide, very 

 thin, spreading horizontally ; the sheaths minutely pubescent. Panicle elongated, very slender 

 and contracted, often partly sheathed at the base. Glumes a little unequal, mucronate ; the 

 keel prominent. Paleae unequal, entire, rough ; the lower one hairy on the sides towards the 

 base ; the awn often 4 times the length of the flower. Stamens 3. Stigmas simply plumose. 



Rocky woods : rather common. Fl. August. 



4. Muhlenbergia sylvatica, Torr. $$Gr, Wood Muhlenbergia. 



Culm ascending, much branched, diffuse, smooth ; panicle slender, with the branches some- 

 what spiked ; palea? rather longer than the ovate-lanceolate glumes, a little hairy at the base ; 

 awn about three times the length of the flower. — T. Gr. in Gray, Gram. Cyp. 1. no. 

 13. Agrostis sylvatica, Torr. fl. 1. p. 87; Beck, hot. p. 388; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 57. 

 A. diffusa, Muhl. gram. p. 64, not of Host. 



Rhizoma creeping. Culm 2-3 feet long ; the branches at first erect, but at length diffuse : 

 nodes swelling. Leaves spreading, broadly linear ; the sheaths open, smooth : ligule lacerate. 

 Panicles somewhat densely flowered. Glumes a little unequal, white with a green keel, and 

 slender acumination. Paleas usually a little longer than the glume, but sometimes about the 

 same length, acute, often spotted with purplish gray, with a slender rough awn at the tip. 

 Stamens 3 : anthers pale yellow. Caryopsis oblong, dark brown. 



Rocky hills, and borders of woods. Fl. September. Resembles the preceding in many 

 respects, but differs in being much branched and diffuse. The glumes are also longer and 

 narrower, and the culm is smooth at the node. 



