442 



GRAMINEyE. 



Agrostis. 



3. Agrostis laxiflora, Richards. Hair-grass. Thin-grass. 



Culms erect, smooth ; leaves linear, the lower ones involute, the sheaths a little rough ; 

 panicle very loose, with verticillate capillary rough branches; glumes unequal, lanceolate, 

 aculeolate-hispid on the keel ; lower palea oblong, obtuse, about one fourth shorter than the 

 glumes, awnless, or with a very short appressed awn on the back ; upper palea minute or 

 wanting. — Richards, app. Frankl. narr. p. 731 ; Kunth, "gram. 2.t. 130," and enum. 1. p. 

 224 ; Tuckerm. in Sill. jour. 45. p. 43. A. Michauxii, Trin. diss. 1. p. 206 ; Gray, Gram. 

 Sf Cyp. part 1. no. 17. Trichodium laxiflorum, Michx. ft. I. p. 142. t. 8 ; Muhl. gram. p. 

 60 ; Torr. fl. 1 . p. 83 ; Bigel. jl. Bost. p. 27 ; Beck, hot. p. 389 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 54. 



var. ccespitosa : cespitose ; panicle ovoid, at length divaricate ; glumes equal ; palea 

 awnless ; leaves involute, filiform. — A. laxiflora, /3. montana, Tuckerm. I. c. ? Trichodium 

 montanum, Torr. I. c. 



var. scabra : culm often geniculate at the base ; panicle diffuse, the branches flexuous and 

 divaricate ; glumes unequal ; leaves linear, flat. — A. scabra, Willd. sp. 1. p. 370 ; Tuckerm. 

 I.e. Trichodium scabrum, Muhl. gram. p. 61 ; Torr. Jl. 1. p. 83. 



var. tenuis : culm geniculate at the base ; panicle somewhat elongated, with short erect 

 branches ; leaves flat. — A. scabra, var. tenuis, Tuckerm. I. c. 



Perennial. Culm about a foot and a half high, very slender, terete. Lower leaves 4-6 

 inches long, scarcely half a line wide, becoming involute and almost filiform ; the upper ones 

 shorter and flat. Panicle 6-10 inches long, usually purplish ; the branches extremely 

 slender, with the subdivisions trichotomous, hispid. Spikelets scattered at the extremity of 

 the branchlets : pedicels clavate. Glumes about a line and a half long, very acute. Lower 

 palea obtuse, with several very short bristles at the base, sometimes furnished with an incon- 

 spicuous slender awn. Upper palea usually wanting. Stamens 3 : anthers pale yellow. 

 Stigmas white, plumose. Caryopsis linear, oblong. 



Old fields and exsiccated swamps : very common. Var. ccespitosa, rocky precipices ; var. 

 scabra, in woods ; var. tenuis, on the mountains of Essex county. I am unable to discover 

 in the plants described above, sufficient characters for constituting them distinct species. 

 They seem to be only varieties, caused by differences of soil and exposure. 



4. Agrostis stricta, Willd. Upright -flowered Bent-grass. 



Panicle elongated ; the branches verticillate, nearly erect ; glumes equal, oblong, acute, a 

 little longer than the flower ; paleae two : the lower one twice as long as the upper, with a 

 geniculate awn from near the base, about twice the length of the palea. — Willd. sp. 1 . p. 

 366 ; Pursh, Jl. 1. p. 63 ; Muhl. gram. p. 65 ; Torr. Jl. 1. p. 85 ; Kunth, enum. 1. p. 220. 

 Trichodium strictum, Roem. <§■ Schult. syst. 2. p. 281. 



Culm about a foot high, smooth. Leaves flat, two lines wide, smooth : sheaths close, 

 striate. Panicle oblong, the primary branches verticillate in fives : ultimate divisions rough, 

 bearing the spikelets in a somewhat crowded manner. Glumes rough on the keel. Lower 



